The Pause That Propels: When Associations Hit Stop to Move Forward

Most associations operate under constant addition. New programs stack on top of existing ones. Member requests become new initiatives. Strategic plans list what to start, rarely what to stop. The to-do list grows, the team stays the same size, and everyone gets a little more stretched.

Ann Gergen, Executive Director of AGRiP (Association of Governmental Risk Pools), took a different approach. At digitalNow 2025, she accepted an innovation award that recognized something unusual: the courage to stop in order to move faster. 

Her seven-person team made a decision that many association leaders consider but few execute. They paused programs. Not because those programs failed. Not because members didn't value them. They paused them to make space for transformation that would deliver greater value later.

The hard truth that most associations avoid: You can't tack AI onto already-maxed workflows. Space must be made. Resources must be redirected. Something has to stop so something else can start.

The Three Futures Exercise: When the Answer Becomes Obvious

Ann sat down with her board and staff in one room. She didn't ask them whether AGRiP should invest in AI. She asked them to envision three different futures, five years out.

Future 1: Fully AI-enabled AGRiP What if they went all-in immediately? Rapid experimentation, inevitable failures, significant learning. Positioning as an innovation leader for their members. Risks acknowledged, but the possibility of defining the future for government risk pools.

Future 2: Dabbling with AI
What if they tried some small experiments while maintaining all current operations? The group exploring this scenario quickly realized the problem. Seven staff members already stretched thin. Partial commitment meant nothing would be done well. They'd neither maintain excellence in current services nor make meaningful progress with AI.

Future 3: Wait and see What if they let other associations go first and learned from their mistakes? This group painted a concerning picture: AGRiP falling behind not just other associations, but their own members. Government risk pools asking why their association couldn't provide the AI-powered insights and tools they were already using elsewhere.

When the three groups presented their futures, the path became clear.

Ann reflected on this moment at digitalNow 2025. The board wasn't swayed by any particular argument or persuasive tactic. The exercise made one future obviously right. AGRiP needed to lead their members through this transformation, not follow and not sit on the sidelines.

By October 2024, they had allocated resources to what they carefully called "AI experimentation." That word choice mattered. Not implementation. Experimentation. It set expectations for learning rather than perfection. It acknowledged that not everything would work. It gave the board permission to see failures as valuable data.

The commitment required board buy-in, team buy-in, and a willingness to tell stakeholders "not this year."

What Actually Got Shelved: The Hard Choices

The resources had to come from somewhere. AGRiP made difficult but strategic decisions about what to pause. Ann's team presented these trade-offs transparently to the board. They weren't abandoning member services permanently. They were creating space for transformation that would deliver far greater value.

Programs with historical data

Some initiatives had accumulated years of baseline information. Compensation surveys with two decades of data could skip a cycle and trend forward. Financial benchmarking could rely on existing numbers for another year. Members would still have valuable information, just not the absolute latest update.

The principle: If you have enough historical information, you can bridge a gap temporarily.

Member programs that could reduce frequency

Webinars that happened monthly could shift to quarterly. Publications on regular schedules could adjust timing. The content stayed valuable, the frequency changed.

The principle: Reduce rather than eliminate. Monthly to quarterly. Annual to biennial. Weekly to monthly.

New development work

Presentations on new topics got shelved with one exception: They could present on their AI experimentation itself. The constraint became content. Their transformation journey became something members could learn from.

The principle: Turn your change process into member value.

The resource reality

AGRiP had the same seven staff members. The same budget. The only variable was how they allocated time, money, and energy.

Each paused program could be explained and defended to members. None were emergencies. Together they freed meaningful resources. The discipline was clear: If it wasn't AI-focused this year, it waited.

Nine Months Later: Everything Worked (But Not As Expected)

At digitalNow 2025, Ann reported on what happened after their strategic pause. "Everything we did worked," she said, then added the important qualifier: "Not everything exactly the way we expected it to."

That's what experimentation means. Accepting unexpected outcomes as valuable learning.

What AGRiP accomplished in nine months:

• Knowledge assistant went from testing to launch in two days instead of the planned two weeks
• Newsletter automation became operational within fourteen days
• All seven staff members earned their AI professional certification (AAiP)
• Now using AI to help generate over 300 learning sessions annually
• Most surprising: Their seven-person team stayed ahead of larger, better-resourced members who were still forming committees to study whether to study AI

They are beginning 2026 with plans to enable two more legacy projects with AI. By the end of 2026, they will have touched every single major initiative. The progression shows that you don't pause forever. You pause strategically.

During digitalNow sessions, Ann sat with her team between presentations. They'd lean over, whisper to each other, jot notes. "Oh, we could do that." Always gathering more ideas for what's possible.

