Write Your Script, But Bring Your Eraser


Since we’re in the process of talking about storytelling, I thought you’d appreciate this personal piece from Abe Jacob – joining us again to share a little about his career path. – LC

Is our first thought always our best thought?

Being a small-town boy turned Columbus suburbanite, I have often reflected on the evolution of my life’s goals and priorities. As a typical university freshman, I was tasked with listing my goals for the next five- and ten-years during orientation. Politics was my game of choice!

With the gift of gab, proud commitment to represent my hometown, and a thirst for the prestige often associated with public office, there was no holding me back. It was that early intuition that put a spotlight on my desire for a career in government and politics. The notion that I could use my voice to help families, businesses, and people I cared about was appealing and I wanted to be known throughout my community as the “go-to” if they ever needed help.

I admit that my heart was in the right place, but I equally need to acknowledge that I refused to listen to the other voices pointing out that I didn’t need to be elected to offer a helping hand. Don’t get me wrong, I had a natural interest in the process of government early on and that has yet to sunset. However, as years have gone on, I believe that narrow focus restrained my overall outlook on career aspirations.  

The public owes us nothing!

The results of Ohio’s 2016 primary election forced me to reshape my career ambitions. My then-boss and hometown legislator lost his bid for a third term in the Ohio House and my roadmap for succeeding him in office was sent right over the cliff.

With reality of term limits, I was well aware I could wait out the likelihood of an open seat eight years down the road, but I opted to take a step back and re-evaluate what was TRULY important for my future. I admit that I lost sight of how each election had consequences and we can only ask the voters for their support – and if it’s withheld, we must respect their decision. 

The months following that election felt like an eternity. Thankfully that time of wondering, stressing, and hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel concluded when the voters in another part of the state elected a legislator willing to give me the runway I needed to start a new chapter. I was able to complete my tenure working for the Ohio House on my terms, serving as the right hand man to an elected official I admired. In the end, those voters opened the door to some of the most fulfilling experiences I’ve had in my career. 

Stop, Look, and Listen!

While it has been a work in progress, I’ve pushed myself to be present more and more with moments I now recognize as potential life lessons. You can work your fingers to the bone in order to set yourself up for success, but it’s rare that everything goes according to plan. And if we fail to turn the page, we amplify the sting of disappointment.

Are you giving up or are you evolving? Evaluate if you’re on a path that brings you fulfillment. Your paycheck is one thing, but decide if there is something else that will make your life hit that peak of satisfaction.  We aren’t meant to live our lives in regret. Regrets are based on a moment that we can’t rewrite. Pick the pencil back up and write!

Storytelling for Advocates 101

I’ve written about this before, but it bears repeating: your volunteer advocates are the most valuable, and the most underutilized resource for your organization.

There’s data to back this up. The Congressional Management Foundation has looked into the concept for years. Their conclusions are pretty startling. While an overwhelming majority of senior staff and legislators value a personal story as “highly influential” in helping them reach a decision, a similarly overwhelming majority rarely – if ever – receive one. We’ve got a communication gap in the world of advocacy. We’re failing to tell our stories.

In my previous post, I opened the door to this topic area. Informed by the idea of story branding within marketing, I think we can more effectively win decision makers (not to mention prospective advocates) to our cause by refining our ability to frame a story for them. But it takes us understanding the basic parts of a story.

Today, we’ll focus in on part 1: identifying a character who faces a point of friction.

If you’ve been here for a while, you know I’m a fan of the West Wing (TWW). Aaron Sorkin’s ability to weave together storylines and dialogue is masterful – and TWW is far and away my favorite TV show. So when I saw Sorkin partnering with the educational app Masterclass, I obviously spent quite a bit of time digesting his content. Within that course, he deftly reminded watchers that without points of friction, you don’t have a story – you only have a sequence of events.

