I think there is a set of simple questions you can answer before you start work on lobbying that increase your chance of success by a factor of 10.
The questions help you identify, at the very beginning, if you have a realistic chance of getting delivering the public policy change/law you want.
I’ve used the questions as a simple checklist for many years. It helps me identify if there is a good chance of success of winning. And, even after using the questions for many years, I still print them up and go through them every time, and write the answers down. I don’t have a photographic memory.
There is a catch when you answer the questions. You need to be objective and dispassionate in your answers. There is no point kidding yourself. The easiest person to kid is yourself. If you know 17 countries are going to back the Commission on a delegated act, you know the chances of getting what you want are between low and zero. And, it seems a profession, lobbyists are too optimistic in their abilities to win.
The trick when answering the question is that you need to answer the questions at the very start. You can’t do it half way through.
50 Questions that will save you a lot of pain, money and heartache
The checklist is not long. It is only 50 questions. It takes about 1-2 hours to complete. You may think that is too long. But, it gives you the answers you really need to know and have down on paper.
If you don’t put the answers down on paper, the chances that are you blind to something that is going to bite you at the worst moment is pre-ordained.
Now, as a man of faith, I know miracles happen, but I prefer not to call on the intercession of political miracle workers too often. Answering a simple checklist of questions from the start is going to make your work a lot easier. A more mundane life, with less excitement, and far less billable hours, is a better way to go.
Why you are not going to use this simple checklist
There are good reasons not to go down this path.
You often find out that you have little to no chance of getting what you want. That’s easy enough to deal with. Tell the person who is paying the bill the realistic odds of success and allow them to decide if they want to continue paying. More often than not, funders like to pay to fight the good fight, even if they know the chances of success are slim.
I’ve done this many times. After seeing the answers to the questions, I am in better place to give a guesstimate of the chances of success. I know I am often very cautious. Having done something that makes the odds of Russian roulette look favourable, I like to understand the chances of success, and be cautious.
The worst thing to do is go ahead and ignore political reality and tear up the answers to the questions because they don’t tell you what you want to see. If you find it to painful to see your world vision to be described as a political niche with little to no chance of success, find another job. If you don’t, you come across as Laurence Fox proclaiming certain victory in the London Mayoral election and losing his deposit.
I often wince when I hear lobbyists give ‘sure thing’ proclamations of victory on the basis of little to no background evidence and blind faith and enhusiasm. I’ve seen some seem assured that the political artitehmic of the environmental committee and plenary would go through a damsucs like conversion on nothing more than lobbyist’s self ordained faith. A look at all previous votes on similar issues should have dispelled that.
Deep Simplicity
It’s a simple technique. Before you start, answer some simple questions, and look at the answers. Then decide on what to do before going ahead, including on whether not to go ahead at all.