the art of communication

Recently I have been rereading a book that ought to be on every political junkie's bookshelf - All's Fair: Love, War, and Running for President by Mary Matalin and James Carville. In the book, this political odd couple recounts their starkly divergent perspectives from their respective camps in the Bush and Clinton campaigns during the 1992 presidential election. I first read the book shortly after it was released in 1994 and decided that I needed to revisit it during this year's election cycle, especially since Matalin and Carville are familiar faces on the cable news circuit these days.

I have been interested in political campaigns ever since my father ran for Congress in 1974 (he lost to the incumbent), and I ended up majoring in Political Science at the University of Tennessee. The behind-the-scenes stories that these two political operatives share in All's Fair are fascinating, and there is a lot to be learned from observing their successes and failures as they sought to communicate their candidates' messages to the press and the voters. 

In one section of the book, Carville described the art of "wiring up the event" - anticipating who reporters will call to comment on an event, then preemptively contacting them to prepare them to respond in a way that reflects favorably on your candidate. Carville observed: "There are even times when you've got to wire up an event within your own organization. If you call and explain your plans and your reasoning, people will tend to be more supportive than if you just spring it on them. That goes for people inside the campaign, it goes for reporters, it goes for people in every day life. It's better to tell somebody ahead of time and get their support than to tell them afterward and try to change their mind."

One of the things that frustrates me most when working within an organization - whether it is a secular or religious one - is when leaders fail to anticipate the questions that will likely arise regarding a proposed plan. I am more keenly aware than ever these days that many leaders lack what Lee Atwater called the ability to "see around corners," and far too often leaders set themselves (and their plans) up for failure when they don't think through the consequences of a proposal. Even worse, many leaders believe that by springing a potentially controversial plan on people without notice, they are actually increasing the likelihood of its adoption. The element of surprise is great at birthday parties, but not so good for consensus-building.