I’ve always thought that as you progress and evolve as an organization you need to remain mindful to avoid “Jumping the Shark“. I love the term – it has a bit of nostalgia in it for me and it reminds me that in our work if we don’t pay attention to the details that made us successful, that we may not be there in the future. As we enter the last year of our current 5-year Strategic Plan Growing Stronger Together 2008-2012, we have as great a responsibility to plan proactivley for our future, not resting on the successes of our past (however immediate they may seem) and to work diligently to prepare our YMCA for it’s future. I don’t need to tell many of you that in our sector (the charitable not-for-profit sector) that the times are fluid and change is a constant companion.
So get this – according to Wikipedia;
“Jumping the shark is an idiom, first employed to describe a moment in the evolution of a television show when it begins a decline in quality that is beyond recovery. In its initial usage, it referred to the point in a television program’s history where it has “outlived its freshness” where viewers feel “the writers have run out of ideas” and that “the series has [lost] what made it attractive. These changes were often the result of efforts to revive interest in a show whose audience had begun to decline. The usage of “jump the shark” has subsequently broadened beyond television, indicating the moment in its evolution when a brand, design, or creative effort moves beyond the essential qualities that initially defined its success, beyond relevance or recovery.
Wow – tough language – losing those essential qualities that have defined your organization?! In my opinion it remains essential for an organization (like our YMCA) to continue to explore our role in the communities that define our work. If we are unable or unwilling to do so – we will likely engage in many conversations that hark en back to a time when we had a handle on those essential qualities that “separated us from the herd”, recalling those things that made us different and unique and that made our work matter for people. An essential responsibility of an organization’s leadership is to prevent those “lapses” or loss of relevance from occurring.
In our work we use the strategic planning cycle (a 3-5 year frame) to keep our objectives and goals relevant with the real world, and the factors that help to define our sector. This month we are initiating and essential part of this process thru a scan of our business and service environment. This scan will serve to inform our Board and Senior Staff as we begin the early stages of crafting our new strategic plan. This stage will also include extensive staff and volunteer input from all our Branches and service areas in our main YMCA communities. Schedules have been published in Goderich (includes Clinton), Sarnia (includes Lambton Shores and Parkhill and Corunna and Petrolia) and Chatham-Kent (includes Wallaceburg). These 60 minute input sessions (by staff & volunteer group) are also available on our website, and will be facilitated by Fred Galloway (Galloway & Associates) who is guiding the strategic planning process that will result in our next plan – scheduled for 2013. This is a process that really needs your input so I will encourage you – if you are reading this Blog – you are part of the group of YMCA staff, volunteers and stakeholders that I/we want to hear from, your participation is key.
So, back to the notion of jumping the shark – told you what it means and the genesis of the concept in media. I’ve explained the consultative process that we are entering into and the notion that strategic planning and an organizations ability to remain relevant are important in preventing the fall into mediocrity and decay. Certainly not the characteristics I’d wish to associate with a YMCA that continues to make a difference in people’s lives. Here’s the exact reference from Wikipedia & the show it took place on;
“The phrase jump the shark comes from a scene in the fifth episode of the American TV series Happy Days titled “Hollywood Part 3,” that aired on September 20, 1977. In the episode, the central characters visit Los Angeles, where a water-skiing Fonzie, (Henry Winkler), wearing swim trunks and his leather jacket, jumps over a confined shark, answering a challenge to demonstrate his bravery. The series continued for nearly seven years after that, with a number of changes in cast and situations. ”It’s a moment. A defining moment when you know that your favorite television program has reached its peak. That instant that you know from now on…it’s all downhill. Some call it the climax. We call it ‘Jumping the Shark.’ From that moment on, the program will simply never be the same.”
I was 15 years old and in grade 10 at Lester B. Pearson High School in Burlington in 1977. I remember watching that episode – and yup it was downhill for Richie, Potsie, Ralph and the Fonz from there on – things were never the same and I watched the shows in syndication latter in life. Lesson learned.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fonzie_jumps_the_shark.PNG
Jim
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