"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?"*
Gary F Grates
Globally renowned expert and counselor in change mgt, organizational communications, corporate relevance, business strategy in a digital world
??????????????? ??????????????????????????
????????????????????????????? Has the PR profession gotten so tone deaf that there is now an echo chamber at the highest levels? Recently, senior PR leaders touted the need for professionals to advocate for “ESG” “trust,” “AI” and “stakeholder management.”? Of course, the media ran with it as if it was some sermon on the mount but within the industry people were shaking their heads.
????????????????????????????? While such topics are important to overall corporate reputation, relationships, and viability, they are removed from the day-to-day requirements of practitioners. ??
????????????????????????????? At a time when CEOs and CCOs are wrestling with myriad challenges, issues, gaps, and vulnerabilities, senior management’s lament expresses a divide between awareness and reality.? Leaders keep stating how organizations have…??
???????? More cultural orthodoxies than values
???????? More messages than meaning
???????? More research than insight
???????? More information than knowledge
???????? More teams than teamwork
???????? More activities than results
???????? More awareness than comprehension
???????? More content than confidence
???????? More priorities than plans
???????? More competition than white space
?
????????????????????????????? PR practitioners earn their stripes discerning the solve needed and separating symptoms from cause. While macro topics such as AI, ESG, trust, and stakeholder management get attention and solidify egos, the key opportunity is conveying an organizational story that resonates with people allowing for sustained relationships to develop and evolve. ?????????????????????
???????????????????? ??
?????????? For PR professionals, it should begin with recognizing the telltale signs of dysfunction or incongruency which lead to achieving the wrong outcomes. Take, for example, AI. Critically important to the future of business, society and certainly PR. But we are in a discovery phase now and should not be professing solutions, etc.? Pundits who do are blowing hot air at best and fomenting nonsense at worst.
?
????????????????? ?? The C-suite tends to view PR/Communications in a more strategic, yet pragmatic manner, providing support and counsel to help the organization: ?????
???? ????Be relevant in a digital world
???????? ?Accelerate decision making
领英推荐
???????? ?Coalesce leadership around a common narrative
???????? ?Frame the real cause
???????? ?Challenge people’s knowledge
???????? ?Provide perspective and put issues into context
???????? Identify and mitigate “risks”
???????? Implement new technology and initiatives efficiently
???????? Retain and recruit talent
???????? Inform and influence behaviors
???????? Encourage dialogue, discussion, debate
???????? Signal shifts in reputation
???????? Prepare the marketplace for competitive shifts
?
???? The real value of PR/Communications rests with comprehending how relationships, information, discourse, and engagement are woven together to form behavior and action. Listening to the folks on high can sometimes be beneficial and even motivating.
? Unless the distance between reality and theory is too wide.
?
??????Gary
?
??
*”What’s the Frequency Kenneth” refers to an incident in 1986 when two unknown assailants attacked journalist Dan Rather while repeating, “Kenneth, what’s the frequency?”
It is used as a meme to describe a situation that is confusing or incongruent to reality.
?
Cool post Gary F Grates and, no offense, but an even cooler song. cc: Mr. Rather
I love this piece, Gary. As always, you're on point. Unfortunately, too many in our profession can't find the frequency whether it's digital or analog because they're all about themselves and not about their organization, their client or their team. Ultimately, while everything can be taught, behavior is an art, and few are blessed with that art, as you have reminded me.