International Institute

 

San Antonio - June 22, 2001

 

Henry G. Gonzalez Convention Centre

 

Looking Forward: What will Rotary and its Foundation look like in the Next 100 Years

 

John Eberhard PDG (6330)

 

            It has been said that we must look back to understand where we are going. I would suggest that we not stare for very long because, as Wil Rogers once said:

 

                                     “The future ain’t what it used to be”!

 

            Paul Harris, Rotary's founder, was a risk-taker and a dreamer-- of that, there is no doubt. In fulfilling his initial dream of fellowship, he created new and bigger dreams that have brought us here today – 96 years later.

 

            From our earliest days, the strength of the Rotary dream has sprung from the most basic fundamentals of Rotary--fellowship and service.  And, it is that same urge to dream of new and creative ways to manifest this idea which will sustain Rotary for another 100 years!

 

            These two basic operating principles are the propelling forces that have allowed us to grow and change and dream anew. It is interesting to note that all of the programs of RI over the years, as they will in the future, can be traced directly of indirectly to our constitutional documents. Therefore the continuity of the future of Rotary is inextricably bound to the pro-active way in which we credibly apply a consistent approach to constitutional change. This is why the Chicago COL was so important to the future of Rotary. To put it mildly, this was an historic Council. 

 

            John Kotter is a  Professor of Leadership at the Harvard Business School. His recent book is  called "Leading Change". Although the examples are largely for business, the message is good for non_profits as well. Kotter's first and most important step in the process of leading change is to establish a sense of urgency.  Complacency is one of the major barriers to change.  So too is lack of vision.  No surprises here.

 

            Paul Drucker, a business theorist and one considered a dean of the American School of Business - described true opportunity for change coming as a result, of what he refers to as, convergence.

 

            In Dr. Covy’s best selling book:  “The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People”, we learn the expression: “Paradigm shift”

            There is a connection.  If we anticipate real change in an organization, we must first see a change of attitude. We might in the words of Paul Harris be “revolutionary” in our approach to change.

 

            Let’s consider some of the macro changes in society itself. If in society there is a major shift in collective behavior, we know that a number of influences have converged to displace the inertia which has produced a long standing form of behavior.  And one must distinguish “fads” from “trends” in this process of change.

 

            You have all heard of the pet rock. Millions were sold - this was a fad.. And not much demographic societal change in attitude resulted.  On the other hand, millions of personal computers have been sold.  This has been recognized as a trend. And the trend has had an enormous impact on both behavior and attitude. Those who were able to be visionary - on the leading edge of the trend  - have been incredibly successful and become very rich. Those who are involved and influenced by the trend have been part of a paradigm shift.

 

            So there is a big difference between fads and trends and their impact on society. An analysis of the converging trends are relevant to Rotary as we think about change in our organization and how the future is to be fashioned.

 

            Since the 1970's people have altered the way they spend their free time. Sociologists have found that rather than interacting with others and joining clubs, people are increasingly preferring to be alone - usually in front of a television or personal computer - or spending as much of their leisure time as possible with their immediate families.

 

            When you consider that in America there are over 40 million people over 60 years of age and millions each month now turning 50, we know that there is a trend that only a conflagration could reverse.   Rotary’s target population are a people who are living longer, working less long, have more money, and having a common goal - of living ever longer and  healthier.  And converging technologies is all part of that!

 

            So, Rotary must adapt to the new societal demands in order to meet current and future challenges. Providing service to the communities in which we live - and beyond - is about action. If Rotary is to remain a relevant, vibrant service organization, it must demonstrate its ability and willingness to meet the changing needs of the community it serves.

 

            We have seen Rotary do this in the past - we must encourage constructive change in the future.

 

            For Rotary International, it is time to take stock:

 

<                 of our history

<                 our strengths

<                 our potential and the plans for another 100 years of service!

      We know that the structural rules of Rotary are following and not leading the converging trends which have resulted in the most profound paradigm shift in history. Are we leading or will we be content to follow? The recent COL demonstrates that we are capable of constructive change.

 

To what will our dreams migrate?

 

T                  Is it a Rotary dream to help foster literacy for the next three generations?

Perhaps you will share the magic of a book with a child. - unless some other form of literacy requirements replace the written word.

 

 

 

T                  Is your Rotary dream to ensure security and respect for the elderly?  

 

It was a surprise for me to learn that 1 in 8 people are over the age of 65. By 2026, it will be 1 in 5.   Will the role of Rotarians be to spend time with them so that they know they are loved and  cared for.

 

T                  Is the Rotary dream to break the cycle of poverty, that besets the villagers in some small community?  Perhaps RI will become the largest  micro-credit enterprise sponsor and mentor on earth.

