Why is there so much dumb public policy and what can we do about it?

There's government money to address a service need in just about every arena, which is great. But the flip side of that is the rules that are attached to that money. The rules about who can be served, how they can be served, under what circumstances, how money can be spent. All those rules, more often than not, get in the way of Nonprofits’ ability to provide a high-quality service that is going to actually solve the problem.

It happens so often that we start to think that's just the way it always is. I had a conversation recently with one of my clients who expressed this exact sentiment. She had been dealing with a number of really stupid public policy problems. And one day in exasperation, she just said, “public policy is just bad. It never works.” 

My initial reaction to that was to argue with her. But the fact is, a lot of the time that's true.

The problem with operating from that frame is two things really. One, it presumes things can't be changed. And two, it keeps you operating under a set of limitations that are tangibly impairing your ability to deliver the exceptional outcomes you want to create.

It’s time to take apart why so much public policy is such a mess. And then look at what we can do about it – without devoting our entire lives to changing public policy. Because we have other work we have to do. 

There really are things that we can do. And you'll not be surprised to learn that a lot of them center on our messaging and engagement strategies.

In this episode, we share:

• The three main causes of unhelpful, counterproductive public policy around funding
• How good intentions result in some of the worst policy decisions
• The biggest mistake Nonprofit leaders often make when trying to get decisionmakers to change an unhelpful policy
• Why your best policy analysis will likely be ignored if you offer it at the wrong point in the process
• The perspective shift we must be able to make in order to motivate the decisionmaker to help solve the problem they created
• How to create powerful metaphors that will help decisionmakers see the flaws in their policy

Ready to take your messaging and engagement skills to the next level and start getting next-level results? The wait list for my new coaching program is now open. Only 10 Founding Member spots will be available. Claim yours by sending me a message here: 

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