In the world of advocacy, we’d do well to remember that point. Too often we default to relaying facts and figures, relying on a data-centric approach. Instead, we need to help our advocates describe their goals, and the barriers in their way. Further, we need to flip the script on our target and show how that same friction point impacts them. Here’s how it could look:

“Representative – I’m a parent just like you. I have all the same dreams for my daughter as you do for your children: good health, a great education, a career, maybe starting her own family down the road. But when she was diagnosed with XXXX, my family realized she may never make it to those milestones. We came here today because HR 1234 would provide critical funding on this disease. We’re on the brink of a technological breakthrough on treatment and this next round of funding could turn this disease into a chronic condition. You could be critical in making that happen.”

This, strangely enough, is reflective of a story I heard as a young staffer. It didn’t resonate as effectively with me at the time because I wasn’t a parent. But I wasn’t the target. The advocate team had boiled a crushing diagnosis into a 30 second story tailor made for their legislative target.

Not only did they demonstrate their own connection to the issue, but they helped tee up legislators to see themselves facing the same point of friction. Further, they set the stage for that legislator to be the hero not only in their own story, but in the stories of their constituents. Subtly, without pouring on too much flavoring, they effectively created the drama necessary to win a new champion.

Boiling your message down to this point, so your volunteer advocates can build their own will transform your advocacy efforts. Just don’t forget – you’re going to need a really clear point of friction.

Opposing Isn’t Good Enough

I’m watching an absolutely painful interview clip right now. I’m not going to offer context out of respect for the victim, er, interviewee. But suffice it to say that a public persona is being re-defined in front of my eyes.

In watching this particularly brutal exchange, I’m reminded of a lesson from former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Paul Ryan. He was quite fond of sharing this observation: “It’s not good enough to be an opposition party. You have to be a proposition party.” Sage wisdom.

There will be quite a few times in your advocacy work where you’ll have to stand firmly in opposition to a proposal. You’ll have to fight back. I’d argue though that, consistently, the advocates who “win” more often than not do more than just lunge into the breach and hold firm. Rather, they come with a plan on how else a challenge can be tackled. Most importantly though – they effectively tell the story of how others can be the conquering hero in that plan.

I’ve been dwelling on storytelling quite a bit lately. Challenged by a friend and colleague to read Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller, I’ve been mulling over how to translate that piece’s concepts into the realm of advocacy.

Here’s the concept in a nutshell: in order to get customers to respond to your call to action, you have to effectively tell a story in which they become the hero. More often than not, brands (i.e. advocacy organizations) position themselves as the hero instead of the decision makers, legislators and public officials they need to take action. I’d also take it a step further and argue that our grassroots recruitment efforts should additionally be reframed to position our volunteer advocates as the heroes of a given story.

Unfortunately, I don’t think my summations would fall neatly into the compressed, three minute reads I strive for on this blog. So, I’m going to dig into some of these concepts more in the coming weeks and I hope you’ll enjoy that targeted content. Ultimately, I believe it will be beneficial in helping arm your advocates to better approach their lobbying meetings and share your mission within their broader circles. That sounds like a win-win to me.

So, over the next few weeks, expect some content focused on storytelling. In the meantime we need to prepare to take a hard look at our agendas and start asking the difficult question: “What’s our alternative proposal?”

If you aren’t creating propositions of your own, you will absolutely struggle to build a narrative wherein anyone can be a hero. If you can’t get to that basic pillar of storytelling, I’d be willing to bet that your interviews on issues important to your cause will end just as painfully as the one I’m watching right now. Let’s work together on avoiding that fate.

5 Keys to a Successful Summer Advocacy Event

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always struggled more in the creative process when I’m starting with a blank page. There’s something about a skeleton document that can at least kickstart your efforts – and that rings true for summer advocacy event planning. If you’re looking to move past that blank page, this post is for you!

Since we’re just around the corner from the unofficial start to Summer, I thought I’d help you with 5 keys to a successful event from the perspective of a congressional staffer. I’ve seen some really great, and some really bad efforts. I hope you’ll see these keys as a tool in refining your own plans for this coming events season. With any luck these can be the outline you need to get rolling.

  1. Have a Clear Objective

Right now, members of Congress and state legislatures are getting bombarded with requests for their July and August recess weeks. They’re filling up their calendars, with every intent to stay busy from dawn to dusk most days. During these jam-packed district periods, they maximize every moment (even those in the car). And while this presents an opportunity for more groups to engage, you have to ensure your organization will stand out from the crowd.

