Slow Down to Speed Up

One of the best teachers I’ve ever had never taught me in class.?

Laura Mitchell , the former superintendent of Cincinnati Public Schools , is one of the greatest teachers of innovation and leadership I’ve ever learned from - and in my case, the classroom was a real-life lab of partnering with her on communications and engagement leadership for CPS.

To Go Fast, You Gotta Slow Down

Among Laura’s axioms: “you have to slow down to speed up.” Counterintuitive, right? How many times have you led (or been part of a group) that makes a decision, and you (or the group leader) starts rattling off action steps, already seeming impatient that the project isn’t half down? If the answer is even just once, that’s too many times.?

Blue Origin , the commercial space company founded by Jeff Bezos, has adopted this philosophy as well. Their motto: “Gradatim Ferociter.” In Latin, this means “step by step ferociously.”?

And we’ve seen that motto manifest in their work: although Blue Origin’s research and development phase was kept secret and seemed to take years longer than SpaceX or Boeing, today the company’s accomplishments are mentioned on par if not ahead of other “new space companies.”?

Whether we’re pursuing the Moon, or higher reading scores for third graders, it all boils down to not only making a plan, but bringing your constituents or consumers along the journey with you.??

What can you as a communicator ensure is created or updated so your team is ready to handle anything?

Comms Professionals: Have a Chair for R&D Next to You

Marc S. Pritchard, the chief brand officer of Procter & Gamble and the scion of American advertising, has famously said “Execution is the only strategy a consumer sees.” And as a professional strategic communicator for nearly 25 years, this rings true to me. Generally, my job is to announce, debunk, celebrate, release or kickoff the actions that the entire planning team has created. If I don’t do my job perfectly, none of their smart pre-work shines through.

But I can’t do my job effectively without a strong R&D partner.?

Whether we’re pursuing the Moon, or higher reading scores for third graders, it all boils down to not only making a plan, but bringing your constituents or consumers along the journey with you.?

One of the most important parts of any project is the research phase. In public policy worlds, this information-gathering and assessment phase is accompanied by a strategic engagement strategy that brings others along the decision-making journey with you. After all, they’re the ones who will be directly impacted by the actions taken.?

Now, I’ve worked with some incredibly talented R&D-type folks over the years, and certainly they are not a monolith. But the really good researchers take time to do things right. It’s their job to think about the pros and cons, what’s defensible and what’s not. The best researchers develop an internalized system for evaluating the needs and wants of stakeholder groups - from regulators, to opinion leaders, to consumers – and they give unbiased advice for next steps based on that intel. It takes years to hone this skill.?

And the best of the best know, it takes more than It’s not just a google search. It’s more than creating a memo that gives the leader the answer they want to hear. It takes time to slow down and get all the facts straight and the answers aligned so once the team is ready to announce, launch or sell, all the facts and “what ifs” are answered.?

The Hidden Rewards of Slowing Down

In most jobs, you’re rewarded by what you do, not by what you don’t do. In other words, at your evaluation, it’s rare to hear your manager say: wow, you saved the company when you advised us to NOT do that. More often than not, rewards come when you take action.?

But at Space to Village, we’re not here for bonuses, rewards or acclaim – we’re here to get it right.?

Next Steps

Step One: Buddy Up

Every day is Day One for everyone: if you’re starting a new communications role or been in the role for a while, tomorrow is Day One to reset that relationship with your R&D partner to unleash your full potential together. Come with questions and ask them even more follow-ups: researchers are by nature curious and precise and the more precise you are, the more precise your responses can be when talking to constituents, clients or the media.?

Step Two: Plan to Plan

The time to worry about the next crisis is when you’re preventing another one. In other words, it’s a lot easier to build out position papers, backgrounders, fact sheets or other collateral in preparation for a crisis than when you’re in one. Create a template so you always know where in your documents to find certain answers. Ask yourself the hard questions no one else is comfortable asking or saying out loud.?

At Cincinnati Public, Laura led an effort to ensure we had response flow charts for every time of issue or crisis district leaders could face. We started by taking school board policies and then we created “if/then” flow charts on how we would respond if there was an infraction or violation of those policies.

I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was tedious. But it paid dividends when we got to Step Three.?

Step Three: Execute The Plan

I could write an entire memoir about my experiences working with Laura at Cincinnati Public Schools about something happening (good, bad, otherwise) and the need to immediately snap into action. That’s where having done our research and creating our playbook was essential.?

By no means did we go into auto-pilot. But because we had pressure-tested our processes and responses beforehand, we were able to implement quickly without having to stop and research policies or state laws about a specific issue.?

As we head into the holidays, and everyone is slowing down so they can hit the ground running in 2025, what can you as a communicator ensure is created or updated so your team is ready to handle anything??

Take that R&D leader for coffee – chances are they’ll know where to start.

Have a great week!