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March 20, 2018 by Douglas Meyer

Ski Racing and Strategic Planning

Thinking back to the coverage of the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, I remain impressed by the outsized success of the team from Norway. Winning 38 medals as a country of only five million people, they were definitely ‘punching above their weight,’ as my colleague David Williamson likes to say.

I had not, however, connected the team’s success at the Olympics to lessons for those of us in the social sectors until I read an article in The New York Times about the “five time-honored, if unconventional, team dictums” that guide the men’s alpine team in Norway.  I read and reread the article, struck by the way that these dictums seemed to apply not only to my own broad experience on work teams, but also to my specific experience helping our clients form successful strategic-planning teams.

  1. “A prohibition on jerks,” which, as noted in the article, is a variation on what Robert Sutton famously referenced with some stronger language. Not everyone on a strategic-planning team needs to be the picture of positive and polite, but we’ve certainly seen how including someone who is overtly negative or rude, often with the hope of ‘winning them over,’ can backfire and delay if not derail the process.
  2. “No class structure on the team.” As one of the team’s leaders noted, “There are no rookies and no champions on the team – we’re all equals.” On this point, what stood out is that we’ve certainly seen the benefit of having a mix of staff, from senior executives down to an occasional intern, participate as equals in a planning process. Some of the best ideas come from newer voices.
  3. “The social fabric of the team is paramount.” My own work experience aligns exactly with what one of their veterans said about his team experience: “There is almost no skill or ability you can have that is so good it allows you to ruin the social qualities of the team.”
  4. “Talk to each other, not about each other.” Translate this into an organizational planning process and you get two interpretations: talk about the plan or process, not the people; and if you really feel you must make a well-intentioned comment to someone that could be seen as critical, make it directly and quietly to that person.
  5. “Friday night is taco night.” Tacos or beer or big bowls of pasta – your call. Sharing a meal or a drink at the end of a long planning session is perfect for reinforcing points one through four.

I don’t know if following these rules will lead everyone to the same level of success that Norway had at the Olympics. They certainly are, however, a sound foundation on which to build any team, including a strategic planning team.

 

 

Filed Under: News

October 9, 2017 by Douglas Meyer

A Nobel Nudge

Profession Richard H ThalerKudos to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for their selection of Richard Thaler for the 2017 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.

In making the selection, the chairman of the prize committee cited Thaler’s broad “contributions and discoveries” in behavioral economics, and how he helped take the field from “being sort of a fringe and somewhat controversial part of economics to being a mainstream area of contemporary economic research.”

While that is undeniably important, we would, however, point to the more actionable aspects of his work.  Many of our clients have come to us with a hope of informing and improving public policy, for example, and on that topic Thaler’s work has been a revelation. In his book, Nudge, Thaler brings to life the way in which people make decisions, and the role of policy in shaping those decisions.

Click here to view a “Big Think” interview with Dr. Thaler explaining nudges,  or visit nudges.org for more examples.

So congratulations Dr. Thaler, and thank you for your insights and advice.

 

 

Filed Under: Ideas for non-profits

September 24, 2012 by Douglas Meyer

Remembering Rachel Carson, and learning lessons about social movements

To mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of “Silent Spring,” The New York Times Magazine this week published an insightful article on the role that publication played in advancing the Environmental Movement. The article asks the question, “What was it that allowed Rachel Carson to capture the public imagination and to forge America’s environmental consciousness?” And while this is indeed interesting, it perhaps causes the text to wander away from the question we more often hear from our clients, “What lessons can we learn about sparking a successful social movement?”  Three such lessons come immediately to mind upon reading this piece.

1.   Tap into existing values and perceptions – Carson recognized what market researchers tell us time and time again: Caring for the world is a core American value.  We as a people tend to see ourselves as the “good guys,” even if our actions don’t always back us up.   Carson seemed to know this instinctively, as she positioned her argument accordingly.  By beginning her book with the mythical story of an idyllic American town destroyed because, “the people had done it themselves,” she cleverly allows the readers to imagine themselves as part of the solution, able to avoid the same fate.  A good reminder, especially for those who’d like to reignite action on climate change, that successful social movements tap into the public’s existing values and beliefs, and recommend behaviors which align accordingly.   They do not seek to change those underlying values, nor wag fingers at their potential supporters – that is something better left to the leaders of religious cults.

2.   Identify a problem, offer a solution, and tell a good story – When one of Carson’s former colleagues, cited in the article, comments that, “She stirred the pot. That’s all,” he clearly misses the point.  Stirring the pot would never have been, and never is enough to spark a movement.  What sparks a movement is a good story, and specifically one with a problem and a solution, good guys and bad guys.  While “Silent Spring” of course covered more than DDT, it was the focus on DDT and the need for better laws and regulations that was the catalyst for change.  How much of that was intended by Carson, or perhaps even caused by the chemical industry itself, which seemed all too eager to step right into the role of villain, we may never be able to say.  But the lesson to be learned remains the same: focus on an exemplary problem, offer a solution (policy change, personal action, etc.) and tell a good story.  You can’t just stir the pot.

3.   Know your allies as well as your enemies – One particularly insightful addition to the article was the way in which it highlighted not only Carson’s powerful enemies in the chemical industry, but her powerful allies, especially in the White House. It is perhaps human nature to focus on the opposition, but without allies within the existing power structure, social movements do not succeed.

A final reminder is that social movements are seldom simplistic up and down affairs.  When the author of the article bemoans the way in which Carson’s book, “also sowed the seeds of (the movement’s) own destruction,” she is being overly dramatic.  Paraphrasing Mark Twain, “the reports of its death are greatly exaggerated.” The environmental movement, like all major movements, has come and will continue to come in waves.  Carson’s book played an invaluable role in creating the wave that led to an initial round of landmark legislation, such as the clean air and water acts. The question now is how to apply the lessons learned in generating your next wave of change.

Filed Under: Ideas for non-profits, Management Tagged With: Rachel Carson, social change, social movements, storytelling, tips for campaigns

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