BOF Vision for orienteering

[Becks]

Apologies for the length of this, am just about to rush off so can't be bothered faffing with attachments.

A vision for British Orienteering – a consultation process
Introduction and summary
At a recent meeting, the Council decided that it would be beneficial to develop a vision for British Orienteering.
Council also decided that there should be wide consultation with the membership and a range of methods is being employed to do that, including this circular, which is being sent to all of British Orienteering’s Constituent Associations and Clubs.
You are asked to discuss this document in your Association or Club and send us feedback, preferably by e-mail to vision@britishorienteering.org.uk, although written communications sent to the British Orienteering office will also be welcome.
As we are anticipating a considerable volume of feedback, we do not plan to reply to each submission. Instead, we will publish a summary of the feedback received.
We would like your feedback as soon as possible, but certainly by 15 December 2006.
What is a vision, and why should we have one for British Orienteering?
A vision is a way of articulating in a reasonably concise way the situation we would like the sport to be in at the end of, say, the next 10 years. The vision enables us to decide the priorities of possible action programmes: if a particular action programme does not support or enable the vision, or in some way clearly move us toward the vision, that programme will be given a much lower priority.
This ability to set priorities is especially necessary where our resources, human and financial, are limited, as they currently are.
In addition, this means that the vision must be stated carefully, as otherwise things we would like to do could wrongly be made a low priority or not done at all.
Since the vision is setting out in summary where we would like our sport to be in the future, it can act as a way of encouraging greater team work and co-operation as we work together to achieve the vision.
Having a vision can also be important in gaining support from outside the sport, as it tells organisations, companies or people that this is a sport which has thought about where it’s going, and is keen to make progress.
The vision could be in many formats, but would usually be written as text, ideally reasonably briefly, so that it can be easily understood, and is “approachable”.
If the vision is also inspirational, that can be helpful, as it may well at a later stage encourage support from people not involved in its formulation.
What might the vision contain?
Since the vision is about where we want to be, as opposed to where we are, it should usually reflect desired change, unless there needs to be significant work to maintain the current status, but can contain elements which are already mostly achieved if thought important enough.
An example might be the age range of orienteers: we would probably justifiably feel that orienteering was already practised by all ages of participant, so, unless that was under threat, it might not figure in the vision. However, if we saw that it was important to increase significantly the proportion of participants aged between 20 and 40, we might reflect that in the vision statement. We could also keep eg “Practised by all ages” in the vision if it was a vital part of the vision we wanted to communicate.
There seems to be support for including these three areas in the vision:
1. The size of British orienteering (number of participants) [eg 20,000 regular orienteers; it should be possible to determine a target when the results of the 2007 Membership Scheme are known.]
2. Whether orienteering is growing in popularity in Britain [eg orienteering was growing (eg 10%) year by year]
3. What the public profile of orienteering is [eg widespread and accurate understanding of the basic concept of orienteering; whether orienteering was recognised as a sport offering an enjoyable mental and physical challenge, at elite level comparable with more widely practised sports; how well run the sport is; whether orienteering is a leader in environmental matters; etc]
Some possible areas that could also appear in the vision might include:
4. Whether international success at competitive level is important [eg British athletes regularly in the top 10 in the world in all age categories]
5. Whether there is a structure that encourages everyone to improve their skills and have fun from their participation [eg skills development pathways]
6. What the status and recognition of those who helped run orienteering is [eg most participants active as volunteers]
7. Whether orienteering is a culture where people’s welfare is considered [eg risks well managed, including those arising from Child protection issues]
8. Whether orienteering events create a welcoming environment to all [eg events held where they are accessible, variety of type of event, age classes etc].
9. Whether orienteering is a sport that offered an enjoyable mixture of physical exercise and social interaction [eg post-event social opportunities available]
It can be a real challenge to decide which direction we want to go in, or at least what the priorities are, and then to express them succinctly. However, it can pay huge dividends in enabling us to focus on a clear direction for the sport, and gain momentum as we see progress being made towards the vision.
What format should your feedback take?
To try and make it easier for you to give feedback and for us to review it, it is suggested that your feedback be in four sections (you can choose to feedback in one, two, or any number of these sections) as follows:
A. Whether you agree that dimensions 1-3 above should figure in the vision.
B. Which dimensions (if any) to the vision you would propose other than those listed as 1-9 above.
C. Which of the dimensions 4-9 (or more as suggested in B.) you feel should figure in the vision.
D. What comments you have about the example vision shown below. You might even wish to propose something!
Example vision
Orienteering - a sport widely understood and highly regarded for its physical and mental challenges and its care for the environment; a growing sport that is accessible and attractive to all.
We look forward to hearing from you.



