Wandering the Straight and Narrow (Linear and Non-Linear Thinking)

By Craig Miyamoto, APR, Fellow PRSA

(This is the 2004 Fourth Quarter issue of Public Relations Strategies, a quarterly publication of Miyamoto Strategic Counsel)

All sound public relations programs, campaigns, and decisions are the combined result of three similar, yet widely divergent phenomena � highways, tributaries, and bunny trails. Each is a path from here to there, yet each has its own elemental uniqueness that, when taken in toto with the other two, helps form the basis of lucid strategy and tactical selection.

Highways provide the straight and narrow � the most logical and efficient way of getting from point A to point B. The thoroughfare is well-paved and well-engineered, the route is tested and proven, and the guidelines are historic and easy to follow. There are signs to guide the way, there are rest stops and roadside points of interest, and they are plotted on maps.

Tributaries are feeders that originate at sources far from the main river. They pick up material along the way and add them to the stream. Tributaries contribute to the efficacy and power of the flow, and what they bring in volume and material will help determine the potency, and often the direction, of the onrush. They are directly responsible for growth. They too are plotted on maps (up to a point, for the smaller ones are usually ignored).

Bunny trails are close to being the antitheses of the orderly progression established by highways and tributaries. They cause our forward progress to head off in different directions. You know how bunnies are; they constantly make right-angle turns, poking their noses here and there, often reversing their direction. Whether foraging or fleeing, they make it difficult to predict where they are heading next. And yet, they always seem to make it back to the warren (their point B) safely.

Like highways, every decision that we make starts out at the beginning � with basic research, careful thought, and the setting of goals and objectives. �We are here, and this is where we want to go.� We know the direction, the difficulties ahead, and how much time and resources are required. We can gauge our speed, and we know what and who we have to pick up along the way. Our basic course, our movement from point A to point B, is set.

But we don�t live in a vacuum. Our plans can never be concrete because we don�t know everything there is to know. We require the assistance of tributaries. From all sides comes a flow of new information and resources that we can use to make our journey more efficient in the long run. Some of these tributaries move into our sphere of influence through our own efforts � it is vital to initiate inquiries that pay off in strategic data and the delivery of funding for our campaign. Other tributaries just happen; they find us and enrich us with unexpected help.

Still, a juggernaut that ignores what else is �out there� can be efficient, yet ineffective. That�s where the bunny trails become important role-players in our decision-making. Planned bunny trails, that is. Occasionally, we need to wander � to move off the straight and narrow, to wander away from the beaten path. We need to explore the wilderness and to breathe the fresh air. We need to examine the flowers and the people who live out of the mainstream. We need to measure what will elicit the behavior that will define our campaign, and whether or not new direction is indicated. So we take the side roads and trust to serendipity.

If we work this right, our decision making will be enriched by contributions both solicited and unsolicited. If we keep our eyes and ears open � if we truly see and listen � then our arrival at point B will have more meaning. It will affect more people positively, and it will facilitate more-than-satisfactory end results.

There is an easy lesson to be learned by all of this: Plan your highway well, welcome the tributaries, and be a bunny once in a while.