The sure fire way? Have an actual purpose for their visit. This seems obvious right? You would be SHOCKED to know how many times I’ve seen professional political staff walk away from one of these district visits asking the question: why did we just do that?

You’ll find it helps you stand out to deliver a bottom line up front (BLUF) in your meeting. The visiting official should hear directly from you a) what they will see; b) what it means to your organization; and c) what you’re asking them to take away from the meeting. Maximize your opportunity within their compressed schedule – deliver a BLUF.

2. Plan to Start Late and Run Short

Remember how they’re booking from dawn to dusk? Well, just like you and me, they experience hiccups along the way. Between the occasional travel delays, and the more predictable event overruns, you need to be prepared to have a compressed window within your event. You’ll never know when a frazzled staffer will ask “do you think we can make up for some lost time in our schedule?”

Here’s the deal, it’s just as hard for that staffer to ask that question as it is for you to answer in the affirmative. Do not dismiss the good will you can build by being flexible within your event timeline. The folks who’ve done that for me in the past stood out. They were able to adjust on the fly, deliver a coherent meeting AND earn the appreciation of a decision-maker. Those are pretty good wins if I do say so myself.

3. Don’t Forget That an Indoor Event is GREAT

Ya’ll it’s hot. I know that’s not news, but somehow July and August events take a turn toward the outdoors. And that would be fine IF most staffers and elected officials didn’t feel obligated to be in full business attire all day. So, if you can, stick to the air conditioned spaces.

(Side note: This is probably NOT the ideal time to invite them to tour a steel plant where temperatures soar and suits get drenched from the inside out.)

But if you must be outside for your event, communicate that to the participants and clarify the dress code. Your elected official will be grateful that the you and their staff allowed time for a wardrobe change in the day’s schedule.

4. Displays are Fine, People are Preferred

This one can’t be overstated: face to face time with real life voters is more valuable to a politician than just about anything else. Studies show that folks who meet and shake the hand of their elected official are significantly more likely to support them and actively promote them within their circles of influence. If you want to really stand out to a candidate, prioritize time within your event for them to engage with voters from their district.

This means you may need to shorten your tour of the production line and opt for a pause to allow your employees to engage in a miniature town hall. These off-the-cuff conversations (when delivered well) will absolutely stand out to the staff and official alike. Prioritizing people in your event will earn you invaluable credibility.

5. Deliver a Coherent Ask

Lastly, we’ll revisit a point from #1. Early in the event, you successfully delivered the expectations of the meeting: what will be seen, what it means to your organization, and what you’ll ask of the member. Now it’s time to bookend the meeting and reinforce that ask.

Unfortunately too many groups beat around the bush. “We’d love to have your continued support of our industry.” Ok, that sounds great – but what does it mean? Your team needs to identify a clear request. Whether it’s submitting a letter of support for a grant, co-sponsoring a specific piece of legislation or joining a caucus, you should never forfeit the opportunity to give the decision maker a clear, definable, and achievable call to action. This particular deliverable will open the door for you to follow-up with staff in the future and prevent the dreaded question: “why did we just do that?”

Organizations of all shapes and sizes can engage in meaningful in-person visits in the coming months. I hope these 5 tips can help you stand out. Need more specifics? Send me a note to luke@partofthepossible.com and I’ll be happy to give some tips and tricks.

Beware the Poison Pill of “Unified” Government

Taxes are the talk of the town right now.

In the wake of President Biden’s address to the nation, those in the world of politics have switched into high gear. Scrambling for details, countless groups are working the phones trying to get a better understanding of just what will be included in the administration’s looming spending proposals and – more importantly – just how they intend to pay for them.

Just yesterday, Politico posted this story: How Dems learned to stop worrying (mostly) and embrace tax hikes.

Not much has changed in the years since 2017 when narrow Republican majorities fostered a push for comprehensive reforms informed by that party’s platform. I’m sorry, but regardless of party, I’m skeptical of any proposal that comes out of a single-party controlled environment. And I would caution any who would listen: beware the poison pill in these proposals.

Our system is built on compromise. Which means it’s also built on friction. And friction slows us down – which isn’t a bad thing.

