Speaker Reflection II
This week, I listened to a presentation from Kellie Wardman, a Resource Director for the National Resource Office of the YMCA. She is based out of New Hampshire and oversees performance consulting support for 21 local Y branches throughout NH and Maine. She got her start with the organization 15 years ago while working at a local Y, before transitioning to a role with the National Resource Office about 5 years ago. Her goal is to leverage systems thinking to identify the tools and resources required to optimize performance at the organizational level. Broadly speaking, she employees a four-phase framework when consulting with her clients: partner, assess, implement, evaluate.
This model is somewhat reminiscent of instructional design models like ADDIE that we’ve covered in the LDT program, but with the explicit inclusion of establishing partnerships. Partnerships were similarly emphasized in the presentation I first covered from George Hanshaw at Lockheed Martin. Both speakers shared two mantras I found compelling: “under-promise and over-deliver” and “one successful project can open the door.” I’ve always felt hesitant to under-promise in my own work, but I recognize how that can be leveraged to deliver bigger results than anticipated. That connects to the second notion of establishing yourself as a valuable partner to organizations by securing that initial “win”, which can later be referenced as part of your portfolio of past successes. Both speakers also emphasized the need to be proactive in connecting organizations with the most relevant people and resources, even unprompted, to demonstrate your ability to recognize and address their organizational hurdles.
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The point that resonated with me the most from Kellie’s presentation was the need to be solution-neutral at the onset of a project. I recognize in myself an eagerness to dive into problem-solving mode immediately when confronted with new information, but need to remember to remain open-minded in my initial analysis. Too often I determine my first viable solution and pursue it wholeheartedly, missing out on more feasible or impactful alternatives. I appreciated Kellie’s characterization of the complexity of the business model at the YMCA and the resultant challenges to performance consulting: they serve a target audience ranging from 6-month-olds to seniors, with individual branches having anywhere from $500k to $17m in revenue. They have the second most recognizable logo in the world (behind only the Christian cross) but most don’t know they are a charity, making fundraising more difficult. Each branch is also composed of blended teams of full-time and volunteer staff, with varying degrees of oversight from the national organization. Because so many of the staff are volunteers and their passion for the work is connected to the organizational mission, many lack the data analytics skills required to operate such a large and complex organization. Kellie’s presentation raised my awareness of this dynamic, so when entering the job market I want to ensure I market my own strengths towards addressing individual organization’s blind spots.
