Maddie and I did a webinar yesterday along with Amy Sample Ward from NTEN. We love using NTEN as a case study of a human organization, and during the conversation, Amy was talking about NTEN’s values, including their “we walk the talk” value, which is really about committing to experimenting and learning with technology tools.
She described this value as both a blessing and a curse. It’s a curse because it means you need to stay ahead of the members sometimes in experimenting with new tools, or even end up being pushed into experimenting with things at a time when you’re really busy or would rather be doing something else. It’s hard work! But that, of course, is the catch here.
Good advice is never easy. Sticking to your values is hard work. Choosing to be a human organization is not the path of least resistance, because it’s not efficiency and ease that will get us to the next level. There’s nothing wrong with efficiency or ease, of course (I like them a lot, actually), but if that’s all you’ve got these days, then you’re falling behind.