Comment to nicole@britishorienteering.org.uk

[martyn]

Council also decided that there should be wide consultation with the membership and a range of methods is being employed to do that,

including NOPESPORT...

I was at the meeting, and Council agreed to take note of the discussion generated through the Nopesport pages, alongside the feedback gained through other methods (Associations, Clubs and directly from members).

So get typing!

[Becks]

At the inaugural weekend the new Chief Exec, Mike Hamilton, was incredibly impressive in everything he said, but was enthusing massively about Nopesport being a positive device. Wonderfully encouraging, so get up and have your say!

[johnloguk]

Yes I've heard Mike Hamilton speak a few times, and although he isn't an orienteer he does talk a lot of sense. Personally I'd like to see him at a few more events getting down and dirty with the rest of us, but sometimes I do think that an outsider has a better view of things than those of us close to the action.

"Consultation" and "Visions" can have the habit of being a tick box exercise, but if we really love this sport I reckon we have to give it our two penneth worth and see what happens.

The knack is getting a "vision" that actually means something and is achievable, not just something we can pin on a wall and feel smug about.

If we are going to say something like "in 10 years time Orienteering will be an exciting high profile sport, accessible to everyone, practised at all levels from recreational to international elite etc etc" then we have to put things in place to make it happen. Just saying it ain't enough, but then we all know that don't we

[graeme]

The knack is getting a "vision" that actually means something and is achievable, not just something we can pin on a wall and feel smug about.

Maybe not for public consumption, but a meaningful management vision would be a list of things you might expect us to do, but in fact we don't regard as worth resourcing.

And the only truly meaningful statements are those for which you can make a coherent case for the opposite (which was not the case in the previous consultation).

For example, here are some possible vision statements and their credible alternates, illustrated in each case by previous
decisions which support one or other option, without having a vision to guide them..

__________________________________________________
"orienteering is a safe family-based sport"
(or an adventurous outdoor activity)

BOF not moving to become governing body for Mountain marathons, adventure racing, MTBO etc.
_________________________________________________

"orienteering will concentrate on keeping and serving its current membership"
(or diversify and attract new members)

Introducing short courses (for the competent unfit) in place of B courses (for the incompetent fit)

_________________________________________________

"orienteering has a visible elite presence for the non-orienteering UK public"
(or concentrates on elite performance overseas)

Clash of squad w/e with Oxford race.
__________________________________________________

"orienteering is a cheap sport run by volunteers"
(or an expensive sport run professionally)

Centrally set levies, C3/C4 structure etc.
__________________________________________________

[Mrs H.]

"orienteering is a safe family-based sport"
(or an adventurous outdoor activity)

I've been trying to find a bit of time to think about this - and failing - but Graeme's example is making me focus in and if fused comes close to my version of the vision (which of course is only one facet of the sport) along the lines of :

"In 10 years time orienteering will be a well-publicised outdoor sport providing much needed adventure and challenges for everyone from families through elite athletes to mature participants"

Which is pretty much the MADO ethos - or something like that

[tendon]

"Consultation" and "Visions" can have the habit of being a tick box exercise

But shouldn't be. A vision should be aspirational, providing a "future" towards which a development strategy can be established (a routemap, interpolating between the present and the future). The alternative is to extrapolate from the present, using historic trends. One is reactive, one is not.

Consultation - should pull together the components of the vision but generally shouldn't invite participants to offer alternatives for the vision itself!

“Orienteering – an inclusive sport recognised across social and ethnic groups … sustainable and environmentally pro-active ……”

Sustainable orienteering - running the sport now without compromising the potential for future generations to participate in the sport (as we know it)?

[Mrs H.]

Yes I certainly agree about the sustainable/environmental aspect and shall try and work something into my vision (no very happy about "mature participants" either just couldn't think of a nice way to say "old people")

but do you not think the inclusivity thing might be a bit old hat in 10 years time - BOF seem to be working hard on their equal opportunities policies now and I feel that any self-respecting organisation that hasn't got it all buttoned up in the next year or two will be forced to the wall in the very near future.

