Understand the Stakeholders
I received one of those funny emails that people forward around from a former boss last night. It is one of those forwards that you saw a few years ago and it made you chuckle then and it makes you chuckle now. Lately I’ve been trying to look at things from a more thoughtful point of view, so here’s the email and my thoughts…
THE EMAIL:
The Sierra Club and U.S. Forest Service presented an alternative to Wyoming ranchers for controlling the Coyote population. Ranchers were using the tried-and-true method of shooting and trapping these predators.
The Sierra Club and U.S. Forest Service proposed a “More humane” solution:
- Capture the Coyotes with non-injurious traps, castrate the males and turn them loose again.
The ranchers remained silent for a few minutes, contemplating this new idea. Finally one rancher in the back of the conference room stood up. Tipping his hat back, he said;
Son, I don’t think you understand our problem… Coyotes don’t screw our sheep… they eat’ ‘em!
The meeting never really got back to order.
THE LESSON:
This is a perfect example of what happens when you think you know the problem and you don’t understand the stakeholders. There are a few basic lesson here:
- Fully vet the problem, understand the symptoms and the cause;
- understand and listen to the stakeholder (their challenges, motivation and point of view);
- and develop solutions that create short-term wins and long-term sustainability.
In this case the Sierra Club was focused on a solution that would address population control, but did not address the ranchers immediate needs.
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