Tools You Can Use Now:
Messaging Made Easy
One of the most exciting applications of Catalytic Thinking is using the framework for messaging.

Groups often struggle to describe what they are about in a cohesive message. After all, social change is layered, complex, involving a compendium of programs and approaches and reasons for doing the work we all do. Pulling that all together into one statement often feels daunting. And sometimes we get so caught up in that complexity that the result is far less than clear…

To nourish the seeds of knowledge already planted within the hearts of the youth which will grow into a beautiful and thriving tree shading all cultures of our community and eventually bear the fruit of a unified people.

And yes, that is a real statement created by a real group. Can you guess what they do? Someone once answered “sperm bank,” and while that’s not the right answer, it sure demonstrated how far off track a group’s messaging can be! (The answer is at the end of this newsletter. But try and guess before looking. See how close you get!)

That is where Catalytic Thinking can help. The steps are simple, because they are simply the questions of Catalytic Thinking with one small twist…

Step 1: Start asking the questions of Catalytic Thinking just as you normally would.

• Who is being affected by your work? Whose lives does your work touch?
• What does your work make possible for those individuals and groups?

Example:
An art museum was planning for a major anniversary and wanted a tagline
for their big year of events.

Listing everyone who would be affected by their work, the list included patrons and donors, local residents and tourists, people in the neighborhood, students, artists – a long list.

They then asked what the anniversary could make possible for all those people. That list ranged from a sense of belonging and community connection, to expanding the understanding of what art is and who is an artist.

Step 2: Which of those results energizes you? From your list of what your work will make possible for all those individuals and groups, circle the results you are most excited about. Choose as many as you like.

Example:
The art museum circled the following results as their most exciting:

• • Connecting art to people’s lives
  • The fact that community was at the heart of the museum’s past, and that community will be the museum’s context for their next 100 years

Step 3: What conditions will lead to those results? For each of the results you are excited about, ask the questions about conditions for success. What conditions would need to be in place in order for all those people to receive the results you are most excited about?

• What would those individuals need to know, in order for that result to be realized?
• What would they need to believe?
• What would they need to be assured of?
• What would they need to experience?
• What would they need to feel, for that result to be realized?
• What would they need to have?
• For more questions about conditions-for-success, click here.

Example:
At the art museum, those conditions included…

• • People need to feel they are part of the conversation
  • They need to feel a connection to the museum
  • People need to see themselves in the museum
  • People need to understand that the museum’s history is the history of the community
  • People need to feel “this is MY history and MY future” vs. the museum’s history and future

Step 4: Which of those conditions energizes you the most? From your answers to all those conditions questions, circle the responses that get you the most excited. Focus in as tightly as possible. If one answer is sort of exciting, but another is hugely exciting, circle the hugely exciting one.

Example:
The folks at the art museum circled the last item on the list – that people need to feel like “this is MY history and MY future.” You could feel the energy in the room as they homed in on that sense of connection. This wasn’t about the museum, it was about the people in the community!

Step 5: Those exciting conditions will be the basis for your message. They are the story you want your messaging to tell. From there, the task is just wordsmithing. But the most important part is done: You will know what you want to say.

Example:
The museum decided that they wanted different messages for different aspects of their campaign, all rooted in that sense that “this is about MY past and MY future.” The messages they chose focused on…

• • Shaped by community
  • Endless possibilities
  • Still evolving

As the group wrapped up their conversation, their CEO told us this: “I’ve always learned that marketing is about what we want the campaign to make possible for US. This was all about what the campaign will make possible for the people in our community. And that’s where the energy came from!”

We hope you will try applying the questions of Catalytic Thinking to your own messaging. And if you’re new to the framework and want to learn more, here is a great place to start.

à The answer to the muddy messaging language above: A multi-disciplinary youth center. Yes really.