From Russia, With Love For Change

This week, I experienced something that even as a young adult I never imagined I would: I visited St. Petersburg, Russia. Growing up on a steady diet of 1980s Cold War War movies - Wargames, Red Dawn and Spies Like Us come to mind - the idea of visiting the land that was locked behind the Iron Curtain for a vacation was hardly imaginable. Yet, there I was with my family, in the heart of St. Petersburg, taking in the culture and history, as if it were any other European capital. Well, almost. We visited as part of cruise excursion, which avoided the need for a travel visa, but we were strictly limited to traveling with the travel guide. I hear the visa application can still be a tricky process. All in all, however, it’s a pretty long stretch, in a couple of decades, for Russia to go from being the place that trained Rocky-nemesis Ivan Drago and a world relatively closed off to Western visitors, to a country that, like America, features cities that serve as souvenir-hawking tourist magnets for the western world to see. Sure, it has a long way to go, but the change was evident even for a first time visitor. 

The St. Petersburg experience got me thinking about the rate of change in world affairs, both at the macro and micro levels. I recently read Thomas Friendman’s book, Thank You for Being Late, which is all about the

fast-changing world in which we live. I don’t always agree with Friedman’s point of view or his conclusions, but he does a fantastic job capturing and describing macro trends in what has been coined, “The Age of Accelerations.” These macro trends are seen in computer processing speeds, climate shifts, and the changing economic landscapes of emerging national economies. I will leave the global macro analysis to Friedman and others. At the micro (and self-interested)-level, I pondered how the accelerating rate of change applies to the business of shaping policy as a government affairs professional.

Change is not only inevitable, it often happens faster than we imagine it will. In Florida, where I regularly represent clients before the Executive and Legislative branches, I’ve seen policy and ideological agendas shift rapidly with the rise of new House Speakers and Senate President, each of whom serve two year terms. One moment trial lawyers are demons; the next they are the defenders of Everyman. One moment hospitals are deserving of so much praise, the next they are machines meant to confuse us and government out of all our money. 

And if a tweet or news story goes viral, policy can shift in an instant. Some news-related websites have been built specifically to influence policy-maker agendas. After a school shooting in Parkland, Florida, grassroots voices of parents and teens made a dent in long-entrenched gun policy. I expect more evolution on this topic; some changes happen faster than others.

The Republican Party (with which I continue to associate) of 2018 hardly resembles the political organization whose principals of “less government, more freedom” wooed me during the Reagan era. To be honest, the Party has changed so much, and appears to come in so many shapes and sizes all at once, I can’t really say what being a Republican means anymore (I just stick to the fundamentals and do my part; hopefully, the Party will find its direction again). Both major political parties in the U.S. have vocal factions and the faction with influence vary from cycle to cycle. 

Practically speaking, this means those of us in the business of shaping policy must be incredibly adaptive. It’s not that we must have no ideology or point of view, it’s that we must be capable of conveying our point of view through the policy-making or executing leadership lens (or lenses) that applies at any moment in time.  

Of course, most of the policy changes we seek lack the import of the fall of the Soviet Empire, but the lessons about the need to adapt apply. Just a quick trip to Russia clarified for me that dealing with Russians today is very different from dealing with the Russians of the not-that-long-ago Cold War Era, even with Vladimir Putin at the helm . It’s no wonder so many Americans and world leaders cannot figure out precisely the right approach to dealing with Putin. An isolationist-yet-imperialist Russia was one thing, an authoritarian sometimes imperialist regime that wants the trappings of a capitalist, globally engaged nation is quite a bit more complex. It’s a problem that, like the shifts in government leadership we face as government affairs professionals, requires careful recalibration of strategy and sometimes a total re-think of what is possible. 

In the government affairs business, the key challenge is to never become a dinosaur, to always stay relevant. Staying relevant means constantly adjusting to ensure your relationships, your message and your strategy match the political leadership and ideology of the day.

It also means embracing the blended roles of both traditional media (newspaper and TV), new media (blogs and other digital news outlets) and social media with more gusto. As a lobbyist, this has led me to accept my own limitations. Today, I regularly encourage my clients to engage a public affairs strategy as a complement to a lobbying effort. Grasstops and grassroots engagement, as well as managing the constant flow of third party communications about a high profile issue is a full-time job. Policy-makers can be highly sensitive to the information flow, and a complete strategy is prepared to manage it. 

Overall, the rate of change means I must encourage my team to look for new ideas and new opportunities. We actively seek to represent companies applying innovation in areas such as transportation, healthcare, municipal services, entertainment and financial services. It’s a necessity that we make sure our political relationships, our clients and our perspectives stay fresh. 

I admit, this is a lot of professional philosophy coming from a family cruise to the Baltics. But once the brain starts extrapolating, you have to let it do its thing.

My simple self-lesson upon returning from the vacation: Policymaking demands agility for success. Place renewed energy and focus on our ability to adapt to any circumstance. In the words of Rocky Balboa, after finally bringing down Ivan Drago to a cheering crowd in the heart of the Soviet Empire, “I guess what I'm trying to say is that if I can change, and you can change, everybody can change!”