As we wrap up our quarterly assessments we wanted to share some observations, and in doing so, highlight what we’re seeing in terms of audience engagement data. Audience data says a lot. Our digital-first landscape enables our audiences to be in constant communication – every comment, video view, share and moment of silence carries a message that can transform a business strategy… if you know how to listen.
This is where converging the quantitative with the qualitative becomes so essential. When we talk about audience engagement and interactions, we’re not just looking at engagement metrics or feedback in a silo. The real insights we’re looking for often lie in the nuanced layers. Quantitative and qualitative observations serve to inform the storytelling experience.
In this blog we will explore what your audience engagement data is telling you and how to respond by applying insights and observations to your business strategy.
Your audience is the individual or company who benefits the most from your brand, product or service. Three categories for segmenting audiences include: 1) existing customers, 2) new potential customers and 3) internal team members and stakeholders. If you are selling something to a consumer or business, you may refer to these audience groups as your “buyer personas” or your ideal customers. But for the purposes of this conversation, we’ll begin with these foundational audience segments.
Deciding who your audience is, is the groundwork for decision-making. Audience personas influence product development, marketing strategy, sales infrastructure, customer support and much, much more.
Creating these personas and stories about who your audience is helps you decide how to engage with them. Deciding what their pain points are helps you communicate how your brand will make their life better. Identifying where your audience consumes information, influences where and how you distribute content to ensure you reach them where they are. And once you have determined who your audience is, only then are you ready to begin engaging with them.
Audience Engagement is defined as any interaction between you, your target audience and your brand. Your key performance indicators (KPIs) serve as the essential starting point for audience engagement metrics and make clear how your audience chooses to interact with you. All pieces of the audience engagement KPI puzzle will tell you a lot about your audience and your brand.
Let’s begin with a baseline metric for examining audience engagement: A like or social media reaction are two great entry-points. But they are also “surface-level.” Essentially, these likes are table stakes. We want to focus on comments or shares, that’s where we will learn about what target audiences are doing and how they are looking to build a deeper relationship.
Comments are an essential feedback channel. Positive comments reveal what’s working, and critical feedback can serve as a roadmap for what can be improved. Organizations that listen to comments, respond to their audience and make changes accordingly do it best. They understand that there is a person behind every comment, and each and every one of us wants to be listened to. When you listen, and respond – it demonstrates that you and your brand are actively engaged, and that’s impactful.
Engagement patterns can also speak volumes. A sudden drop in engagement is a statement, a moment in an ongoing conversation that communicates that what we shared has invited an unwelcome pause. Are your recent posts or emails not resonating right now? Are there news or events that are impacting your audience? The absence of interaction is just as informative as active engagement.
The true value of audience engagement lies in transforming insights from collected data, into strategy and action. They inform the answer to the question of the “why” behind audience engagement behavior. When you have established the order for engagement and aligned it with your business and/or sales priorities you are better equipped to build on what you are hearing to create and evolve experiences that resonate and drive meaningful results.
When engagement metrics increase on specific content types, it signals a shift in audience preference. Every data point tells a story. The goal is to develop a framework for interpreting these audience engagement signals. If video content consistently outperforms text-based posts, it’s a clear indicator that video is a better avenue for communicating with your audience. Or, if your audience engages more deeply with thought leadership than product announcements, this can indicate that they are interested in learning more, and you should adjust your priorities accordingly.
Making sure you are tracking audience engagement that truly impacts the goals of your business is the name of the game. While social media performance metrics are great, does a like or comment on Instagram have a direct impact on your business goals? These days, for a lot of companies the answer is “yes,” but that isn’t always the case. We talk about this a lot with our clients, and this is usually when we invite the pause and ask “why” when choosing KPIs that really matter.
