New York City has been having quite the time of it, lately.
Last Friday morning, an earthquake struck. The same evening, there was an aftershock. The following Monday, there was a solar eclipse. All that’s missing for the apocalyptic vibes to be complete is a plague of locusts. And hold on. We almost forgot to mention that lightning struck the Statue of Liberty two days before the earthquake. It all feels a bit like the movie, Ghostbusters. As you’d expect, people have taken to social media to hail the rise of the “end times.”
Fortunately, both of us have lived through some pretty freaky stuff in our lives. While you might be tempted to run for the hills, this is the time to sit down for a calming cup of tea with Ellen and Matt. Literally nothing phases us. You could show up to a strategic communications meeting with us dressed as a hedgehog (this has happened) or wanting to change the name of your entire organization to the French verb, “to be”, or “être”, (this has also happened) and we would both calmly respond by asking, “let’s talk about what that looks like in relation to your strategic objectives.”
It can, often, feel like the apocalypse is looming when you’re working towards a good cause. Certainly if you work in communications or leadership at a cause-driven organization, there’s a good chance you’ll have been exposed to some next-level confusion over the years.
Even the best intended funders can sometimes put nonprofits through testing times. Throw in the odd ego and tricky interpersonal dynamic to navigate, and it’s a miracle anything gets accomplished. Not everywhere, of course, needs a Richter scale to measure its organizational instability. But everyone can feel a little overwhelmed at times, in this kind of work.
At the same time, it’s likely that you do indeed have work to get on with. We’ve met recently with a new client with:
- A significant budget
- A difficult set of internal stakeholders they need to keep happy
- A challenging 18-month mission with specific goals to accomplish
- A complex project
- An emerging idea
- Internal resources already significantly overstretched
- A need for experienced consultants who can bring observation and meaning-making skills
- A need for a partner to help them deliver a complex piece of collateral that helps make sense of everything
- A need for an iterative approach, working on each stage to make sure everyone is aligned
From an internal perspective, with this laundry list of issues, the ground might be feeling pretty shaky. It’s not quite the end of the world, or an earthquake, but there’s a significant responsibility to get things right. There’s an expectation that by working with us as a consulting team, we’ll do more than solve a problem. We’ll raise the level of the work being done, and instead of everything feeling apocalyptic, we’ll deliver a sense of new hope.
The first thing we do is help stabilize things (see: “Cup of Tea”, above). We settle the ground and quiet the ringing in your ears. Setting up an environment in which we can all be most effective is an important skill we bring to the table. We know the right questions to ask and the right people to get in the room. We know how important it is to influence effectively at every stage. Then we get to work. If your sense of stability is in danger of being eclipsed by a looming project, you need partners who know it’s not the end of the world.
Together, we’ll get you through it. Let’s chat!
Ellen Mendlow and Matt Davis are the co-founders of TwoMindsComms.com