The Sky is Green. IT’S GREEN!!! What We Learned in 2024
A few weeks ago, I attended a meeting to inform a group of neighbors about a potential real estate project. Nearly all of the residents in attendance were hot to express their concerns about the future of a nearby green space before even learning about the project’s details.
At one point, the speaker asked neighbors if the green space – which up until recently had sporadic operating hours, a lack of security, evidence of on-site drug abuse and marginal upkeep – was the best green space in the city.
Over the giggles of the rest of their neighbors, five people raised their hands and said that it absolutely was.
That park is not the nicest green space in the city – everyone knew it. But those five or so people were willing to dig in. All to steer away from any type of change.
Is the prospect of change so distasteful that we will “white knuckle” keeping the status quo at all costs?
So, here we are. Our “What We’ve Learned This Year” topic for 2024! People will say and do crazy stuff in an effort to thwart the unknown.
You may think at this point, “Marc, there are no green spaces in my future. My company or organization is good.” Alas, my friend, we interact with people all day every day. Because of that, we all have our “green spaces” to navigate. Why? Because people are willing to say and do crazy stuff to hold onto to what they know, even if they know what they have is not as good as it could be.
Read on.
WE FEAR LOSING MORE THAN WE VALUE GAINING.
Our region resists change. Even more, when faced with change, people often aggressively double down on the familiar, even if it’s counterproductive.
The hand we’ve been dealt is better known to us than the next hand to be dealt, so we stick with what we’ve got, even if we are sitting on a losing hand.
Behavioral economists refer to this as loss aversion and they have a second explanation too. As humans, we tend to assign a higher value to items we already own in comparison to the value we would assign to those same items if we were to purchase them. Don’t believe me? Ask me how valuable that 1995 intramural champion t-shirt from college was to me up to the point a decade later when my now wife made me toss it out.
CERTAINTY CREATES COMFORT IN ACTING.
When faced with a choice between the known and the unknown, people don’t want accuracy. They want certainty, says Morgan Housel, author of Same as Ever.
Choosing to support anything carries risk for us. We don’t like making the wrong decision, especially if making a wrong decision could negatively affect our daily lives.
One thing I learned about myself in 2024 is that I love certainty. I. Love. It.
Makes making decisions a lot easier if I am certain of the outcome, right? The risk for an individual comes in the willingness to decide and support things in the face of uncertainty. If we have recent experiences that tell us that something uncertain didn’t work out so well last time, then we will hold onto to what we have …hell or high water.
“Certainty is rare, and the best you can do is make decisions in which the odds are in your favor,” says Housel. “You can be smart and end up wrong, or dumb and end up right, because that’s how luck and risk work.
“Most of what people care about is, ‘Were you right or wrong?’”
In other words, “I know that today is going pretty well and yesterday wasn’t the worst, so I’ll stick with where I’m at.”
That leaves us stuck in place, willing to say that the park is the best in the city, when we know it isn’t.
TOO MUCH INFORMATION = RETREATING TO WHAT WE THINK WE ALREADY KNOW.
“Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.” – Gertrude Stein
In a given day or even an hour, we are bombarded with thousands upon thousands of data points, news stories, posts on social, videos and conversations. We can’t possibly take in all of that information and make well thought-out decisions.
So, in a noisy world, we take mental shortcuts to help us evaluate how we feel about an issue or opportunity. When that happens, familiarity wins. The trusted voice—local news, a neighbor, or a story that resonates—is our refuge.
“We need to believe we live in a predictable, controllable world, so we turn to authoritative sounding people who promise to satisfy that need.” – Professor Philip Tetlock.
On the one hand that’s good, because we tend to trust the more local voices in our lives. This remains true when it comes to local media.
On the other hand, misinformation is becoming more “familiar” as a credible source, leading more people to react and share before they even get the story themselves.
According to the American Psychological Association, misinformation that evokes strong emotions, such as fear or outrage, is more likely to be believed and shared. People are also more inclined to accept false information that portrays opponents negatively.
This shows up more and more during public discourse about issues and opportunities. If the government agency or regulatory body agrees with you, they are geniuses. If they seem to disagree with you, they are idiots.
IN THE END, THE BEST STORY WINS.
According to Housel, “the most persuasive stories are about what you want to believe is true or are an extension of what you’ve experienced first-hand.” As communicators, the approach we should follow is “it’s not what you say or what you do, but how you say it and how you present it.” By the way, I’m a big fan of Housel and his books.
How someone receives the information we share is more important today than how we think we say something to an audience. Audiences don’t stop anymore. They act in the moment. Those folks at our community meeting opposed this potential real estate project before they even heard the details of the project itself. Their approach was to protect today, no matter what.
Be accurate. Be relatable. Build trust through storytelling and align messages with the values of our audience.
“A better economy begins with a better me.” The neighbors were worried about parking and green space to walk their dog. We were talking about new jobs and new tax revenue. There are so many ways we get to a decision, including not deciding at all. Ultimately, though, the starting point is “how does this help or hurt me?” A simple, yet powerful, question for communicators to answer and overcome.
Simplify. People receive so much information every hour that we cannot rely on them to remember much of anything. We must be consistent and constant in what we share. To counter rumor and information overload, we should: 1) Tell everyone what we are doing. 2) Tell them that we are doing it. 3) Tell them that we did it.
When people see how change could positively impact their lives, I’d like to think they will be more likely to welcome it. However, we all have “green spaces” to navigate, and overcoming the fear of change is a bigger challenge today than ever. There’s just so much information and so many personalities trying to put their information in front of us.
For the betterment of our communities, we must keep trying.
***
Thanks for the best year yet for the Gulf South Index. A special thank you to Katie Grace Walshe, Traci Howerton and Jennifer Crockett at The Ehrhardt Group and Therese Mulvey and Taylor Danos at Causeway Solutions for their work in bringing these insights to life.
