Making Mistakes Helps Us Navigate Change

In the process of strategic planning, nonprofit leaders need to make mission-critical decisions with imperfect information. More often than not, things are in flux. Maybe a critical staff role is in transition, or the CEO is retiring, or there is a programmatic opportunity that requires immediate action. It can be tempting to hold off on strategic planning or on making decisions until there is more complete information, but it’s important to remind ourselves that we will never have perfect knowledge. We must accept and embrace ambiguity so we can proceed with our work. This may mean that we make some mistakes, but all hope is not lost. In fact, failures are part of the learning and adapting process, and setbacks are part of innovation and progress.

One way to navigate through uncertainty is to make small, strategic moves — because even small moves enable organizations to make progress toward their big goals. They help us build our knowledge and capabilities, so we can be well poised to act as new opportunities and information become available. And this does not mean you’re not bold enough. You can have a bold vision for your organization that stays solid and consistent as you take steps forward. This is where a strategic plan can give you a strong foundation, so you know your core identity, your values, and your strengths from which to anchor your tests and experiments. 

Whether it’s big steps you take or smaller ones, in the context of extremely rapid change, it’s important to adapt and take action even when you don’t have all the information you want. Teams should meet frequently, generate data, test, adjust, repeat. Even when things fail, you are building capabilities for your future. The risks of waiting for certainty before making the perfect move are worse than making a mistake.