Progress Is Still Possible: 5 questions to ask while taking stock

Now is a good time to take stock. A lot has happened. We just received important lessons and insights that we need to digest and make meaning about. While few organizations are likely to change their mission to respond to the recent U.S. elections, all organizations need to take a good, long look at how they are communicating, with whom and how well in a new context.
 
As Stefan Lanfer, Sean Gibbons and others address in a series in the Stanford Social Innovation Review for the Communication Network, now is the time to consider what mindsets, practices and skills will boost your communications so that you are motivating, not alienating; breaking through, not making more noise; and embracing new models of communications, not relying on outdated ones that don’t work.
 
Progress is still possible but unlikely if we keep doing the same things we have been doing. This doesn’t mean we water down our values. Creative thinking is now the order of the day. And to do that, we need courage, commitment and space to think. Ask:

• Where are the best opportunities to boost our communications in 2025 so that they are a strength and not a hindrance to making progress? (Spitfire is piloting a new assessment tool to help with this.
   
• Which of our communications efforts are falling short now? What is now irrelevant that, if we stop, we’ll have space to experiment with different ways of communicating?
   
• What skills are essential but that my team and I are slow to get good at? Crisis communications, disinformation defense, artificial intelligence done ethically, messages that find common ground, or using influencers to burst bubbles and engage with different audiences? Find opportunities to get good at these. Spitfire is offering a series of “Foundational Skills,” “Your Organization’s Voice,” “Sicky and Tricky Communications” and “Heading Off and Navigating Crisis Communication Situations.” Read more here, and you can reach out to Spitfire directly here.

• Are we building or breaking trust with our communications? No matter what you are trying to get done in the world, growing trust is a must-do. Trust won’t replenish itself. What are some best practices that you can follow from Replenishing Trust to do your part to improve it?
   
• Where are big risks we can take that may have big payoffs? Create a break eggs session to think about all the ways you could get attention, defeat disinformation and grow your tent into something magnificent. By taking the constraints off and rewarding risk, you’ll make it more likely for your team to invent possibilities that make all the difference.

 
Progress is still possible. Join us tomorrow, Nov. 20, from 1-2 p.m. ET for a candid discussion with partners at Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC) and Surdna Foundation about the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.