I was actually hoping we could play to our slightly more "dangerous" side because that is our greatest strength - we need to let everyone know that we can provide an adventure for just about all of them.

[tendon]

inclusivity thing might be a bit old hat in 10 years time - BOF seem to be working hard on their equal opportunities policies now

Policy is one thing, practice another. Did the assembly field at the November Classic look "inclusive" to you? The intent may be there, but we don't seem to translate that to broad membership. I'd suggest we have a long way to go - you may have different perceptions.

My snippet isn't a complete vision, just two themes that I believe could be part of a wider statement.

[roadrunner]

Did the assembly field at the November Classic look "inclusive" to you?

No, as in most orienteering events, it didn't. But is that because we're discriminating in some way, or because the sport happens to appeal more to one sector of society than another?

After all, however much we go down the route of having events that are easy to get to, it's a fact of life that some of the best orienteering areas will only ever be reachable by car - so those without their own transport are always going to be at a disadvantage.

[tim sleepless]

The key for a successful vision is to keep it as simple, actionable and meaningful as possible. It also (as Graeme points out) needs to reflect the result of a conscious choice.

Frankly, given where BOF are I would probably just focus on a headline vision based around dimension 1 (membership numbers, or regular orienteers, or runner-days).

At it's simplest something like "20,000 by 2015" would work well. You then develop a set of subsidiary priorities and action plans that are designed to achieve that vision.

The majority of the other dimensions I just wouldn't bother with in the vision, for the following reasons.

2 (growth).. subsidary to an overall membership target

3.. (profile).. is a means to achieving (1), and doesn't reflect a choice (it's obvious that an alternative for orienteering to be misunderstood and not widely recognised is not a potential sensible option.

4. (international success). This is the only other
dimension I might put in (although I could argue that it's heavily dependent on achieving success in dimension 1. However, if you do put it in the vision, try and be specific somewhere about what international "success" is.

5. (Structure)... a means to (1) again I would have thought.

6. (Status)... likewise

7. (Welfare).. not a choice!

8. (Welcoming) Again a means, and not really a choice

9. (Enjoyable mix)... seems to be a mixture of a description of orienteering, and a means (social opportunities)

So to critique the example vision... It's way too wooly, and doesn't reflect concious choices.

While in 10 years time you'd probably be able to agree whether its growing or not, how will you know whether you are "widely understood", "highly regarded" "accessible" and "attractive". They are abstract concepts. And if you won't know whether you've achieved your goals, it will be pretty hard to agree and resource a plan to get there.

Likewise it doesn't represent a sensible conscious choice, an alternative contrary vision of being "misunderstood", "inaccessible" and "unattractive" hopefully not being debated for too long.

A great article to read if you have the opportunity is "Building your company's Vision" in Harvard Business Review Sept/Oct 1996.. it's probably one of the best articulations of how to put together a vision.

[LostOldTimer]

The Chief Executive is NOT an orienteer - that says it all.

BOF has a vision for the future of orienteering??

[Snail]

The Chief Executive is NOT an orienteer - that says it all.

And why should that be a problem? I would think that many sports have chief executives who are not participants.

Another way of looking at it would be that either no orienteers applied for the post when it was advertised, or that those that did apply were not considered good enough!

[PorkyFatBoy]

I thought about applying, but couldn't face an even longer commute than the 174 mile round trip I currently do, or a huge pay cut, and more importantly, having my every action critiqued by certain unhelpful, ill-informed people on Nopesport.

What Tim Sleepless says seems to make sense to me.

As regards inclusivity, there's a difference between excluding people and them deciding that them don't want to orienteer.

[Jon Brooke]

Maybe BOF should concentrate on developing a vision for BOF.

The thing is, orienteering in 10 years time will be wherever a whole bunch of different clubs, planners, organisers, competitors want to take it.

BOF might decide that their vision is to provide the most accessible sport for all. Club X might decide that it wants to concentrate on organising a night league. - incompatible?

Basically, what I am saying is that BOF should concentrate its vision on the areas where it really has an absolute mandate, which to my mind means doing a first rate admin job and enabling clubs to get on with putting on the events they want to, organising our international representation and doing some national level marketing of the sport.