The key is to develop a feedback loop that connects audience engagement KPI metrics with business decisions, and work to facilitate:
– Regular cross-functional meetings where engagement data is shared across departments
– Processes for feeding audience insights into product development
– Mechanisms for testing hypotheses derived from engagement patterns
– Clear connections between engagement metrics and business outcomes
Quantitative data is the lead for these four items, but qualitative insights add a critical human dimension. This means beginning with analytics and then examining qualitative inputs that introduce the emotional context for engagement. Qualitative elements often reveal the “why” behind the numbers that we mentioned above – moments that delight and surprise and can serve as the catalyst for new ideas and new ways to engage.
That’s why quantitative analysis in a silo can cause unnecessary effort, sometimes there may indeed be a decrease in engagement. But when you examine the “why?” – the shift may be less about you and your organization and more about shifting audience priorities.
Audience engagement is an ongoing dialogue. In working with our clients, we use monthly and quarterly reviews to demonstrate that we are not just collecting engagement data, we’re working to use the data and insights to create deep and meaningful conversations with the audience.
Understanding the three W’s: 1) who your audience is on a deeper level, 2) what audience engagement means for your business and 3) why audiences engage the way they do – will ensure that you remain actively and meaningfully engaged with your audience.
Today, we should all be able to answer this organizing question: “Are people engaging?” Yes, they probably are. The key is to begin with “What are they telling us, and how can we respond in ways that create mutual value?” If engagement metrics are booming, that’s great. But if they’re not, that’s not so bad. The silence is just as important. Approach audience engagement as a conversation rather than a calculation. When you take this approach, you build relationships that incorporate transaction data and result in sustainable business success.
The three Cs serve as the foundation to the Alluvus approach to client engagement – curiosity, collaboration and creativity.
In a previous blog, we shared resources to examine and foster curiosity. Curiosity really is about openness, exploration and willingness. We like to say that curiosity doesn’t require any special skills, it just requires an open mind and a shared commitment to exploring every avenue.
And then there’s collaboration – an essential ingredient to our work; the backbone of any engagement with a client, agency partner or expert to ensure we tap into our collective curiosity and creativity. Collaboration at its core is about creating an environment where we can trust each other and have an honest conversation so we can achieve alignment.
In this blog, we are taking some time to talk about how Alluvus works to create an environment that ensures meaningful and mindful collaboration.
Listen, Learn and Create the Alluvus Planning Blueprint
Before we enter into any engagement, we always ask for time to conduct a “Listen and Learn” session. Simply put, we begin with a conversation. This offer is made without any expectations and is provided to demonstrate how we listen as the foundation of trust – the enabler of true collaboration.
We then process what we heard, conduct an in-depth situation analysis and use that to inform the Alluvus Planning Blueprint. This summary document (the Blueprint) communicates what we heard, our observations and opportunities for a path forward. The Alluvus Planning Blueprint is then provided to clients and partners in advance of a follow-up kick-off meeting where we ask participants to read the Blueprint and use it as a starting point for bringing their own perspectives to the table.
This is important as it demonstrates to the team that we’re not starting from scratch. We are committed to using their time to jump into the deep end of the pool.
The Alluvus Planning Blueprint is an invitation to collaborate; it provides a disciplined starting point and helps us answer: what do you know and what are we missing? In doing so, we also ask participants to bring forward their own resources and sources of inspiration. And before the team may even be aware of it, a-ha, we’re already collaborating.
The SWOT Analysis: Examine if “We” are the “WEakness”
“The Knowing-Doing Gap” (information circa 1999) presents a great summary about the role of fear when it comes to collaboration: “Fear inhibits the ability to turn knowledge into action because people are so afraid…they do everything they can to avoid being the one delivering bad news about the company, even if they are not to blame… Fear… leads to falsification of information and the inability to learn, let alone apply the knowledge to improve [an] organization’s operations.” What we try to achieve with our clients is the psychological safety needed to overcome this fear-based mindset.
While the Alluvus Planning Blueprint includes a SWOT analysis, the “weakness” box is really a device for examining if “we” are a weakness. Many of the organizations we have worked with have a tremendous sense of purpose, but how they deliver on that purpose can face internal roadblocks informed by fear.
