Importance, intent, action and choice
If we were working together, used to work together, or were considering working together, you might have called me a week ago Friday as the news of Roe vs. Wade’s overturning dropped into your news feed, and you might have asked: “Should we do something about this? Do we say something about this? Is it right for us?”
It’s a recurring conversation for any brand consultant. Not the one about the economic and political implications of overturning a landmark piece of legislation that will have direct impacts on public health, societal roles and the overall economic picture. But the one about the non-sales part of your business. The one about who you are between 6 pm and 9 am. And my response would be this. A question in response to a question.
Is it important to you?
In the coming days, we’ll see a variety of statements responding to the impact, the precedents and the coming ripples of the Roe v. Wade decision. Some will steer clear, which is a response in itself. Others will choose a more proven path, a point of parity and solidarity with others in their community. And still others will say something different, do something unexpected, and make a move that’s potentially many steps removed from their actual day-to-day business. Not because it was good for sales. But because there's a difference between cause alignment and standing up for what you believe in.
It’s no news flash that we live in a very gray world, a highly interconnected place that puts us all just a few degrees of separation apart. What’s less obvious are the actual rules for navigating this complex place, one that helps us all be able to move ahead at certain times … and recognize when our line has been crossed in others.
In this situation, this summer when Roe v. Wade was overturned, there are a surprising (and refreshing) number of people who are openly wondering what can actually be done, what’s the thing to do now, what to do first. Companies, organizations, individuals, even Presidents. In my HO, that’s totally okay. Establishing importance is number one; developing intent and commitment is two; and taking meaningful action is, and always is, number three.
Sure, there are Jedi Masters out there that saw the whole thing coming while also running their day-to-day business and immediately launched some impactful, creative and well thought out long term actions. But for others it may take a while. And that’s okay too.
When Hurricane Irene hit my small state, it rolled north from the Atlantic between the twin ridges of the Green Mountains like a big, wet marble bouncing between two rocky guardrails. As it made its slow march toward Canada, it jacked up Vermont’s meandering rivers from 500 cfs to 20,000 cfs in a matter of hours, drowning many historic downtowns.
Our town was hit pretty hard. That picturesque little cluster of buildings, those ones by the covered bridge and the groovy breakfast place, were fully blown out. River mud was everywhere and in everything, and the intersection of the valley’s two main roads was covered in logs and river stones. A crowd had gathered to see the damage first hand, that morning after the big flood, but nobody was really talking. They were just taking it all in. Processing. Wondering. And finally, triggered by something in their head, someone picked up a stone and moved it out of the road to the curb, making sense out of a senseless thing. That first person, that first meaningful action, was what woke up the crowd. They morphed from their zombie daze into individuals with a purpose, and eventually a team. Because it was important to them.