As much as we’ve bemoaned the need for politicians to “just do something already,” we’ve also ignored the actual something they’re called to do is negotiate and compromise. Those negotiations and compromises are critical to balancing the diverse interests of 330 million Americans who don’t agree on much of anything. The system is built on that friction. But when one party controls the executive and legislative branches, that’s when the “something” gets done in bigger ways – and often ultimately leads to a dramatic shift in power.

We’ve seen this story over and over again, and we’re likely to see it play out again in the coming two years.

  • Party A narrowly gains requisite seats to pursue agenda X alongside a compliant executive.
  • Agenda X goes a bit too far and Party B can take an aggressive opposition stance, fundraise and retake critical seats.
  • Party B chips away at Party A’s majority status, taking away either house of the legislature.
  • Agenda X comes to a screeching halt, while Party B uses its new influence to promote Agenda Y.
  • Agenda Y becomes the rallying cry of a base sufficiently infused to win unified control of the government in 1 to 2 election cycles.
  • Rinse and repeat.

Admittedly, this is oversimplified. But come on, don’t we see the road ahead? But that larger, theatrical political fight is where we focus 90 percent of our attention. No wonder we’re all burnt out by politics as usual. That cycle is downright destructive.

As advocates, we need to be focused on promoting the middle ground. No matter who’s in charge, we should be positioning ourselves to bring people together. Yes, we can strategize on optimizing our opportunities within that cycle above. BUT, and this is big, for our just cause to be advanced, it must be built to survive and thrive through that same political upheaval.

I know that’s a hard pill to swallow because we all have our own political leanings. But in my book, the real poison pill to fear is when there’s no need for those in power to work across the aisle.

Chalk it up to idealism if you will, but I think it’s actually quite practical. The only downside for this approach? We don’t get any of the cool slogans or swag. Sorry, it’s just really hard to fundraise when you’re “for” gridlock.

Now is the Time to Re-Evaluate Your Plan

Well, here we go!

Big news in Ohio last night as Governor DeWine announced a formal return to normalcy on June 2. More than a year into our fight against COVID-19, folks across the Buckeye state will get back to it. But what does that mean for advocacy organizations?

Within my own planning for this year, I opted for a conservative approach to advocacy agendas. I had no idea in January that vaccination rollouts would reach this point by now, and accordingly, opted to plan on the worst case scenario. Now that there is clear view of the horizon, we need to re-think our plans.

Are you prepared to take an operational pause to reset on your advocacy agenda?

I’ve written about this before – strategically placed operational pauses allow us the space to reflect on what’s been accomplished, and project into the future what could fall into the realm of the possible. Nearing the halfway mark for this year, you and your team would be well served to rethink the 4Ts: Targets, Timing, Tactics and Testing.

You may not need the full planning process that you pursue each year. But can you take a page from the Marine Corps’ playbook and engage in a rapid response planning process (R2P2)?

R2P2 is an accelerated planning process that allows Marine Expeditionary Units to compress decision making and respond to complex situations in a much tighter window. It boils down to the following structural pieces:

Framing the problem; developing your course of action (COA); wargaming that COA from the perspective against a worthy red cell; comparing and contrasting available COAs to make a decision; develop orders and then transitioning the available force to execution.

It takes years of experience to get really good at R2P2 in the context of military operations. But within advocacy organizations, we’d owe it to ourselves to utilize a similar approach right now. Why? Because your schedule is about to get blown up.

We are on the cusp of a knee jerk reaction in a lot of communities who have yet to return to normal routines. In Columbus, we’ve seen our statehouse exist in a near ghost-town state through the entirety of our budget season. Come June 2nd, I think it’ll get very crowded very quickly. But with that increase in participation, you’re likely to see a commensurate increase in extracurricular activities, site visits, fundraisers, etc. Your team could be on the edge of event overdose.

Right now you need to pause. Restate your just cause and evaluate your 4Ts within the bounds of that cause. Begin setting priorities for the remainder of 2021 now, well before the frenetic activity starts in earnest. You will never be wrong to opt toward proactivity over reactivity. After all, in reactive environments we tend toward prioritizing too much. And if there’s one universal truth in planning, it’s this: if everything is a priority, then nothing is a priority (another gem from the USMC).

