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Inflight Briefing: 033

5 min read
Jun 1, 2023 1:32:17 PM
 

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Delivered weekly, the Inflight Briefing is designed as a blueprint for the builder and inspiration for the curious. It's for those doing good marketing

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033: Did I learn the right lesson here?

We’re approaching the midway point this year. How are goals looking for your team? How’s your organization pivoting to better meet the moment? How are you feeling?

People tend to take a lot of credit for themselves when things go right, and this means that they’ll likely think nothing needs to change when they’re winning. But when things are looking down, they may want to throw everything out with the bath water.

Something in the middle may be the best bet.

Tim Lockie is the CEO of The Human Stack, a company dedicated to helping nonprofits effectively leverage technology. He joined us a while back and shared his thoughts on AI. But he starts with the paradigm-shifting idea that most organizational change only happens when it lines up with human change.

Real, lasting organizational change happens on the time horizon of people change. And people don’t change overnight. It often requires months and years to develop into the person we want to be. Some shifts may not require a lot of human effort, and these can be smart pivots, but often the most important changes require a lot of effort from your team’s people.

Paying close attention to target numbers is important, but realizing that hitting those numbers in the future will be more about long-term personnel retention, upleveling, and hiring than it will be about pivoting. Change is a good thing, but don’t change things so much that you lose the opportunity of letting your people grow into game changers!

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Snackable snippets 

Giving all the credit, taking all the blame 🎧

Courtney Bugler is Piedmont Park Conservancy’s chief development and marketing officer. She joined the Feathr team for a Good Marketing Unplugged session and talked about her philosophy of marketing, fundraising, and leadership. As a leader, she believes strongly that she’s there to champion her team’s wins and shield them from the storms. In terms of marketing and fundraising, she believes, “Marketing and fundraising are ultimately the same thing. They’re relationship building and storytelling. They just do it in different ways.” At her organization, everyone from programs to finance understands the role marketing plays in making an impact. Part of this clarity comes from having a powerful mission statement: “Our job is to create and form relationships with people to help them take the next step in supporting our mission.” 

What is self-serving bias? 📖

You’ve likely already heard of self-serving bias, but it’s that quiet voice in all of our heads that wants to take credit for the good things and blame all the bad things on circumstances. While this is how most all of us are hardwired, doing the exact opposite is usually more helpful. And it’s especially helpful to try to understand why other people are running into walls. Is something going on in their life? Are they dealing with a health issue? Is there a big change they’re going through? I’m often reminded how important it is to remember that I don’t know what’s going on in other people’s lives. And reversing the self-serving bias and holding myself to the highest standard will do wonders for my relationships and my work results.

Nonprofit ad day is here 📆

Are you looking to maximize returns on your ad spend? Community Boost is hosting a Nonprofit Ad Day on June 1 with 12 hyper-focused sessions surrounding how to maximize reach and magnify your impact. Register for free through the link above.

5 common mistakes when you’re overwhelmed 📖

Megan Donahue, the creator of Love + Robots, was recently joined by Tim Lockie for an incredible conversation about technology adoption and human psychology. Tim mentioned during the session that he believes human action is fundamentally rational. And I agree with him in most cases, except that our decisions begin to appear more and more irrational when we put ourselves under exceedingly higher and higher pressure. So although we may still be trying to act rationally, mistakes will abound when we’re overwhelmed.

In the news


It’s been a busy month for US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, who released an advisory on the epidemic of loneliness and a warning against social media — just weeks apart. It feels like there’s a link between the two, but it’s still about time someone effectively marketed these issues and brought attention to crises that we’ve allowed to remain invisible far too long.

HBO Max and Discovery are joining their streaming efforts and rebranding simply as MAX. A lot of folks, myself included, are confused by the new name because it removes the most recognizable and valuable word from the mix: HBO.

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Something for your inspiration folder

Four actors in the city of Tokyo have teamed up to become Gomi Hiroi Samurai — or the “Samurai Who Pick Up Litter.” The four actors often split into pairs and do choreographed battles against the forces of garbage in their city. 

It’s good to make the world a better place, but it’s also a whole lot of fun!

 

 
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