There are just some days when you feel like Chandler Bing trying to squeeze a sofa up a stairwell. No matter what you do, nothing is working the way it should. You’re trying to “PIVOT!” but circumstances keep getting in the way.
Without stretching the metaphor, I’ll just go ahead and admit that yesterday morning was one of those “PIVOT!” moments in my own work.
Here’s the background.
Each year, a large trade show is held for my industry just minutes from my own home. The trade show attracts tens of thousands of people looking to purchase equipment, learn new tricks of the trade, and share a bit of fellowship over some of Ohio’s finest agricultural products (looking at you Dairy Producers milkshake booth).
Well, this year our organization tried to arrange some special programming for day two of that show (yesterday). We were working with other organizations to educate our members on a new market opportunity emerging within the green economy, and sharing the political insights folks may need to navigate the confusions around evolving policies.
So what was the problem?
Well, it rained. A lot. So much that when I arrived at the show grounds at 8 am, ready to tackle the day’s programming, I found out the outdoor trade show had been canceled for the day. I’m talking vehicles stuck in the mud level of precipitation here. Oof.
You see, we were even flying in a policy expert from DC to join our board members for the public programming we’d planned. We had expended significant resources advertising the programming. And something far beyond our control upended our day. Far from a blowout opportunity to showcase our work, we were left floundering, searching to capture some (any really) value from the day.
(Let’s not even address the fact that the rain kept us from getting our coffee supply.)
Thankfully, we have a nimble nature built into our organizational culture. Without the need for extended deliberation, we stretched our resources and traded live events for recorded interviews. We were able to get the raw products we’ll need to communicate our message to all of our targeted stakeholder groups far beyond this one event. That content can serve our mission for weeks to come. And as a plus, our DC guest got on an earlier flight home.
Was it everything we wanted? No. Could we define it as a ‘win’? Absolutely not. But was it a failure?
In advocacy organizations, it’s not always the case that you can adapt on the fly. We focus so much on perfection, that we often ignore the value of simply being present. But when your plan gets washed away – sometimes quite literally – it’s critical to step back and remember that advocacy comes in many forms. Sometimes, you’re going to have to settle for ‘good enough’. Sometimes, you just need to win the moment and not the war.
In the moment your plan fails, it’s time to pivot. And if you ever need someone to remind you Ross Geller style, you can reach me at luke@partofthepossible.com.
Part of the Possible 