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Why doing nothing is a core competence in public affairs

2024

Every incentive in this profession points toward activity. Sometimes the politics point the other way — and recognising those moments is part of the craft.

Every incentive in this profession points toward activity. Sometimes the politics point the other way — and recognising those moments is part of the craft.

Every incentive in this profession points toward activity. Sometimes the politics point the other way — and recognising those moments is part of the craft.

I once worked on a very important file for a client, where an inquiry was looking into changing a key piece of regulation affecting them. As a member of the inquiry was an old contact, we had an informal call to touch base on where things were going. The message was clear: the inquiry would land on the conclusion the client sought — but that outcome would be jeopardised if the topic became too politicised. The strong recommendation was to stand down and let things play out.

This is one of several examples from my career of situations where doing nothing was the right approach. As simple as it might sound, doing nothing is often counter-intuitive for an organisation. If you are a consultant, doing nothing means few opportunities to charge your client for your work. As a government affairs manager in a corporation, plans and objectives might be built on a different approach, sanctioned by senior management — and doing nothing means convincing everyone that those plans need to be put on hold.

These are my recommendations for navigating “do nothing” scenarios:

1. Ensure senior management is on board. Being pressured to deliver actions while knowing they will work against the objective is a bad situation. Make sure management understands why doing nothing is the best approach, and that you have a clear plan for monitoring the situation — and a contingency plan in case it changes.

2. Robust intelligence gathering. Especially in a multi-polar setting, it is important to get as complete a picture as possible. Even if doing nothing is a clear recommendation from one key stakeholder, they themselves might not have the full picture.

3. Avoid contracts that incentivise counterproductive work. It is better for both managers and consultants if supplier contracts reward achieving the end objective, not busywork for the sake of creating billable hours.

4. Prepare for a win. A situation where you have solid ground to achieve your objective is an opportunity that should not be lost. Plan for how to make the best of it, both internally and externally.