 

            When asked this question - other Rotarians known to you have answered this way:    ROTARY:

 

 

<                 dreams of true world peace

<                 dreams of a waiting list for Rotary membership

<                 dreams of using our demographics as a model in taking an active role in conflict resolution

<                 dreams of removing the word "confrontation" from our vocabulary and replacing it with the word "co-operation"

<                 dreams of all Rotarians becoming “committed Rotarians”

 

 

We  might dream to:

 

 

<                 use RYLA resource more effectively

<                 to improve our public image

<                 get involved in new projects - water wells, population control, population reduction, new disease  surveillance labs for sicknesses not yet discovered,

<                 foster new and expanded programs for the Rotary Foundation

<                 improve club attendance and lower the average age of your club membership

 

Change is in the Wind

           

            The world in which we live has changed dramatically since 1905

Innovations in travel and communication have made the world community a smaller and more accessible place in which to live and work

            The faster pace of modern life with demands of both work and family can often be difficult to balance with volunteer service

 

            Community leaders and social researchers  worry about the lack of community spirit and a shortage of volunteers who add such a rich dimension to our towns and cities. But the numbers of potential members are still there provided that the opportunities to serve are presented in meaningful ways which underscore their world, their lifestyles and their feelings.

 

            New members will not readily join clubs or be lured from their satisfying cacoons or computers. New members will not be satisfied with rules which applied to the gracious business styles of 100 years ago. New members will not join clubs which do  not do something relevant or needed in his or her community. Meetings must be more than just that! Somebody once gave a Rotary prayer that went like this:

 

Now I sit me down to sleep

The speaker's dull, the subject deep

If he should stop before I wake,

Give me a poke, for goodness sake.

 

            Does that sound attractive to a vibrant, ambitious young professional or executive? Can we ask a young person to join an organization that meets in an unattractive venue, presents a poor meal and boring speakers and does not challenge them to do anything?

 

            In to-days world, the faster pace makes demands on individuals and they will only give Rotary part of their life. If Rotary is meaningful fellowship and the opportunity for worthwhile service, the organization must continue to evolve.

 

Paul Harris:

 

"As movements grow older, they become institutionalized. Traditions hampers the exercise of reason... Unworthy and irrational features are permitted tom continue merely because they have always been. No one cares to disturb the precedent even though it may be manifest that its reason, if there ever was one, no longer exists. The spirit becomes lost in the letter of the law."

 

            Changing customs and changing attitudes will be a challenging task. It will be far more difficult than maintaining the status quo. We are often feel threatened by change. 

 

            There is change in the wind. The clarion call is for Rotary to avoid sleep walking into the next millennium.

 

Rotary has to, in part , re-invent itself!

 

            Our organization has recently considered matters which will have a positive impact on membership growth and thus service potential:

 

 

•                     a change in the attendance make-up requirements

•                     modification of club territory rules

•                     simplification of club membership rules while eliminating the other restrictive and some would say "meaningless" classifications.

•                     we have tinkered with our rules regarding membership transferred; and,

•                     entrenched the requirement for dual gender clubs

 

Transforming An Organization

 

            By any objective measure, the amount of significant, often traumatic, change in organizations has grown tremendously in the past two decades although some people predict that most of the re-engineering, restrategizing, mergers, down sizing, quality efforts and cultural renewal projects will soon disappear, I think that is highly unlikely. 

 

            Powerful macro social forces are at work and these forces may grow stronger in the next few decades.  As a result, more and more organizations will be pushed to reduce costs, improve the quality of service, locate new opportunities for growth and increase effectiveness, visibility and public respect.

 

            At the same time, more will be expected of the very business and professional people who have traditionally become Rotarians. The equally compelling competing

priorities will be stress filled!

 

            Whenever human communities are forced to adjust to shifting conditions, pain is ever present. A significant amount of the anguish witnessed in the past decade was unavoidable.  Like other volunteer organizations, we’ve made errors. The most common of which are these:

           

1.  Allowing for too much complacency

 

            By far the biggest mistake organizations make when trying to change is to plunge ahead without establishing a high enough sense of urgency in management and senior leadership to filter to the membership.  This error is fatal because transformations always fail to achieve their objectives when complacency levels are high.

            Without a sense of urgency, people won’t give that extra effort that is often essential.  They won’t make needed sacrifices to affect change.  Instead, they claim:

 

             “---that’s the status quo”

 

and resist initiatives from above.  As a result, re-engineering bogs down, new strategies fail to be implemented well, growth in the form of new clubs will not assimilate properly, downsizing our expectations in the area of attendance and classification issues will never take priority over quality programs which are sought at  the club level.