As an October 2024 Harvard Business Review article notes, “Teams benefit when their members feel that offering up data, ideas, concerns and alternative views will be valued by their peers… Much has been written about how to build psychological safety in a team. But it’s especially critical to establish it in a team that seeks to use evidence to make business decisions – so that… fear or raising unpopular findings doesn’t cause members to miss critical data.”
In today’s data-driven marketing world, this is critical. The data usually is an easy piece of the puzzle to solve for, but how the data will be received by participants in a meeting, can be one of our biggest initial challenges. A current frame for understanding this dynamic is Chappell Roan’s Grammy speech where she asked, “We have your back, do you have ours?” It was a courageous statement informed by the artist’s struggle as she works to deliver what record companies want – hits! – but is informed by unspoken struggles that artists are often up against: meaningful healthcare benefits and a living wage.
Not to get off track, but the point is that the observation was there, and many in the room applauded, while record executives pushed back. But isn’t that what we want? If we can’t create an environment where individual observations are co-equal and heard, then… all the data in the world won’t solve for the biggest weaknesses.
Embrace the Value of Parallel Thinking
We understand that our role in an organization informs our perspectives. The book, “Unstuck” has a nice way of creating context for how to think about it. A shared commitment to collaboration should support both creative and constructive thinking. Our North Star is to create an environment where we can all examine opportunities and new possibilities rather than argue about two existing possibilities. The authors of “Unstuck” note that a simple way to think about this is to examine if participants are coming into a meeting in “Tuning Mode” or “Blue-Sky Mode.” Tuning Mode participants may be looking to answer the question, “Given the hand we have been dealt, how should we proceed?” While Blue-Sky Mode participants enter the discussion looking to examine, “Given a clean slate, what would we do to live out our purpose?”
Parallel thinking is useful because it creates space for both perspectives to exist and be put forward, but in doing so, the trick is to ensure that they are observed as such and also are acknowledged in a way that avoids argument and fosters constructive conversation (aka collaboration). Taking this approach ensures that everyone in the room feels that they have been listened to with the most important gain being that an adversarial approach is replaced by a collaborative approach.
And before you think that the approach to collaboration is binary… we invite you to consider Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats – a process for fostering parallel thinking. Six thinking hats goes farther when it comes to parallel thinking by delineating how mindsets operate when it comes to a collaborative discussion:
Six Hats is an interesting tool for acknowledging the mindset of each participant, that also ensures each individual is recognized with their respective perspectives honored and presented in parallel – the commitment is to collaborate not argue. Using Six Hats shines a light on a given mindset but does so without judgment, which fosters an empathetic approach. We often find this approach to collaboration can result in a “Black Hat” mindset finding appreciation for, “Why not?” – while those in “Blue-Sky Mode” acknowledge that while we may be flying high, somebody needs to think about how we come back down to earth (aka, the balance sheet).
The Most Valuable Asset We Have is Each Other
When we commit to an environment that results in deep and meaningful collaboration, we enter a world of opportunity. Roles are acknowledged and insights come to the forefront. And, more often than not, the team comes together; because no matter our respective mindset or set of responsibilities, we truly understand that we are all working together.
It really does take all-of-us and a disciplined approach to collaboration ensures that we meaningfully share and learn from each other.
In 2025, there are estimated to be 5.42 billion total social media users worldwide, with an average person using 6.83 different social networks per month. Advertising as a user experience has changed at its very core. And while volume and scale are certainly big drivers for social media, we are also amidst a major shift: AI-generated content. Engagement can be harder to come by as a result as algorithms begin prioritizing interactions over reach. Audiences expect (and crave) more authenticity, and brands that don’t adjust will find it harder to scale engagement and growth. When everyone is a content creator, it’s that much more challenging to stand out in a crowd.
We’re in a time where broadcasting your message isn’t enough – we need to create and engage in meaningful conversations with our audiences. When done well, organic engagement fosters trust, deepens relationships and turns audiences into advocates. So, let’s talk about how to make that happen.
