We the People: Embracing the Groundswell

As I flipped through a recent issue of TIME magazine, a picture of Justin Bieber's mugshot caught my eye. Positioned next to a headline that read "Wackiest White House Petitions," I was immediately intrigued. What in the world do Justin Bieber and the White House have in common?

In case you missed it, let me back up a few steps. Justin Bieber is a 19-year old Canadian singer who rose to fame in 2008. Since then, his voice has dropped a couple of octaves and he has unfortunately turned into a reckless dimwit who is destined to be completely bankrupt if he doesn't clean up his act. Just when I was starting to become a beiliber, too...bummer.

On January 23rd when Mr. Bieber was arrested for being stupid, he instantly became the butt of many jokes and, quite interestingly, was the subject of an oddly successful "We the People" petition.  Apparently, 247,000 Americans have enough time on their hands to organize and sign a petition to get Justin Bieber deported back to Canada. Ahhh yes, because down here in the United States we have our priorities straight...  

Embracing the Groundswell

Having just read a few chapters in Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, a light bulb went off-- were the folks over at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue attempting to embrace the groundswell when they launched the We the People Initiative back in 2011?  While a government agency serves constituents rather than customers and instead of turning profit they are focused on providing goods & services (and having high approval ratings), the principles of groundswell still apply.

Whether you are a large corporation, a small business, or the federal government of the United States, having the best product or service is simply not enough.  In order to stay on top, you must innovate faster. Embracing the groundswell, rather than resisting it or ignoring it all together, is one way to get you there. Why is faster innovation powerful? Li & Bernoff chalk it up to two main reasons:

1. Customers (or constituents) do not take very long to tell you what they want.  Everyone has an opinion and every one expects to be heard! 
2. With customers (or constituents) in the loop, you can get real time feedback and make continuous improvements as you go. 

We the People!

In September 2011 when the Obama Administration introduced the We the People Initiative, whether they knew it or not, they were practicing embracing the groundswell.  This initiative seeks to provide the American people with a "voice in our government."  Any citizen can start a petition.  If that petition gets at least 100,000 signatures (which was recently increased from 25,000), the White House will respond to it.  

Think about it: with over 313.9 million people in the United States, someone is bound to have a great idea. If they can get 100,000 people to agree that it is, in fact, a great idea, the government could take action on the idea.  For the Obama Administration it's a win-win (theoretically...): the really stupid petitions get weeded out naturally by virtue of not having enough signatures.  Even if a not-so-serious petition gets through to the administration (i.e.: Justin Bieber having his green card revoked), they have no obligation to act on it, they only have to respond to it.  But, if a great idea comes down the pipeline and the administration acts on it... BAM! A good idea is put into action! A public display of democracy in action! Everyone is happy! U-S-A! U-S-A!   

The site itself is very user friendly. Visitors can view open petitions, read responses to completed petitions, and learn more about the process of petitioning. Additionally, the website provides an option to share feedback. But before we get much further, let's clear something up: as much as this is an example of the government attempting to embrace a small part of the groundswell, this also has elements of crowdsourcing (AKA: asking the groundswell to provide you with ideas).  

According to Li & Bernoff, "...crowdsourced ads are a flash in the pan-- they tap the groundswell for a moment, rather than move the company in a positive direction."  Crowdsourcing is not a bad thing at all, so long as the party requesting the information recognizes what they're doing and why they're doing it. 

 

Our fearless leaders, Li & Bernoff, leave us with a few important thoughts as Part II of Groundswell wraps up.  Customers (or constituents) can always help.  After all, they are the ones using the products or living with the policies voted into law.  Successfully embracing the groundswell is a balancing act between skills and humility: 

"...customers don't tell [the companies] what to do-- they just make suggestions. The difference is, these companies are listening to and acting on many of those suggestions. That's what accelerates innovation-- starting a conversation with your customers and using your skills to understand and exploit their knowledge."  

While this government example slightly differs from the examples featured in Groundswell because the objectives of a for-profit company are different than those of a government, that's actually okay. The administration is not looking for input on how to change the "democratic process" for the better. They are, however, willing to tap the groundswell for their ideas, voice, & opinions. This is partly just practicing democracy and partly adapting to a world transformed by social media. 


Chances are pretty slim that J. Biebs will have his green card revoked, but I await with bated breath while the White House formulates a response.