Resource:

Collins, Jim. 2001. Good to Great. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

What:

The "Hedgehog" exercise

Identify

1) What Social Actions is great at,

2) What Social Actions is passionate about, and

3) What Social Actions can make money doing.

Purpose:

To assist us in discriminating what it is we should be focused on with laser intensity -- those things that occupy the venn-diagram intersection of all three.

What Social Actions is great at (ranked w/ "center of ven diagram" at top):

• Building the commons
• Being open
• Convening partners
• Affirming the work of others
• Innovating
• Facilitating
• Talking tech
• Creating opportunities for collaboration
• Synthesizing and distilling and guiding
• Creating opportunities for consensus-building
• Working across communities of practice
• Systems thinking

What Social Actions is passionate about:

Next step: list in order of priority (center of ven diagram at top)

• Open source
• Transparency
• Inclusiveness
• Collaboration
• Honesty & forthrightness
• Innovation and receptiveness to new ideas

   

What Social Actions can make money doing:

Immediate focus

• One-to-many services (open support, services, and project-building)
• Making introductions and networking
• Translating and explaining the online world

After website is revamped

• Receiving donations
• Creating and producing unique sponsorship opportunities

After 2010

• Affiliate marketing
• Books, reports, and slideshows
• Roadshows, seminars, and workshops
• Convening and drawing attention to offline events

Not actively being considered, but perhaps at some point:

• Time & expense-based 1-on-1 consulting
• Accrediting partners
• Licensing our methodologies
• Merchandising (maybe)
• Facilitating live online events