In a bit of good news, it seems more Americans are at least claiming they’re paying closer attention to political news. A recent study by Gallup showed 38% of respondents say they are following political news “very closely”. That’s up from most years without a presidential election.
The not so great news though is this: the remaining 62% fall somewhere along a political attentiveness spectrum of “somewhat closely” to “not at all”. When you dig deeper into the numbers you see less than 1-in-4 of those under the age of 34 are paying “very close” attention to political news. Their elders are a little better with just shy of half saying they follow politics very closely.
I promise this isn’t a hit piece on younger Americans. Rather, it’s a challenge to the rest of us to not simply chalk up their lack of attention (or our own for that matter) to vapid obsessions with TikTok and Instagram fame. There’s a bigger reason. And, like all the finer things in life, it’s got an acronym.
VUCA
Volatile. Uncertain. Complex. Ambiguous.
First coined during the Cold War, propagated by the Army War College, and now returning to the more fashionable circles of leadership and management training thanks to COVID, I think it holds some promise for informing advocacy organizations on how we can better engage our volunteers. Hear me out.
VUCA represents the four conditions that ultimately degrade our ability to pay attention and problem solve. Those conditions, when in play, trigger our threat and stress responses, negatively impacting our mindset. That degradation brings on what we Marines would call the “fog of war.”
Our brains are incredible – but they take in way too much for us to process at all times. So the brain filters things out – and our attention is drawn to the most pressing triggers around us. In VUCA situations your brain becomes overwhelmed with all the stimuli and you zero in on what’s closest to you – unfortunately you can only do that for so long before your attention span diminishes beyond a point of positive return. When that happens, your brain tells you to move on, and to pay attention to something else.
American politics is the perfect arena for long term VUCA exposure
Think about politics as you read these abbreviated descriptions.
Volatility: the rate of change in a given situation. The challenge faced can be unexpected, unstable, and of unknown duration.
Uncertainty: a lack of clarity surrounding the here and now. Change in the situation is possible, but not guaranteed.
Complexity: the situation encompasses multiple variables that are often interconnected. The volume of information about the problem can exceed your ability to process.
Ambiguity: the situation doesn’t follow a clear cause and effect pattern. The situation can have you dealing with issues outside of your core competencies.
As you think about your own participation in politics, do these conditions sound familiar? Even the pursuit of passing a single piece of legislation can touch on each of these conditions. Couple that with the sheer volume of issues being publicly debated and you have a recipe for disaster when it comes to our attention spans.
For individuals and advocacy organizations alike, the VUCA conditions lead us to a point where we tune out. We opt to “let someone else worry about it.” And that shouldn’t be surprising. It’s also not the end of the world.
Our system is built to facilitate that detachment so we can pursue our own private ventures. We leverage a republican (small r) form of government that allows us to entrust navigating those particular VUCA stressors to public servants. It doesn’t always work perfectly, but it certainly has its benefits.
Help Your Advocates Step Away
If you’re an individual feeling like you just can’t keep up with it all, here’s your takeaway: you’re not alone. Our politics are clearly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. If you find yourself rationing your exposure, take a moment to thank your brain for helping you filter some of the madness out. It’s ok to break away, to reset. In fact, it’s pretty necessary.
For those grassroots managers struggling to keep advocates engaged, I’d argue we actually need to find ways to help them detach from time to time. We have to help them break away from the grind by digesting as much as we can for them, and limiting their exposure to the VUCA conditions. We need to be pouring into their individual cups more often than we may be already. Focus on building community, and play time, into your advocacy strategies.
If you don’t, you’ll likely face a grim prospect: they’ll tune out for good on their own.
If you like this subject, I’d like to point you to a real expert on the topic. I’ve been dwelling on the topic since listening to an episode of the Lewis Howes School of Greatness podcast where he interviewed Amishi Jha. That episode can be found here.
If you’re more in the mood for a quick read on the subject, you can check out a short piece by Jha here.
Part of the Possible 