It’s all about human nature and instinct. People tend to engage more when they feel seen, heard or inspired. Instead of focusing on what you want to say about yourself and your brand, consider what your audience wants and needs to hear from you. Can you answer a question? Offer an insight? Or share a perspective that challenges conventional thinking? Content that educates, entertains or sparks curiosity will always outperform content that simply exists to fill a feed.
The key here is to shift the focus away from self-promotion and toward audience enrichment. The more your audience benefits from your content, the more likely they are to interact and return for more.
When we tell stories – whether they’re about customers, employees or brand experiences – we invite people into something larger than a transaction. Unlike traditional marketing approaches that rely on direct promotion, compelling narratives transform static content into immersive experiences that resonate on an emotional level.
Great storytelling in social media doesn’t have to be long-form or overly complex (although it can be and there’s certainly a time and place for it). Sometimes, a single image paired with a simple, but compelling narrative or statement can spark something meaningful for your audience. Maybe your single statement taps into a memory or makes a connection to something bigger that causes your audience to pause and think. By tapping into emotion, you give your audience a reason to care—and when people care, they engage.
Crafting a story that reveals authentic human experiences invites your audience to see themselves within the narrative, creating a powerful bridge of empathy and relatability. Demonstrate how you are personally invested; weave personal anecdotes, share behind-the-scenes moments or respond to user-generated content as part of your social media strategy. You’re building a community. The most successful organic social media strategies understand that people don’t just consume content, they connect with stories and actions that acknowledge they are understood.
Think about social media as a digital dinner party. If you walked into a room and only talked about yourself without ever inviting others to join the conversation, you probably wouldn’t be the most popular guest. But if you ask interesting questions, listen actively and make people feel heard, the conversation flows naturally. Organic social media engagement isn’t about broadcasting; it’s about facilitating dialogue.
Ask thought-provoking questions. Invite discussion. Use polls, interactive features, and open-ended prompts that encourage responses. The more we engage with our audiences, the more they engage with us.
If a post goes up and no one sees it, does it make an impact? The short answer: not really. Timing plays a role. Posting during peak engagement windows can make a significant difference in reach and response.
Use insights and analytics to determine when your audience is most active. Are they checking LinkedIn first thing in the morning? Scrolling Instagram during lunch? Engaging with Twitter/X or Blue Sky in the evening? By aligning your posting schedule with audience behavior, you maximize the likelihood of your content being seen and interacted with in real-time.
To learn more about publishing on each social network and fine-tune your timing strategy, we invite you to read this article from Hootsuite: Best time to post on social media.
Let’s be honest…nobody stops for a block of text alone. Attention spans are short, and feeds are crowded. High-quality images, videos, carousels and interactive content stand out. According to Sprout’s 2024 Content Benchmarks Report:
– 42% of consumers want brands to focus on short-form video (<15 secs)
– 39% of consumers want brands to focus on short-form video (15-30 secs)
– 30% of consumers want brands to focus on static images
The format you choose matters just as much as the message itself. A well-designed infographic can turn complex data into an easily digestible – and shareable – visual. A short-form video brings energy and personality to static posts. A simple, well-lit photo can add depth to a brand story. Experiment with different visual formats to see what resonates best with your audience.
Every platform operates differently, but one thing remains true: social media favors engagement. The more people interact with your content, the more it gets seen. LinkedIn rewards meaningful conversations. Instagram favors reels and carousels. Facebook prioritizes discussion-driven posts. Understanding these nuances ensures that great content reaches the right audience.
The key is to stay flexible. Algorithm changes happen. Stay informed, test different strategies and be ready to adapt your approach based on data and insights.
We can’t expect people to engage if we’re not willing to do the same. Your content strategy should include responding to comments. Acknowledging shares. Answering questions. When you demonstrate that you’re ready to listen and respond, you will build a reputation that makes clear that you value your audience.
Engagement shouldn’t end when someone leaves a comment. Take the extra step and ask follow-up questions, express gratitude and create an ongoing dialogue. When audiences feel like their voices matter, they are far more likely to return and continue engaging over time.
What works today will change tomorrow. Be ready to track, analyze and refine. By paying attention to what resonates – whether it’s a certain type of post, topic or format – you can make informed decisions and amplify your impact.