 

2.  Failing to create a sufficiently powerful guiding coalition

 

            Major changes is said to be impossible unless the head of the organization is an active supporter.  In our case, we must include the President of the Board of Directors.  What I’m talking about here goes far beyond that.  In successful transformations, senior management at any level must be seen to pull together as a team.  This group rarely includes all but the most senior people because some of them just won’t buy in, at least at first.  But of the most successful cases, the coalition is always powerful - in terms of formal titles, information and expertise, reputations and relationships in the leadership hierarchy.  Individuals alone, no matter how competent or charismatic, never have all the assets needed to overcome tradition and inertia except in very small organizations.  Weak sisters are usually even less effective in the midst of such forced change.

 

3.  Underestimating the power of vision

 

            Urgency and a strong guiding team are necessary but insufficient conditions for major change.  Of the remaining elements that are always found in successful transformations, none is more important than a sensible vision.

 

            Vision plays a key role in producing useful change by helping to direct, align and inspire actions on the part of large numbers of people.  Without an appropriate vision, a transformation effort can easily dissolve into a list of confusing, incompatible and time consuming projects that go in the wrong direction or nowhere at all or in ways which are inconsistent with the overall theme of the organization.  Without a sound vision, the re-engineering project in one zone either won’t add up in a meaningful way or won’t stir up the kind of energy needed to properly implement any of the initiatives in the other 33 zones.

 

            Sensing the difficulty in producing change, some people will try to manipulate events quietly behind the scenes and purposely avoid any public discussion of further direction.  But without a vision to guide decision making, each and every choice for clubs, districts and zones can dissolve into an interminable debate.  The smallest of decisions can generate heated conflict that sap energy and destroy morale.  Insignificant tactical choices can dominate discussions and waste hours of precious time.

 

            A useful rule of thumb: Whenever one cannot describe the vision driving a change initiative in five minutes or less and get a reaction that signifies both understanding and interest, we are in for trouble. 

 

4.  Why vision is essential

            Vision refers to a picture of the future in some implicit or explicit commentary on why people should strive to create that future.  In a change process, a good vision serves three important purposes:

            1.  Clarifies the general direction for change.

2.  It motivates people to take action in the right direction, even if the initial steps are personally painful.

3.  It helps coordinate the actions of different people even thousands and thousands of individuals in a remarkably fast and efficient way.

 

            Clarifying the direction of change is important because more often than not, people disagree on direction or are confused or wonder whether significant change is really even necessary.  An effective vision and back up strategies have resolved these issues.  They say:

 

            “This is how our world is changing and here are compelling reasons why we should set these goals and pursue these new services to accomplish the goals.”  With clarity and direction, the inability to make decisions can disappear.  Endless debates about whether to implement this new program or use the money in a particular way often evaporate.  One simple question:

 

Is this in line with the vision?

 

can help eliminate hours, days or even months of torturous discussion.

 

            In a similar way, a good vision can help clear the decks of expensive and time consuming clutter.  With clarity of direction, inappropriate projects can be identified and terminated even if they have political support.  The resources thus freed can put toward the transformation process.

           

The nature of an effective vision

 

 

            The word “vision” connotes something grand or mystical, but the direction that guides successful transformations is often simple and mundane, as in:

 

“Let’s eliminate polio!”

 

            The enormous success of this vision was, indeed simple. But to become a successful transformation was only one element in a larger system that also includes strategies, plans and budgets. Like all enduring Rotary programs, this vision expanded from a district project, was later debated at a COL and adopted as a world-wide initiative. The process for change recurs.

 

            The Council on Legislation held in Chicago April 21-27, 2001 received that greatest number of legislative proposals for change ever presented to Rotary International by its clubs and districts.

 

G                  631 items of proposed legislation

G                  388 proposed enactments

G                  243 proposed resolutions

 

The Council adopted:

 

 

�                 55 enactments

�                 43 resolutions

�                 3 items referred to the Board

 

 

            To put it mildly, this was an historic Council. A very few examples which will lead the way well beyond our 100^th birthday will provide an environment for enduring change in our organization:

 

#                    To request the RI Board to consider encouraging governors to promote clubs working together on common service projects.                                           

 

            In some parts of the world clubs compete rather than work together. This will have the effect of dramatically changing the cherished principals of club autonomy in favour of strategic alliances which could have enormous and efficacious impact

 

#                    To request the RI Board to consider using the Internet to allow clubs to review their RI and TRF accounts                                                                    

 

            This is on the way and will lead to administrative efficiencies and reduced costs which will be welcomed in many corners of our volunteer persona

 

#                    To request the RI Board to consider exceptions to the RI constitutional documents so as to provide for new model clubs including cyber clubs:              

 

            This will happen! The “internet makeup meeting”  is not far away. People who are housebound, travelling or in hospital can still participate

 

            At this landmark moment, we are challenged to be catalysts for change. Our challenge will be to not simply accept the status quo, but to question it.

