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This might not be a popular view – it may even be contentious – but there needs to be some balance against the hysteria that has surrounded the recent calls for state control of the media.

This is an incredibly complex issue so attempting to simplify things is fraught with difficulties – but here goes…

Point 1: ‘phone hacking is not necessarily a bad thing
Consider this scenario: journalists hacking the ‘phone of Milly Dowler were able to unearth vital information that enabled the police to find her alive and return her to her family. Her mother would be on TV praising the investigative efforts of the News Of The World, saying the paper had saved her daughter’s life when the police were coming up with blanks. Nobody would have cared how it was achieved, the newspaper would have survived and Leveson would never have happened. Or: what if ‘phone hacking had exposed Jimmy Saville to be a paedophile while he was still alive and unveiled a vile network that was preying on vulnerable young people? Once again, even if undercover work was not praised it would surely not be vilified. Such is the fine thread that all these issues hang on.
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Josh Myatt on work experience at Changeworks

During the first week of December, Changeworks had the pleasure of giving Josh Myatt, a student at Walton High School, a week’s work experience to show him the ropes of being part of a busy PR and Marketing team. Here, Josh journals his time spent at Changeworks.

5/12/11

Monday
Today it was my first day and it was just me and Sue (employer) and me in today, I got into work for 9:00am and I started on completing the account spreadsheet for income, invoices and expenditure. That took me most of the day really, after I completed that I watched the employer edit a video and how to put that accomplished video on to an actual CD.
What I liked about today was how not to be in a routine and listening out for bells, its a change from school with giving you more freedom. There was nothing I really disliked about today and it’s a huge difference from school. Read more…

I am in the middle of a Viral Change project for a large organisation and, as part of this process, I am talking to employees. I prefer to call these ‘thinking workshops’ rather than focus groups, because I think that the latter term has become cliched. And without encouragement, people perhaps may not think deeply enough about what we ask them.

On that point, I would highly recommend a book that I am reading: ‘Marketing Metaphoria’ by Gerald and Lindsay Zaltman uncovers the deeper metaphors that work behind our deeper thinking.  Zaltman has developed an innovative process for depth interviews and focus groups to elicit people’s unconscious layers of thinking.  You can watch a video of Zaltman talking about this process, with a live example at HBR’s site.  There is also a ‘mock’ written case study to illustrate Zaltman’s point about the risks of failing to think deeply about what consumers are saying.

Whether we are planning internal or external communication, marketing principles apply. However, most marketing practice is based on outdated or incomplete knowledge of how the mind works.  By studying disciplines such as cognitive and behavioural science we can augment and enhance our marketing tools significantly and far apace of our competitors.  But more importantly we can add significant value to our clients in our change communication with them.

I love Zaltman’s book because it is about understanding the deeper structure and meaning behind the words that customers use, and using this to produce deeper level and higher quality managerial thinking. As a coach, I am fully aware of the importance and significance of metaphor in the change process.  For me this book gives me lots of ideas as to take this approach overtly into focus groups and depth interviews as part of a research process for internal change.

Whilst the book relates the concepts to brands and brand development, but there is plenty of application in developing internal communication programmes and certainly in change management.

But remember, deep thinking is hard work: have you got the courage to face the deep?