Associations are well-positioned to wrestle with challenges and explore solutions for their industries or professions—or for society more broadly. A recent ASAE Research Foundation study provides recommendations from members on how associations can advance such transformative thinking.
But members don’t always see their associations as the home for transformative efforts. A series of interviews completed by Westat for the ASAE Research Foundation Impact Every Day initiative found that thought leaders from diverse industries did not identify associations as hubs for transformative thinking, though they thought associations could and should fuel such exploration—with members at the center of that work.
The leaders interviewed for Impact Every Day—who came from business, education, healthcare, government and politics, and other fields—did not agree on a single definition of transformative thinking. They frequently defined it in relation to current problems of their field and the ways in which their association mobilized or supported members to address these problems. According to one interviewee, an association training program fostered transformative thinking by allowing attendees to “to share what’s worked and what’s not and… lessons learned [from peers]” around a shared challenge.
Please select this link to read the complete article from ASAE's Center for Association Leadership.