Use platform analytics to assess performance. Which posts generated the most engagement? What patterns emerge in audience behavior? Learning from these insights allows you to refine your strategy, experiment with new approaches, and continually improve your engagement efforts.
When you break it down, the strategies and tactics that resonate with audiences most are those that are authentic to human behavior and instincts. Going back to the dinner party analogy, you have to ask yourself when creating content – would I find this interesting if someone told this story over dinner? Would I engage if I was asked this question over coffee?
The same instincts that make you the life of a dinner party will serve you well. Your organic content strategy needs to be a reflection of you and make clear that you understand that whether or not they’re sitting across the table, or spending time with you on their phone, tablet or laptop, they are all people like you. Make this the guiding force for your approach to organic engagement and you’ll grow your impact and create meaningful engagement that benefits you and the people you are talking to.
AI is at the forefront of today’s marketing conversation. “Ask ChatGPT” has replaced “just Google it” – a fundamental change in how audiences consume and filter information via search engines. And as more AI solutions continue to emerge – from Anthropic’s Claude, to Jasper’s content creator, to AI integration tools in PhotoShop – it can feel overwhelming. What is “good” AI? How do I choose which tools to use? How do I stay competitive?
So we’re here to provide you with a good place to start. For many Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the entry point to understanding and demonstrating what AI is at its core and how we can embrace AI.
The integration of AI in search has brought significant changes to how content is delivered to audiences. Search engines and tools can now better understand user intent and adjust to contextual meaning. Search engines are not just matching keywords anymore, they’re interpreting questions, analyzing sentiment and delivering personalized results.
For example, users can use AI to ask complete questions, rather than select keywords or short phrases. Essentially, those of us who have still been holding on to it can say goodbye to the Boolean search technique. The intended outcome is a more seamless search experience for users. Have a question on your mind, just ask it…right? Well, yes and no. While AI search tools are effective at processing complete sentences and questions, there is still a skill and technique to how questions are asked that prompt our desired results.
The question is: what is the impact on SEO when users begin search queries with full sentences? The answer, content ranking. A recent article in Forbes notes, “Prioritizing user intent and personalization guarantees that the content is not only relevant and captivating but also customized to address the specific requirements and preferences of users, leading to improved rankings in search results and more website traffic.” To simplify, content that is more personalized and comprehensive will result in a better ranking.
While it is important that we adapt to the changing landscape and embrace AI, it is also important to consider the human experience. If we lean too far in one direction where all content and experiences are generated by AI, the work becomes inauthentic. That’s problematic from a brand management and user experience perspective, and can also have a negative impact on your SEO.
For those of us who were around for the dawn of SEO, you may remember a time where producing a lot of content with a lot of keywords was the main objective. Comprehensive and personalized content was somewhat secondary. Over the years we’ve moved more and more toward high-value, keyword dense content as audiences have become more engaged and discerning. The adoption of AI in search should be seen as the final nudge — a tipping point for ensuring that high-ranking content is comprehensive and hyper personalized.
Here are five steps to get you started:
Rather than targeting individual keywords, focus on covering topics thoroughly. AI algorithms are better at understanding the relationship between concepts, so comprehensive content that addresses multiple related aspects of a topic tends to perform better.
A good place to start is creating content clusters. Begin by answering a number of related questions and provide in-depth explanations. This helps to create content that is holistic and comprehensive across a topic. It’s also important to include relevant examples, case studies and links to authoritative sources.
In reality, this shouldn’t be too dissimilar to what you’re currently doing. The main difference is that this approach actually introduces a bit more freedom when it comes to content creation, rather than being hung up on specific keywords.
With the rise of voice search and AI assistants, users are increasingly using natural language queries. It’s important to adapt your content to match this shift by focusing more on long-tail keywords and complete questions. Additionally, this should impact your tone of voice, making content more conversational and digestible.
Also, if you weren’t using FAQ sections before, this is a simple step that will help you get started. FAQ sections are still a great way to address a number of questions your audience is looking to answer and also ensures your website shows up in search results.