 

            If  I  could wipe out a single sentence from the Rotary vocabulary, it would be:  

    “But that’s the way we’ve always done it.” 

 

                        We might in the word’s of Paul Harris be revolutionary in our approach to change.

 

           

We should never let  complacency be the excuse for missed opportunities.         The key opportunity is today! 

 

Let the future in Rotary begin! 

 

Three areas of Change

 

1)                  Program

 

2)                  Structure

 

3)                  Reach

 

Each must answer the simple Vision question:

 

What is Rotary?     What does Rotary Do?

 

            The answer to the questions will provide both a vision and an action plan

But where do we want to end up? What will be the result of our efforts to get there?

Many of you will have seen the movie :  Patch Adams - played by Robin Williams.

 

            His psychotic friend in the mental institution was obsessed with peoples short sightedness.    Hold 4 fingers up in front of you - hold them up to your face - how many do you see?   Now focus on me - beyond your fingers - how many do you see ?

 

8

 

            According to Patch Adams, visionaries see the obvious.  But, by looking beyond, (as Raja Saboo invited us to do 10 years ago) you see beyond the obvious. In the words of the visionary Patch Adams, “You treat the patient not the disease.”

 

            We are all challenged to see the vision of Rotary through the eyes of your great - great granddaughter! Can you do it?

 

 

?                 What will she look like?

?                 What will she be doing?

?                 Will she make a difference to the lives of others?

 

I see a Rotary in three images:

 

1) Program

 

 

<                       Responding to human needs:   From its earliest days, Rotary has re-acted to the plight of those less fortunate. This characteristic will surly survive the next 100 years.

 

<                       Children:  We cannot talk about the future without talking about children. They are the future.

 

<                       Friendship :  In 1914, Sir Harry Lauder spoke to the Rotary Club of Chicago. He was not only a famous and distinguished Scottish singer and comedian but a highly recognised humanitarian. In the course of his remarks (as note in the 50 year history book of Old #1) about changes brought about by the war, he uttered one sentence that so impressed the members, that it was much talked about and widely quoted for years:

 

“Rotary is the golden strand in the cable of international friendship”

 

      Today, the cable might be fibre optic or digital ASDL over a PAN.  But friendship will be found, nourished and treasured just as much in cyber space as it is over a noon day luncheon gathering

 

 

2) Structure

 

 

<                  Feminine is In!       13% to 50% gender differences will be brought into balance. We will see a largely expanded base of women in our numbers, adding to that dimension of energy and competence which has characterized the last decade.

 

 

<                 Leadership: Just as Paul Harris was able to articulate and provide a forum for fellowship with the compelling glue of self interest and civic betterment as his good works. Effective service and leadership will emerge in ways which are consistent with the creative and business-like adaptability with which Rotary has been known for the last 100 years.  Model Clubs will generate modular services  

 

3) Reach

 

<                       Scope  - New Model Clubs will greatly expand our potential for membership development in service specialties. Can you see a club made up of no others than psychiatrists? Might there contribution to world service be peculiarly identified with their profession?

 

<                       Focus - The future is far out. “Smart Service” and deployment are in! .  In time, society will recognise itself by its differences and not its likeliness  with person micro-processors built in - like pace-makers are today – so powerful as to create an awareness and thus acquaintance with other persons - even if never seen, heard or ever having met

 

            Smart Service connectively will respond to our deepest yearnings for friendship and in helping society

 

Cyber Clubs  – Resolution

 

            Rotary has indeed began the process of recognizing that the 21^st century is here!  The technology revolution is allowing us to do more and our ability to do things differently is changing

 

            President Frank has greatly enhanced our use of the internet - the prevalence is today so widespread that the Technology task force has seen fit to provide guidelines for the use of Electronic Communications - e-ail - in Rotary International. Appointments are considered on the basis on the prospects level of electronic literacy!

 

But don’t be so smug as to think we are not missing an important opportunity.

 

To-day’s world is wired and wireless.    Distance is dead!

 

            Rotary is already falling significantly behind this cyber world despite what all the futurists are saying:

 

The future is wireless!

A model club - a cyber club - would allow:

 

<                  a pilot project to do what other organizations are already doing.

<                 Our membership would be enhanced

<                 service opportunities expanded and

<                 support for the foundation increased

 

            A chat room - filled with the comradery of a Rotary meeting - acting on the 4 avenues of service with both audio and video is now available. The technology is there  - is Rotary?  It will be!

 

            By the COL having passed this resolution, the board will be able to monitor a pilot project which allow a new form of Rotary Club to :