Although health care reform was an epic political battle, few recognized that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would help employers achieve their long-desired goal of shifting employee health plans from defined-benefit to defined-contribution. However, that’s exactly what’s happening; employers are using private exchanges to set contribution rates and allowing employees to choose (and pay the difference). According to a CNBC news story (http://www.cnbc.com/id/101018999) “about 40 percent of employers plan to consider private exchanges for active employees in coming years” and one of the primary reasons is to achieve this shift to defined contribution.
Twenty years from now, this shift may be viewed as one of the most significant, structural – and unintentional – results from the Affordable Care Act. Imagine that.
Often, it is these unintended consequences (or those that pass under the radar) that shape the future. HIPAA is a prime example. The primary fight – and what the media covered – in the mid-1990s was coverage portability. Today, HIPAA’s impact on information privacy carries the greatest significance.
The point is this: In designing a public affairs campaign, it is important to avoid the trap of following the pack or becoming fixated exclusively on how our issue may help our cause. Many campaigns suffer from this tunnel vision and groupthink. The danger with this approach lies in the unintended consequences, where what actually happens isn’t what we anticipated. To use an analogy, imagine looking at a map of D.C. without the one ways and state streets; while you could design a route to get from point A to point B, you’re missing all the wrong ways and diagonals that could cut you off and change your direction.
To avoid this, make certain opposition and ally* research as well as message testing (aka “homework”) are key components of the strategy. Many elaborate campaigns miss this step. After all, before engaging in a public affairs campaign, someone’s defined a problem and a solution, so, homework is an unnecessary waste of time and money, right? Wrong!
Without doing our homework, we have only a two-dimensional view of the landscape. The assumption that telling your story, in your voice, and “raising the volume” of activities and awareness is all you need to do to get the job done is a prescription for unintended consequences.
The lesson here is this – to avoid unintended consequences (at least those that your cause finds undesirable), first, do your homework so the issue is clear from all sides. Then, design a campaign to act on what you’ve learned today to create the better tomorrow your organization is working towards.
Remember, for success in public affairs, it is essential to see tomorrow, so you can act today.
Check back next month when I’ll blog on the subject, “Why talking to yourself is a bad idea”.
* I use “ally” research to refer to understanding what motivates others who support or at least do not oppose your efforts. It may not be the result of mutual agreement. It may be that they see something you have missed – unless you do your homework.