Expert, Experience, Authority, and Trust (E-E-A-T) signals have become more critical as well. AI systems improve everyday when it comes to identifying and rewarding genuine content and expertise – what we refer to as high-value content.
Here are three easy ways you can do this: 1) List bylines noting author credentials, 2) include all original research and supporting data, either in the form of links or a sourcing table at the bottom of your content, and 3) update and add content regularly.
Also don’t forget about backlinks. They are still a tried and true method for establishing credibility. The more other websites site and link to your content, the better. How do you achieve this? Staying true to the core concept: create high-value, expert content that organizations and individuals want to reference and link to. What is often referred to as link-worthy content and assets.
We’d be remiss to not also highlight the technical components of AI and search. The best thing you can do is help AI better understand content through enhanced technical SEO. We won’t get too into the nitty-gritty this time around, but to keep it simple, you should:
– Implement structured data markup
– Use clear heading hierarchies
– Optimize internal linking structures
– Ensure mobile responsiveness
– Improve page speed and core web vitals
Finally, it’s important to remember that while AI can do a lot, it can’t replace genuine insights and original thinking – and that’s the opportunity.
Ask yourself, does your content offer a unique perspective? Real-world examples? Personal experiences? These are just some ways you can ensure your content stands out. In taking this approach, think about questions and opportunities that are specific to your audience and/or industry. What are the things, questions or ideas that your audience doesn’t have enough of? How does your organization fill that gap, and how can you communicate your expertise to them?
Traditional SEO metrics will continue to remain important, but pay attention to emerging metrics like featured snippet appearances, voice search rankings, user engagement metrics, content relevance scores and topic authority. Hopefully, what we have shared here will get you on the right track to perform well, but remember – AI is evolving every day.
We know that the integration of AI into search will continue to evolve. But as we have reviewed here, the key to success when it comes to AI-powered SEO still lies in creating high-quality, user-focused content. What may change and evolve is how we leverage technical optimizations that will help AI platforms continue to better understand and rank your content. AI is changing how we approach SEO, but the fundamental objective remains the same: provide valuable content that meets user needs.
Adapting your strategy to account for AI’s growing influence will take discipline and a continued examination of how AI creates value for users. In doing so, you can be assured that your content will reach your audiences and ensure ongoing success for your organization in this evolving landscape.
Ten years ago, Alluvus began its journey as a marketing agency with a simple offer – let’s begin with a conversation. This conversation, our starting point, is informed by our commitment to listening. We are passionate about the “why” and “how” behind listening because we’re intentional about becoming partners with our clients. We believe partnership is how we – all of us – can work together to create meaningful and measurable outcomes.
When we begin with a conversation, we create the potential to make good things happen.
If a conversation is our starting point, then making good things happen is our purpose. We think it’s important to lead with intention because we live in a problem rich world that is filled with opportunity. But people are uncertain. They’re distracted. They are looking to talk with someone who will listen. Because nine times out of ten – like us – they also want to make good things happen; they just are unsure of where they should begin.
From the very beginning, we have worked with our clients – people – to make good things happen. In doing so, these good things have involved sales, membership growth, product launches, conferences and events, thought leadership, lead generation, engagement, disruption and design.
Results matter, and we’re proud of our collective accomplishments. But the people we work with also matter – a lot. That’s why making good things happen also involves working with our clients to take a breath, invite a pause, address their distractions, introduce calm, provide support, counsel and take time to care.
It’s why we always begin with a conversation.
Making good things happen always involves outcomes. But when we make good things happen for our clients – the people we work with – and then meaningfully examine the people they are trying to connect with – the people who come to their events, and the people they want to click to learn more about what they offer – the good things we exist to make happen can get even better.
With a conversation, we create the time and space needed for a client to share where they have been, what they have tried before, what they have learned from the past and the dynamics today that are causing them concern.