You’ve got this. But pause and think before we jump back in. Try a compressed planning process to reevaluate where your plan can change moving forward. It’ll be worth it.

Climate Tribalism is Stifling Advancement

I’ve got a major concern about the debate surrounding climate change: paradigms.

Over the past several months, my work has been consumed by the debate surrounding global climate change. Beyond causes, the frenetic activity in the administration and Congress have both lent a new urgency to the search for meaningful solutions in the realms of sustainability and greenhouse gas emission reductions. But despite the ripeness of the given moment, my own experiences with these conversations have left me concerned that two critical groups are still not engaged in the same conversation.

Here’s the latest example.

In a series of far-too-long meetings in the past few weeks, I’ve been working with a coalition of stakeholders to advise an aspirational research project. This coalition is comprised of the full spectrum of industries, non-profits, researchers, and social entrepreneurs.

Understandably, academicians are prominent within this coalition. They are the keystone of the project. While the various stakeholder groups will provide the funding, support, and communications assets necessary to propel the research forward, it all falls apart without these highly skilled, highly respected thought leaders. They hold that ever-so-important responsibility of delivering valuable data that will inform future decisions. But from my view, their collective paradigm seems a bit risk averse. Too quick to carry the refrain failure is not an option, they become stymied by the models and big questions.

Enter the entrepreneurs.

Full of piss and vinegar, you also have some deeply passionate, risk accepting individuals seeking to advance, often times, bold agendas. They’re ready for action. They’re ready to make substantial investment, and aren’t afraid to fail in the process. Tuned into concepts like iterative design, these are the Elon Musk types who don’t get hung up on singular design failures. The mentality can, in my view, best be described as sometimes you win, and sometimes you learn.

This is the way of disrupters. And after DECADES of debate over tired ideas like cap and trade, the disrupters are restless and ready to try some new approaches. Unfortunately, this willingness to test, fail and repeat seems reckless to many on an issue so rife with challenges (practical, political, etc).

Both of these camps are vital. And to those of us in the middle, they can often seem to be talking past each other.

I wish we could develop an exchange program. Create some intellectual ex-pats from each camp by plugging them into the other. They could develop a more common language. Unfortunately, the pace of decision making in this sphere isn’t leaving room for that kind of immersion. Instead, we seem to be stumbling and bumbling forward, likely to arrive at painting in pastels instead of the vibrancy of a bold vision.

There really is room for everyone to participate in the conversation about sustainability. Even those who question the role of humanity in creating global climate change likely believe in protecting their immediate environment. I’m hard-pressed to believe any parent or grandparent would shy from the opportunity to leave a legacy of stewardship as an example in the lives of their progeny. But we can’t, as yet, seem to strike that crucial balance between the thinkers and the doers that will bring newcomers into the tent.

If I had a bit of unsolicited advice to offer to the decision-makers today it would be this: don’t be afraid to try some new things and let new data get created. But temper the conversation because the anxiety inducing pace will likely drive a larger divide between the groups you’ll need in the coalition moving forward. Go on, set ambitious goals. American innovation and industry can, and always do, deliver. You’d probably be surprised what can happen when we stop letting the perfect solution remain the enemy of the good.

The Sky is Falling

“So, NASA’s OSF tells us that the 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg Air Force Base believes that a Chinese satellite has fallen out of its orbital… flight plan. The last detection the 30th had placed it in what they call a “degrading orbital path” and it’s now dropped off their radar, suggesting it’s begun a rapid fall towards the Earth’s atmosphere.”

Did I rip that quote straight from today’s news?

No. That’s pulled from the script of “The Fall’s Gonna Kill You”, Season 2, Episode 20 of the West Wing that aired on May 2, 2001.

But I can understand your confusion, because almost 20 years to the day a Chinese rocket core is in a degrading orbit, and will soon endure an uncontrolled descent back into the atmosphere. Here’s the kicker – we don’t really know where it will land but take this as the odds on favorite:

“The nonprofit Aerospace Corp. expects the debris to hit the Pacific near the Equator after passing over eastern U.S. cities. Its orbit covers a swath of the planet from New Zealand to Newfoundland.” – ABC News.

