Smash the mirrors

In an economy when everyone is so stretched, when we’re all doing five jobs at once, it's far too easy to develop tunnel vision and just deal with day-to-day urgencies, without taking the time to stop and think strategically. I've felt that creeping into my worklife too, so I see this blog as an opportunity for me to write about matters-- whether esoteric, philosophical, or simply diverting-- that are part of the bigger picture of my passions and ambitions.

I’m a small business owner, a one-woman communications shop in a field that is nothing but deadlines. My clients call me when they are overstretched, generally with the “drop dead” deadline looming, with information that they urgently need me to convey, and there’s no room for futzing or delay. As much as they and I would like to have the time to plan, to conduct research and carefully zero in on the strategic approach, it all too rarely seems an option. So I’ve devised a quick triage approach to much of the work I do.

For example, my method of approaching a donor magazine story with a very tight timeline? Review the client’s goals, of course, then go straight to booking an interview, whether or not I plan to include a quote. Skip the exhaustive background reading (okay, do a little), and spend half an hour talking with someone at the heart of a story—perhaps a program user, a staff member, or a donor. This will often yield the roadmap into the story, with all the interesting sideroads and intersections clearly marked. Through equal parts experience, curiosity and intuition, I’ve gotten good at drawing people out in interviews, getting past the roadblocks of what they think they should say, until we reach the thing that really excites them about an organization. Then I go back and research that idea, placing it at the centre of my story. I can turn an article like this around in a day.

None of this can begin, of course, without a clear sense of direction coming from the client. “Who do you want to reach?” is my first question. Then, “What do you need to convince this person (or group of people) to do?” Then, taking those points into consideration, “What is the story at your organization that is most likely to convince that person to take that action?” This is where we all too often take a leap of faith, because we don't think we have enough time or money to do proper research into that question.

Too often, we approach organizational storytelling as though we’re looking in a mirror, reflecting only on our internal viewpoint. If we’re going to draw people into our organizations—whether as donors, volunteers, clients or staff—we must smash those mirrors (or save them for gazing into at the retreat), and get used to looking at our organizations from inside-out and outside-in, and that takes both formal and informal research. Sure, it’s going to require some time and money, but in this increasingly competitive charitable environment, it’s the only way to go.