{"id":12624,"date":"2023-12-12T06:00:30","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T06:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/?p=12624"},"modified":"2026-06-23T09:10:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:10:38","slug":"the-threatening-thirties-part-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/the-threatening-thirties-part-iii\/","title":{"rendered":"The Threatening Thirties: Part III"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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AUTHOR’S ATTESTATION: This article was written entirely by Jeff De Cagna FRSA FASAE, a human author, without using generative AI.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In Part II<\/strong><\/a>, I presented a stark and unwelcome picture of how myriad social, technological, economic, environmental, and political (STEEP) factors and forces are gathering to shape the 2030s as a threatening decade for the association community. The final part of the series this month will consider what boards, CEOs, and other decision-makers can do over the next 12 months to begin addressing the challenges facing their associations, stakeholders, and successors in the decade ahead.<\/p>\n

The Next Twelve Months Are Crucial<\/strong><\/h2>\n

With 2024\u2019s arrival now just weeks away, association decision-makers have one more year before the second half of this decade begins. These next twelve months offer a crucial window for both defeating the damaging constraints of our root cause orthodoxies<\/strong><\/a> and taking meaningful action to try to set our organizations and our community on a pathway toward a different and better future. It is important that we use our limited time wisely.<\/p>\n

As I have sought to communicate in this space over the last two months, I continue to monitor the accelerating and intensifying threats we face, and my disquiet about what they portend is growing. I am also concerned that our options for action will narrow significantly once the second half of this decade begins. The first four years of The Turbulent Twenties have been painful beyond measure and the deep toll of this collective suffering is real. Unfortunately, there is much more upheaval ahead, and many more tough decisions yet to make. None of this is exaggeration for effect.<\/em><\/strong> We have received multiple warnings, and it is now time to heed them.<\/p>\n

Taking Action in 2024<\/strong><\/h2>\n

At first glance, the three recommended actions below may not seem sufficiently bold given the high stakes outlined in this series. Upon further reflection, however, I believe most association decision-makers will recognize these steps for what they are: compelling and positive-sum actions that can be implemented without delay and with an immediate beneficial impact on themselves and their associations.<\/p>\n