What happened you ask? The Chinese National Space Administration is working to build their own national space station, opting to establish a sovereign presence separate from the multinational ISS. Their first such station, Tiangong-1 hurtled back to Earth in 2016, and Tiangong-2 was successfully consumed by the atmosphere in 2019.

On April 29th of this year, the main module of the next Chinese space station, Tianhe was launched aboard a Long March-5B rocket. That rocket’s core stage is now dazzling radar observers everywhere as folks fill out their wagers on a final touchdown location for whatever parts of the rocket survive re-entry.

Now, I’m not freaking out. The percentages are definitely on our side that this will likely not land on anyone’s front porch. BUT I AM FREAKING OUT ABOUT HOW CLOSELY THE STORY LINE TRACKS WITH THIS WEST WING EPISODE.

When you move further through the dialogue of that episode, the character Donna Moss is baffled by the lack of information available. Throughout the rest of the episode, she peppers fellow staffers with information about the falling satellite and questions about what should be done. She’s dealing with the anxiety of the unknown. And worse in her mind, despite the cataclysmic potential of an impact, all the White House received from DOD/NASA was a fax.

Right now, across the globe, those watching the sky are dealing with the same because they also don’t have all the data. According to the same ABC News story above, at the time I’m writing this, the Chinese National Space Agency literally isn’t picking up the phone.

I can only imagine the staff conversations in the White House communications office about this in the last few days. Do you think any of them remember this particular episode as fondly as I do? In case they (or you) don’t, here’s a cut of Donna’s scenes from the episode:

Anyway, DOD is currently projecting Saturday as the likely date of final re-entry. Keep your eyes on the skies. You may get an unforgettable show…you know, before it kills you.

Jumpstart Your Advocates’ Infinite Mindsets

The Infinite Game. That’s a pretty heady title, right? Building on his success with Leaders Eat Last and Start With Why, Simon Sinek did not disappoint with the work he released in 2019. The Infinite Game was such a compelling piece that, in large measure, it served as the catalyst toward the eventual launch of this blog. Perfectly timed in my life, I picked it up at the beginning of COVID quarantines, and the lessons in its pages helped me think quite differently…about a lot of things.

Recently though, I’ve been trying desperately to relate the broader concepts from this book to would-be advocates. Because frankly, we’ve spent too much time in American politics focused on winning and not nearly enough on progressing.

Win-lose mentalities are the realm of the finite game: known players, operating under a known set of rules, to accomplish a definable object (winning). Think about our election language: we have to beat party X, losing is unacceptable. Just look at the reactions from both extremes of the political spectrum in the wake of the 2016 and 2020 elections. I’d argue that the activists on these extremes are stuck in a finite game.

By contrast, infinite games are not played for winning. Rather, they’re pursued for the purpose of remaining in the game so you can advance a just cause. Players can be exchanged, rules and boundaries moved. If we’re sticking with the realm of American politics, the major political parties could be viewed as the infinite minded organisms. Beyond election season, the truly infinitely minded in American politics will earn that rarest of titles in our lexicon: statesman.

Finite games are fun. They’re invigorating for a time, they give us clear definable objectives that can be celebrated or mourned, evoking the raw emotion of the human experience. By contrast infinite games require us to commit to a vision, or what Sinek outlines as a “just cause,” that will outlast our individual participation in the game. The infinite game will outlive us. Short of a wholehearted commitment to that just cause, our advocates will struggle to remain in the game – especially in politics.

I don’t believe attaining an infinite mindset can happen overnight. Within the world of advocacy, it requires a cultural shift. So where do you start? How do you jumpstart that cultural change? I’d say Sinek’s formula for identifying your just cause will go a long way.

A just cause is not just a mission statement. This is incredibly important to relay to your volunteers. Instead, it’s a vision of the future that your team may never attain, but will inform all that you do in the pursuit of your mission.