Her perspective on being "ahead of the pack" was telling. She doesn't think about it that way. "What matters is what we're doing for our members and what more we could be doing." Coming to digitalNow always reveals more opportunities, not fewer.

How to Decide What Gets Shelved

Every association faces the same question: We can't do everything, so what do we choose?

The reality most associations avoid: Your team is already maxed out.

The math that doesn't work: Current workload + AI initiatives = burnout and failure.

The math that does work: Strategic pause on existing work + focused AI work = actual progress.

Four decision criteria from AGRiP's approach

1. Look for programs with historical data bridges

Can you trend forward from existing information? Do you have multi-year baselines that buy you time?

Ask yourself: What could pause for a year because the data already exists?

Consider:

• Annual surveys with five years of trend data
• Quarterly benchmarks with established patterns
• Regular research updates with historical context
• Reports that compare year-over-year when the comparison already exists

2. Distinguish member-facing from infrastructure

What directly serves members versus what maintains systems? What's urgent versus what's important?

The hard truth: Some member-facing programs can wait if they enable better service later.

Ask yourself: Does this maintain value or create new value?

Consider:

• Programs running because "we've always done them"
• Services that members use out of habit rather than necessity
• Offerings that could consolidate
• Events that could shift to less frequent schedules

3. Turn your transformation into content

Your AI journey might be more valuable than another generic program. Your experimentation process teaches members something they can't learn elsewhere.

Ask yourself: Can our transformation itself become content our members need?

AGRiP took this approach. They'd present on prepared topics or their AI experimentation. The constraint created value. Other associations learning to navigate AI found their journey instructive.

4. Reduce frequency rather than eliminate

There's a psychological difference between pausing and canceling. Between adjusting timing and stopping completely.

Ask yourself: Can we adjust timing rather than stop completely?

Options include:

• Monthly meetings to quarterly
• Annual conferences to biennial
• Weekly communications to monthly
• Quarterly reports to annual

The Conversations That Make This Possible

Strategic pausing requires more than executive decision-making. It requires bringing key stakeholders along.

Getting board buy-in

AGRiP's three futures exercise let the board discover the answer themselves rather than being told what to do. They weren't being asked for permission to pause programs. They were co-creating the decision about which future to pursue.

Once the board chose to go all-in on AI, they became protectors of that focus. When questions arose about paused programs, board members could explain the strategic choice they'd made together.

The board protects focus when they've co-created the vision.

Getting team buy-in

Seven people means total transparency is required. You can't hide strategic decisions in a small team. Ann acknowledged the reality upfront: Same people, different priorities.

The gift to staff was permission to focus instead of juggling everything. They were protected from the impossible position of "do your current work plus AI work." The organization made clear choices about what mattered this year.

Staff who would normally resist change often welcome it when it means they can finally do fewer things well.

Member communication

Transparency about what waits and why matters. Confidence about what gets better matters more.

AGRiP's approach: "We're choosing to serve you better by doing less this year."

That kind of confidence requires conviction. You can't hedge or apologize. You have to believe that strategic focus delivers more value than scattered effort.

Why this is hard

Associations default to addition, never subtraction. Saying no feels like mission failure. Board members champion specific programs they care about. Staff build careers around certain initiatives. The fear of choosing wrong looms large.

What if another association keeps doing everything and adds AI? What if members revolt? What if the paused programs turn out to be more essential than predicted?

Why this is necessary

Doing everything poorly serves no one. Staff burnout serves no one. Failed AI implementations because teams were stretched too thin serve no one.

AGRiP's seven people going all-in outperformed larger organizations that tried to do everything. By the end of 2026, they'll have transformed every initiative because they had the discipline to focus in 2025.

The Paradox of Strategic Pause

Ann Gergen accepted an innovation award at digitalNow 2025. Her seven-person team had outpaced larger organizations. They would touch every major initiative by 2026 because they paused strategically in 2025.

The invitation her story offers: Look at your project list not to add AI to it, but to clear space for AI.

The hard truth: You can't do this without shelving something.

Three questions to consider:

• Which three futures will your board explore together?
• What programs have enough historical data to pause temporarily?
• Can your transformation process become content your members need?

The resource equation AGRiP proved: Time + Money + Energy = Fixed. Strategic focus = Variable.

Ann's perspective stays consistent. What matters is what her organization does for members and what more they could be doing. Coming to events like digitalNow always reveals more opportunities, never fewer.

The paradox: By 2026, AGRiP will have transformed everything because in 2025 they committed to doing less.

The pause isn't forever. But it might be exactly what propels you forward.