The biggest challenge you’ll face as a lobbyist is the resistance to change.
A resistance to change is natural. Glacial (pre-climate change rates) is about as fast as most people want things to evolve.
By the time proposals come out the door, you won’t have enough time to gather what is needed – resources, position, evidence, and solution – to turn things around.
You know you are in that territory when people speak about the mythical past and a collective group or tribal consciousness. It is common.
Before a proposal is published, you’ll miss the signs and deny that change is going to happen.
This would not matter if the Commission’s proposal were just a starting point. However, most of the time, what the Commission puts out the door will remain fundamentally intact at the end of the legislative and regulatory journey.
And, whether by accident, design, or negligence, you will avoid the best chance you have to make the most influence on the final legislative/policy outcome – the Commission’s development of the initiative/proposal.
Common refrains I’ve heard for timely engagement include:
- It may not happen. It matters not that the initiative is outlined in the Political Guidelines, Mission Letter, and Work Plan. Supernatural forces will step in and save the day.
- Just say no. If we say “no” loudly and often enough, the file will go away. This tends to have as much success as Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign.
- A superhero will step in and stop it. The superhero, real or imagined, will, when revealed, be a member of some ostracised political movement or an excellent propagandist whose track record of delivering change is unknown or unproven.
There are superheroes. I’ve worked for them. They are none of the above.
It comes down to a mixture of fear and an inherent resistance to change.
After that, you are playing catch-up.
There are indeed outliers when the smell of tractor fumes in the front garden leads to last-minute changes and even climb-downs.
But, in the law of large numbers, there will always be outliers. If you base your strategy on these outliers, I wish you the best of luck.
The reality is that a lot can be secured early on.
It depends on knowing the mechanics of ideation and the preparation of Commission proposals. It is something that I teach each year at the EUI in Florence. And, by the reactions of some of the audience, I may well be revealing an unknown branch of Esotericism.