Couldn’t agree with you more about the need to enhance fundamentals…there is also a need to identify best practices of those fundamentals outside of our selective niches in philanthropy.

Couldn’t agree with you less about what you define as fads. There is a difference between new practices or models and fads. the last time I checked fundraisng walks and social enterprise and social media were climbing not trending down. At nearly sixty years of age and a technopeasant, I am still willing to bet social media will be with us for a very long time. Just because an organization poorly executes in new models and does not focus on fundamentals doesn’t mean the models are fads…it eans the execution is flawed. Not sure if I have articulated that to my liking?

I think leadership in our work needs fundamentals (best thinking in the box) and novel, evidence-based thinking about innovation in our work…thinking outside the box. Your fad becomes my fundamental.

The next level of our work I thnk will be a creative merging of philanthropy-social enterprise-business sectors along with a general “trend” to collaborative sector blending and sector bending initiatives rather than a competitive scarcity model approach. We just have to find the bright spots in these ‘fads’, develop best practices and constantly, as you say, revisit the purpose in our work.

Have a feeling we are very close in our mutal thinking…but these are merely early morning musings towards the dialogue.

Best regards.

Jim