Relativity as a Fundamental Law of Communications
When thinking about relativity, Einstein, time, and gravity likely come to mind.
From a public relations and communications perspective, the value of relativity starts with the idea that communications programs and businesses operate within a defined universe of agencies, clients, ideas, content, and media.
In our universe, social, professional, and economic rules govern interactions between each part of the system. For example, the relationship between PR professionals and journalists reflects unwritten, but clear, rules. These may not be as fundamental as gravity, but they are important nonetheless.
Furthermore, the structure or architecture of the system, which has emerged over time since the big bang of public relations as an industry, shapes how we interact within it. Press release distribution tools, media specialization, and social media define specific paths or channels to engage with other participants.
If we could take a big step back and take a “God view” of the public relations universe, it’s mind-blowing complexity would be all too apparent. To function within it, no surprise, we need to create shortcuts.
The development of elevator pitches, press releases, and one sentence LinkedIn posts to convey complex ideas are manifestations of the need to find ways to simplify ideas so they can be communicated. The development of silver-bullet strategies to win new business or the latest hot technology, further reflect our desire/need for simple solutions to find the success we seek – be it for a communications program or our businesses.
While the dynamics of every interaction in the communications system in which we operate are ultimately beyond our capacity to fully understand, we learn from what seems to work. Past results guide future actions in the same way experience gets a climber up Mount Everest.
Understanding relativity – our ability to see what we do as part of a system, and our programs and businesses relative to others in the system – provides a framework to achieve the outcomes we seek.
When we put the effort into researching how an announcement will stand out or be differentiated in the context of past communications and news, we leverage the idea of relativity to our advantage. Likewise, when we conduct a thorough competitive analysis, we are most likely to find ways to differentiate our businesses relative to others in the market.
Ego, self-importance, and the crush of work may tempt us to launch programs or businesses in isolation from the system within which we operate. We have a much better chance of success when we think about new programs, ideas, and businesses relative to the existing marketplace of programs, ideas, and businesses.
Looking at the world through the lens of relativity provides an efficient path to decision making within complex systems. Think buying a car, pitching a journalist or hiring an agency. In this context, what we do does not have to be perfect to be successful. We just need to be better, relatively, than others.
We don’t have to be Einsteins to recognize that understanding relativity in this context is a powerful starting point for differentiation and success. But, every now and again, a healthy reminder is not a bad thing.