A just cause has five key components: 1) It has to be FOR something; 2) It must be inclusive and open to all who would contribute; 3) It will be service oriented; 4) It is resilient and able to survive political, technological and cultural change; and 5) it is by nature idealistic – big, bold and ultimately unachievable. (See: Great Leaders & Organizations Advance a Just Cause).

In my own work within this blog my just cause is fairly straightforward. Here’s what I wrote in my journal at the very beginning, before I launched:

“I believe we can create a public discourse where individuals are empowered to advocate professionally, competing effectively and serving as a catalyst toward a more civil public debate.”

Luke Crumley’s NASA Journal

I doubt Simon Sinek will ever see this to give me feedback on the cause, but I hope I’ve met the demands of the formula. More importantly I hope I continue to live up to the cause.

By contrast, here’s what I wrote in that same journal as my mission statement:

“By developing effective advocacy training resources, we will provide scalable solutions for any organization, or individual, seeking to establish credibility in the public sphere.”

Same NASA Journal

Do you notice the difference? In the mission statement I’m focused on the what of this blog, website, and eventually other products that may stem from it. My just cause though has almost no relation to what I will do. Instead, it focuses on a world that I admit may never exist, but that I and others can pursue.

As you think about your advocacy program, what is your just cause ? How are you defining success, both in the finite and infinite games? Is success about becoming the best group at X, or is it about advancing a vision of the future? Is success bounded by passing a particular piece of legislation – or is it about building toward a bolder, even audacious new reality?

I’d challenge you to find your way to defining a just cause beyond the normal mission statements we’ve all come to know and ignore. It’s the first, most important step in igniting the cultural change required to empower your advocates for the long slog of advocacy. But in the more immediate future, I’d challenge you to pick up a copy of The Infinite Game – it may be just what you need to ignite your own personal change.

Couldn’t this Address have been an e-mail?

It came up in casual conversation on the phone yesterday. “Are you really going to watch that?”

A colleague and I were talking about the Presidential address scheduled for last night. Befuddled, I explained that, of course, I was going to watch. I personally believe it’s a responsibility of active citizenship to do so – especially when modern technology allows us to be in the room so to speak.

But as I sat with their comment, I realized just how fed up we all are. And if there was ever a moment for us to return to the century long tradition of written Presidential messages to Congress, this was it. Did we miss the opportunity?

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been on screens enough in the past year to justify never seeing a digital projection again. We’ve admitted that in this blog before, haven’t we? That we’re all just burnt the hell out on screen time? Well, all of us except my toddler.

But we had precedent we could have used this time, just once, to turn this annual message into an email. Should we have taken it?

I’m being a bit facetious with the email slant. A formal message to Congress from the President has certain…expectations. But surely we could have thought about just sending a written message this once? I’m honestly thinking about this in deference to the office of the President.

Seeing the House chamber as empty as it was due to COVID protocols, was the pomp and circumstance of the event diminished? I’m genuinely asking and hope you’ll consider dropping a response in the comments below.

But these events aren’t just about the pageantry of a Presidential address. The Constitution calls on the President to “recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” (Article II, Section 3). And for that reason alone, maybe it was ok – despite whatever the ratings end up saying – for President Biden to shoot his shot in person. After all, a $1.8 TRILLION spending plan (American Families Plan) being proposed on the heels of an earlier $1.9 Trillion American Rescue Plan (Coronavirus Relief) AND his March 31 proposal of the $2.3 Trillion American Jobs Plan (Infrastructure) is going to take some serious salesmanship.

Say what you will about American politics, most of it still boils down to person-to-person marketing. And despite everything, President Biden certainly has a reputation for that kind of deal-making. And we as advocates benefit by seeing the Executive’s priorities laid out in real time.

I guess, if I’m honest, I’ve not come down fully on either side of this question. Once in my lifetime I’d like to see something different but also historic, like a POTUS simply sending a written message again. But, also being honest, I have to acknowledge that the pageantry in person really does still mean something.

So, I have three questions for you: 1. Did you watch? 2. Were you disappointed by the atmosphere? 3. Would you rather have had an email?

P.S. Important side note – I’ve closed out the reader survey. THANK YOU to everyone who took time to fill it out! I’ll be announcing the giveaway winner in the coming days!