Your take-aways are dead-on for my business needs – thanks

Tracy

I just received an email request to call voters in swing states — another example of how to promote human-to-human connection in the political context, that also gives me hope about how Obama’s political work will engage individuals in small steps to take ownership of the political process back from “the media”.

I think/hope that when strategies for connecting begin to feel more rote and less real, a self-reflective organization can ‘up the ante’ by innovating and finding another way to display its values and invite connection. But that requires a self-reflective organization…and members who actively care.

What I thought was odd & interesting about the Obama Website was that (1) I knew it was a computer routine and yet (2) it still moved me. I think that was because I knew that (3) it was an innovation that (4) the organization itself had created (5) that really did demonstrate its values. So the link between the tool and the organization was clear.

When these techniques become widespread, then they are prompted by imitation rather than expression, I suspect that you’re right and the feeling will be gone. Here’s an odd tidbit though: In one of my Exec Ed Leadership classes I had a student who was an exec at a company that makes all those address labels for fundraisers to send out. She told me that her company stays in business because even though people know exactly what the labels are for, they still feel like they should reciprocate and send money! So I wonder how short the half-life is of a technique like contributor&value matching?… Thanks so much for your comment. cvh

Yet, I imagine that this technique can only be used a few times. Soon, it will feel like receiving an envelope of address labels. Seen too often, the item no longer valued, the technique analyzed and well-known. How can an organization who wishes to express its Authenticity in the way the Obama campaign has, keep its techniques sufficiently fresh to move us?