See y’all in 2025 with lots more to learn. Merry Christmas, y’all.
A few weeks ago, I attended a meeting to inform a group of neighbors about a potential real estate project. Nearly all of the residents in attendance were hot to express their concerns about the future of a nearby green space before even learning about the project’s details.
At one point, the speaker asked neighbors if the green space – which up until recently had sporadic operating hours, a lack of security, evidence of on-site drug abuse and marginal upkeep – was the best green space in the city.
Over the giggles of the rest of their neighbors, five people raised their hands and said that it absolutely was.
That park is not the nicest green space in the city – everyone knew it. But those five or so people were willing to dig in. All to steer away from any type of change.
Is the prospect of change so distasteful that we will “white knuckle” keeping the status quo at all costs?
So, here we are. Our “What We’ve Learned This Year” topic for 2024! People will say and do crazy stuff in an effort to thwart the unknown.
You may think at this point, “Marc, there are no green spaces in my future. My company or organization is good.” Alas, my friend, we interact with people all day every day. Because of that, we all have our “green spaces” to navigate. Why? Because people are willing to say and do crazy stuff to hold onto to what they know, even if they know what they have is not as good as it could be.
Read on.
Our region resists change. Even more, when faced with change, people often aggressively double down on the familiar, even if it’s counterproductive.
The hand we’ve been dealt is better known to us than the next hand to be dealt, so we stick with what we’ve got, even if we are sitting on a losing hand.
Behavioral economists refer to this as loss aversion and they have a second explanation too. As humans, we tend to assign a higher value to items we already own in comparison to the value we would assign to those same items if we were to purchase them. Don’t believe me? Ask me how valuable that 1995 intramural champion t-shirt from college was to me up to the point a decade later when my now wife made me toss it out.
When faced with a choice between the known and the unknown, people don’t want accuracy. They want certainty, says Morgan Housel, author of Same as Ever.
Choosing to support anything carries risk for us. We don’t like making the wrong decision, especially if making a wrong decision could negatively affect our daily lives.
One thing I learned about myself in 2024 is that I love certainty. I. Love. It.
Makes making decisions a lot easier if I am certain of the outcome, right? The risk for an individual comes in the willingness to decide and support things in the face of uncertainty. If we have recent experiences that tell us that something uncertain didn’t work out so well last time, then we will hold onto to what we have …hell or high water.
“Certainty is rare, and the best you can do is make decisions in which the odds are in your favor,” says Housel. “You can be smart and end up wrong, or dumb and end up right, because that’s how luck and risk work.
“Most of what people care about is, ‘Were you right or wrong?’”
In other words, “I know that today is going pretty well and yesterday wasn’t the worst, so I’ll stick with where I’m at.”
That leaves us stuck in place, willing to say that the park is the best in the city, when we know it isn’t.
“Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.” – Gertrude Stein
In a given day or even an hour, we are bombarded with thousands upon thousands of data points, news stories, posts on social, videos and conversations. We can’t possibly take in all of that information and make well thought-out decisions.
So, in a noisy world, we take mental shortcuts to help us evaluate how we feel about an issue or opportunity. When that happens, familiarity wins. The trusted voice—local news, a neighbor, or a story that resonates—is our refuge.
“We need to believe we live in a predictable, controllable world, so we turn to authoritative sounding people who promise to satisfy that need.” – Professor Philip Tetlock.
On the one hand that’s good, because we tend to trust the more local voices in our lives. This remains true when it comes to local media.
On the other hand, misinformation is becoming more “familiar” as a credible source, leading more people to react and share before they even get the story themselves.
According to the American Psychological Association, misinformation that evokes strong emotions, such as fear or outrage, is more likely to be believed and shared. People are also more inclined to accept false information that portrays opponents negatively.
This shows up more and more during public discourse about issues and opportunities. If the government agency or regulatory body agrees with you, they are geniuses. If they seem to disagree with you, they are idiots.
According to Housel, “the most persuasive stories are about what you want to believe is true or are an extension of what you’ve experienced first-hand.” As communicators, the approach we should follow is “it’s not what you say or what you do, but how you say it and how you present it.” By the way, I’m a big fan of Housel and his books.
How someone receives the information we share is more important today than how we think we say something to an audience. Audiences don’t stop anymore. They act in the moment. Those folks at our community meeting opposed this potential real estate project before they even heard the details of the project itself. Their approach was to protect today, no matter what.
Be accurate. Be relatable. Build trust through storytelling and align messages with the values of our audience.
“A better economy begins with a better me.” The neighbors were worried about parking and green space to walk their dog. We were talking about new jobs and new tax revenue. There are so many ways we get to a decision, including not deciding at all. Ultimately, though, the starting point is “how does this help or hurt me?” A simple, yet powerful, question for communicators to answer and overcome.
Simplify. People receive so much information every hour that we cannot rely on them to remember much of anything. We must be consistent and constant in what we share. To counter rumor and information overload, we should: 1) Tell everyone what we are doing. 2) Tell them that we are doing it. 3) Tell them that we did it.
When people see how change could positively impact their lives, I’d like to think they will be more likely to welcome it. However, we all have “green spaces” to navigate, and overcoming the fear of change is a bigger challenge today than ever. There’s just so much information and so many personalities trying to put their information in front of us.
For the betterment of our communities, we must keep trying.
***
Thanks for the best year yet for the Gulf South Index. A special thank you to Katie Grace Walshe, Traci Howerton and Jennifer Crockett at The Ehrhardt Group and Therese Mulvey and Taylor Danos at Causeway Solutions for their work in bringing these insights to life.
See y’all in 2025 with lots more to learn. Merry Christmas, y’all.
President
The Ehrhardt Group