Employing Our Adaptive Impact Plan

By: Bridget Woodbury

As a student of arts administration, I spent a lot of time wondering about arts organizations and how they achieved their mission.

I arrived at my interest in organizational planning through my Museum Management class. A working stage manager, at the time, I was intrigued by strict plans which could be succinctly executed to deliver on results. As I learned about the many examples of museums struggling to maintain a narrow focus on their mission, or to respond to restrictive conditions placed on collections and when it came time for me to select a topic for my thesis, I wanted to dig deeper into mission creep, what causes it, and how it might be prevented. As you might imagine, much of the deviation from mission is related to donors and finances — true mission creep— but it’s also sometimes caused by a shift in audience or the needs of a community, which are valid reasons to reconsider a mission. The existing method of planning and strategy was not necessarily right for community-based, mission-driven, organizations made up of diverse and unique perspectives on the type of work and impact desired.

My research led me to interrogate the term and application of “strategic planning.” In a blog post I wrote in March 2020 titled, “​​How Do You Write A Strategic Plan In A Quickly Changing Field? Adaptive Impact Planning,” I shared some of my conclusions from my Master’s thesis, “Your Mission, if You Choose to Accept it: Evaluating Planning as a Preventative Approach to Nonprofit Mission Creep in a Visual Arts Context” from 2015, updated for the time. And, today, I am excited to share an reimagined framework for this work and historical outlook, which has been updated to reflect the discourse today in 2022. 

 As a practicing artist, arts manager, communications specialist, and organizational development facilitator, I note the particular moment of community and societal change underway. At the time of this publication - within just the previous two years - we have lived through and witnessed rampant change in the way nonprofit arts, cultural, and creative organizations view their work and role in communities and societies as a whole - this means they must, themselves, interrogate the purpose of planning, the role of strategy, and how they make choices amidst ever changing circumstances.

What is an Adaptive Impact Plan (AIP)?

Though traditional strategic planning is becoming less relevant, its problems do not render planning obsolete, as a whole. With this in mind, I developed the adaptive impact plan - or AIP, for short. An adaptive impact plan is created through a deliberate planning process that addresses the reciprocity between mission and programming through the eyes of the stakeholders at every level. It combines tactical flexibility with practical mission application, and is driven by choice.

The AIP process, initially proposed as part of my Master’s thesis, yields a set of questions or directives that an organization and its members can use to make decisions in real-time, rather than relying solely on a prescriptive strategic plan which might not have anticipated a range of potential events, like a global pandemic or a million dollar donation. It focuses on mission-alignment, defining and serving a specific audience, organizational sustainability, and is centered on organizational values.

Creating an AIP, specifically, gives arts organizations a tool to respond to change and to make decisions without performing a full strategic assessment every time they are presented with a new possibility…and without compromising its mission, vision, and values. It makes an organization simultaneously more autonomous, in terms of operations, and more connected to the communities it serves.

Within this process, organizations are asked to set aside the time, energy, and resources to engage in a critically reflective and thoughtful process, which occurs in four phases, which are reflected in the below graphic.

The planning process is centered on the organization’s constituents and it begins with and returns to the organization’s mission, vision, and values. Because the mission, vision, and values are integral to the organization’s formation and continued existence, it must be considered at every step of a planning process. If the mission, vision, and values are not in alignment with what is being discussed, either they need to change or the organization’s priorities do.

In each stage, external facilitators engage with the organization’s representatives, charged with shepherding the process, and it’s community constituents to achieve four process outcomes:

  • Evaluate: Review activities and communities in the context of the organization’s current mission, vision, and values.

  • Synthesize: Distill feedback into refined mission, vision, values, and organizational priorities.

  • Document: Write the final Adaptive Impact Plan.

  • Implement: Disseminate the plan to community constituents.

To learn more, check out Creative Generation’s latest publication: Adaptive Impact Planning: A Short Take.

Adaptive Impact Planning at Creative Generation

From May - December 2021, Creative Generation engaged in the process on the previous page to refine its foundational framing - the mission, vision, and values of the organization - and produce its first Adaptive Impact Plan.

I speak for both myself — as the progenitor of the AIP — and Creative Generation when I say that I’m thrilled to share our plan and process with you, in an effort to increase the field’s discourse on this essential topic and use our transparent experience as one examination of a strategy which may assist others in the field.

First, be sure to check out our mission, vision, and values.

Next, you may find our AIP linked here and our guiding questions below:

When Creative Generation is faced with a new opportunity or challenge, these questions will help guide decision-making and answer questions of how to move forward.

Is this an opportunity to further and apply knowledge that might address gaps in the field? Can we share that knowledge strategically?

This question offers an opportunity to prioritize the needs of the entire field, beyond just our organization. It centers our role as a service organization.

Does this opportunity prioritize the input of young creatives and their communities?

This question offers an opportunity to center the subjects of our work and elevate voices historically excluded.

Does this opportunity align with our collective shared values and organizational principles?

This question offers an opportunity to affirm the perspectives and aspirations of the individuals who constitute our collective.

Does this opportunity rely on oppressive systems and institutions? If so, are we able to actively oppose these systems through our work? Are our collaborators willing and able to oppose these systems?

This question offers an opportunity to utilize our privilege to identify, work within and dismantle problematic systems that disproportionately impact historically marginalized communities.

Does this opportunity honor different styles of communication, collaboration, teaching, and learning?

This question offers an opportunity to meet people where they are and ensure that our work is easy to understand and apply.

In the context of our current work, how does this opportunity help sustain Creative Generation as an organization and as a collective of individuals?

This question offers an opportunity to make space for learning, conversation, creativity, and joy.