by Marc Blattner
I recently read in The New Yorker, James Surowiecki’s article, The Next Level, that in essence talked about the concept of “customer drift” – when small factors initially tip the balance in favor of a new company over the old. The example used is Blockbuster Video. Blockbuster, which dominated the movie rental business with convenient locations, solid inventory management, and a known brand, is now (unbelievably) almost extinct. They lost out to a changing world that included a combination of Netflix, cable companies, Red Box, and easy downloads. These companies hit on Blockbuster’s weak-points – what Blockbuster thought were convenient locations were not compared to door-to-door delivery, and no one wanted to pay annoying late fees. The company tried to take what it did well – “the bricks” – and combine it with what was lacking – “the clicks.” Unfortunately, they were unable to respond fast enough and today they are in Chapter 11.
In the article, Surowiecki writes,
Why didn’t Blockbuster evolve more quickly? In part, it was because of what you could call the “internal constituency” problem: the company was full of people who had been there when bricks-and-mortar stores were hugely profitable, and who couldn’t believe that those days were gone for good … The familiar sunk-cost fallacy made things worse. Myriad studies have shown that, once decision-makers invest in a project, they’re likely to keep doing so, because of the money already at stake. Rather than dramatically shrinking both the size and the number of its stores, Blockbuster just kept throwing good money after bad.
Wow! Can we take a moment to reflect on this statement and truly be honest with ourselves – how is this similar to the Jewish community today?
- Do we have enough new and “outside voices” sitting on our Boards and committees providing fresh perspective on our current and future Jewish community? Are our “internal constituency” groups willing to change quickly and deeply enough, if they even see the need for change at all? And do our volunteer and professional leaders (including myself) truly understand the evolution of the Jewish community?
- Are we looking at our programs, services, and infrastructure with a critical eye? Are we doing the same things we have been doing for years and years with little impact instead of new and innovative high-impact ideas? Are we prepared to say “no” to those beloved programs of yesteryear that “worked then,” yet may be unnecessary for our Jewish future?
- How can we maximize the incredible infrastructure in our community? Can we find ways to better share and utilize space (and back office support)? Reduce our overhead costs? Have our buildings occupied to capacity the majority of the time?
Just because our community invested money in the past does not mean we cannot change course. Sometimes one must “cut his/her losses” and make the necessary changes – or else we, the Jewish community, could find ourselves like Blockbuster. As Surowiecki writes, “Sometimes you have to destroy your business in order to save it.”
The world is moving at a rapid pace and that is why TODAY we must collectively plan for our community’s future. We have the opportunity to create a vision – one that is compelling, inviting, convenient, meaningful and minus any barriers for involvement.
Ready to exercise leadership and make difficult decisions? Let’s all join together, as a united community, and get the job done.
Marc Blattner is President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland.
Jonah Halper says
November 10, 2010 at 4:50 pmMarc Blattner was one of my earliest inspirations when I worked for him in Baltimore. The Jewish world needs more people like him who are high octane, and is less about “dialogue” and more about “doing”.
To speak to his points, you can’t grow functioning in silos and the Federation has such a strong brand, hundreds of thousands of volunteers, leaders and donors so it MUST adapt to the changing landscape of philanthropy.
Membership organizations don’t resonate any more….but a federated campaign does. Federation needs to learn how to sell the story and not the campaign. Peter Drucker, the Godfather of Nonprofit management said you need four things for a successful organization. Mission, Marketing, People and Money. In that order. If you have a mission, the ability to share it, the people to do the sharing….THEN the money will come.
I loved my 8 years at Federations on the East Coast, and completely subscribe to federated giving, BUT, this isn’t to say I think Federation is communicating their core competencies well. If Federation wants to compete with the proliferation of charities, then they need to better engage their prospective audiences. Federation does a great job communicating and growing the relationships with folks who already “drank the cool-aid”. Just follow all the great stuff going on at the General Assembly. Federation is out of touch with new people and the decline of the donor base is a testament to this (don’t blame the economy).
Marc’s articles and his ideas for Portland (http://www.jewishreview.org/local/blattnerspeech910) are bold. Will every idea work? Maybe not. But you need to think and act bold to create a revolution. And Federation needs a revolution, not just “change”.
Peter Mizrahi says
November 12, 2010 at 5:07 pmWith all due respect to Mr. Blattner, to his “wow” I say “No duh.” I don’t really disagree with the content, it’s just old and tired. Aren’t we sick of merely restating the problem? To be fair it’s not just Mr. Blattner. It’s like an epidemic in the system. Of course defining the problem is good. It’s just that doing so over and over does nothing to actually resolve it.
I remember a few years ago at a JFNA professional development seminar, Mr. Blattner waxing on (he is very smart and very articulate) about how the federation system needs to be like Target. He, like many in our system, learned all the right terminology. We sure sounded like we knew what to do. You know, “Good to Great” speak and the like. It was as if by learning these concepts and practices they were being applied. Sure it sounds good to ignorant lay leaders and during a job interview. But what has been done?
At the recently-concluded GA, JFNA CEO Jerry Silverman once again stated boldly that “what got us here won’t get us there.” A year ago maybe that resonated. Now there needs to be a statement of what will get us there — and I mean specifics — and we must begin to execute.
Marc N Blattner says
November 14, 2010 at 5:00 pmPeter,
I appreciate your comment and agree that in many ways it is a “duh” statement. But the correlation between Blockbuster and the Jewish communal enterprise is striking. As you mentioned, I have been talking about this type of issue since May 2007 when I did present my paper on Target. It is less about the jargon and more about our understanding that being jewish is a choice and the options around us may be better then those offered within the jewish community.
I assure you that much is being done. Two months ago I was appointed the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland. The opportunity to be in a progressive community will allow me the chance to actually “act” on these ideas. I believe that Portland will be the “test laboratory” for Jewish America and you will soon see major change.
Too many communities and leaders are restating the obvious, and change, if any, happens at a slow pace. You will see Portland at the forefront of Jewish communal life.