Global Food Collaborative

"Imagine plucking your organization out of the mix.   Does it make a difference to anyone?  Does anyone notice?  If no, then pluck it", said Bill Elander, former President of the Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau.    What did he mean by pluck it?  Ditch it.  Dissolve it.  Close it down.  Drop it.

Bill was one of the Directors on my board at the World Trade Center Alaska when we had some major decisions to make.   Would we countinue our operations and move forward as an independent organization or would we shut it down?  That was back in the  late 80's.   Ultimately, the question we had to answer was, did we make a postive difference?   If we shut down and quietly went away, would anyone notice?      At the time, we were providing services to Alaska's leading companies in the Russian Far East to secure partnerships for their developments in oil, gas and mining.  We made a difference as evidenced by the growing paid membership and the annual performance metrics direct from members.  Our constituents showed us in their financial and participating support that we were relevant and making a difference to their businesses.

I was reminded this past week of Bill's wise words as I wrapped up Global Food Alaska.   While we have not yet completed our survey of results, I saw enough and heard enough in this event, GFA 2007 and its earlier version, the Business of seaFOOD, that bringing this constituency together had value and makes a difference.     The people attending made a difference and the opportunity to meet and do business, even without the metrics, made a difference.    The goal of sustainable business in responsibly maximizing Alaska's bounty of marine and land has huge opportunity and the people participating are exactly the right people who can realize these opportunities.    If it went away, people would notice.  It has relevance and should not be plucked. 

Two days following Global Food Alaska, I watched another pupil of Bil Elander's, Melissa Anderson.  She was on TV reporting on the results of the Alaska's Run For Women, where she serves as the Race Coordinator.   This year's field had 5484 registered to run this week-end and the money (120,000+) raised goes directly to support fighting breast cancer.     Wow.    Great job Missy and crew.   You really know how to make a difference.     I remember many many years ago when one of the generations of this run was not this way.    It benefited a few race managers and the event was plucked.   Now it has been re-invented to make a difference.  Kudo's.

While there are a myriad of fancy metrics that measure performance, I have to say that it is so simple to go back to Bill's metric.    Does your organization or business make a difference?        Do you offer a value?     Frankly, it is that simple as to whether an organization or business be operating in 2009.   Thanks to Bill, I ask this question often and it is one of my most important metrics.