Our commitment is to then take time to process the discussion and return with an examination and analysis that is meaningful and measurable, but is also provided without any attachments or expectations. We believe it’s important to demonstrate that we understand the risk and uncertainty that may be involved but also see the opportunities and how they can get there. In doing so, we stay true to our original intention and demonstrate what we heard.
The conversation creates the foundation for a shared understanding.
Clients appreciate this commitment because in most cases they have already begun the journey and are looking for an examination of where they are. They want to examine assumptions that were made when they began, and they want to talk about how these assumptions align with the forecast they are using to govern where they should be.
A useful analogy for this is setting sail. Once the boat leaves the harbor the focus is on the destination. Given the nature of the weather and other variables that may be encountered, assumptions are made to inform the course that needs to be taken. However, as is the case with sailing, the weather can change, and the course needs to be altered to ensure conditions are accounted for and the ship remains on course.
We like this analogy because it applies to forecasts created for a business or organization. Organizations begin the year with a vision for how they will measure success, the KPIs are in place, and as they move through the year, assumptions made don’t always hold true. Everyone still agrees on the destination, but the conditions have changed, disruptions happened.
It happens all the time in sailing, but no one plans to jump ship.
But, when it happens with a business, concerns arise, people get nervous, and pointer fingers start to get a little itchy. When we begin with a conversation, we can work together to examine the variables affecting assumptions and plot a course that ensures we reach our destination.
Charts and maps are useful here. They help us see where we began, examine where we’re going and use the changes in the forecast to get us back on course.
At Alluvus, the map we use is the Alluvus Brand Execution Path. It ensures that we process the conversation in a disciplined fashion, examining the many variables that are impacting desired outcomes.
The conversation, our starting point, also allows us to examine if there are any clowns hiding underneath the bed – the things we’re afraid of. This is where it gets personal and perhaps even a bit political. But if we’re talking with a client “that seeks to use evidence to make business decisions…” and fear is a factor, we may miss things. And while the article linked here speaks to candid reporting and data, fear can be informed by an individual’s aesthetic preference – fear can be informed by the observation “that is way above my pay grade” or fear can be a function of not wanting to bother someone back from a long business trip.
Today, we talk about psychological safety, but internal dynamics that make team members fearful, is a long running issue. For example, as “The Knowing-Doing Gap” by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton notes, “Fear inhibits the ability to turn knowledge into action because people are so afraid… they do everything they can to avoid being the one delivering bad news about the company, even if they are not to blame… Fear… leads to falsification of information and the inability to learn, let alone apply the knowledge to improve [an] organization’s operations.”
This is where the conversation has the potential to be transformational. If internal dynamics are creating fear – we need to talk about it. After all, when it comes to our fears, instead of clowns, we may just find that there are butterflies and unicorns hiding under the bed.
If we’re operating in a state of fear and our nervous system is set on high alert (aka, flight or fight), and we’re not talking about whether that is a function of the workplace or life, then we’re going to miss the point. The people we work with and the people they work and live with are always going to make the difference. If you’re stressed – or balanced – then let’s talk about it because if we’re all not operating in a restful state – and by this we’re simply talking about the parasympathetic nervous system and the importance it plays in ensuring we can be at rest while we think – well…
At Alluvus, we always take time to examine if the first item in the weakness box is us/me/we. If there is fear about how things are presented or processed, if there is fear related to issues outside of the workplace, if there is fear related to colleagues’ issues inside and outside the workplace – then we need to talk about it. No amount of strategic thinking or breakthrough creativity is going to get us where we need to be.
When we have this conversation and we commit to understanding how we can overcome fear – while also working to hear from the folks in the room who see unicorns and butterflies underneath the bed – many of our engagements result in “creativity [that] should be followed, not led.”
That’s why a conversation has been our offer since day one. Listening is our origin story because when we do, we make good things happen. It’s what we were founded on and it’s the approach we have taken each and every day since. If you would like to learn more about how we can help you, just reach out.
So, here’s to all of us here at Alluvus as we move through the days that get us to ten years. If you would like to hear more about our journey – well, you should know by now… we’re happy to begin a conversation as we work together to make good things happen.