PR and purpose

HUBBARD COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
Saint Hill Manor, East Grinstead, Sussex
HCO POLICY LETTER OF 24 SEPTEMBER 1988

PR Hats
Executive Hats

PR Series 43

PR AND PURPOSE¹

Refs:
HCO PL I July 82 AKH Series 41 MANAGEMENT COORDINATION
HCOPL 19 July 82 PR Series 45 FAILED PR
HCOPL 6 Dec. 70 Personnel Series 13 Org Series 8 THIRD DYNAMIC DE-ABERRATION
HCO PL 14 Jan. 69 Target Series I OT ORGS
HCOPL 31 Jan. 83 THE REASON FOR ORGS

It is of considerable interest that the primary failure of management has been isolated.

This discovery has a lot to do with PR work and is important to PRs.

The Admin Scale is the basic policy here. (See HCO PL 6 Dec. 70, Personnel Series 13, Org Series 18, THIRD DYNAMIC DE-ABERRATION)

Numerous programs written by management execs have revealed a singular fact: The purpose of the program would not have been achieved by the targets written and the purpose written in was in some way off the wall.

Also, some management execs (including execs at org level) could not seem to grasp “coordination.” (Ref: RCO PL 1 July 82, AKH Series 41, MANAGEMENT COORDINATION)

The common denominator of these things is at the top of the Admin Scale: It  is purpose.

Programs are written to achieve a purpose.

To coordinate, one must have a purpose to coordinate to.

A primary function of a PR is to make known, enhance and forward the purposes of management.

Now let us consider the plight of a PR who is not serving someone who has a real purpose. The PR would be adrift or into forwarding an emptiness.

Let us consider a PR trying to work with or put an image into a group in the absence of purpose.

That, as you can easily see, would be grim.

A PR, to get cooperation, would have to be forwarding some agreed-upon purpose.

Suppose that a PR, representing his client, was trying to work with a group of execs who had no purpose or (as in out-ethics scenes) had an entirely different purpose. It would be worse than grim-the PR would have to fight every inch of the way. There would be no money, no personnel, no volunteers-wow!

So one comes down to an overriding rule for PRs:

THE FIRST STEP IN ANY PR CAMPAIGN IS TO DING IN THE PURPOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN.

“Ding” means to repeat insistently. The words “ding in” are used advisedly.

The PR does not care if the targets (people) from whom he is requesting co-operation have any purpose at all.

There are various mechanisms that can be used. When one announces a very good and worthwhile purpose, the targets can feel ashamed or guilty for not having it and can be made to agree and cooperate out of a fear they will be exposed as anti-social or a pariah.

So the PR does not really care whether they really believe in that purpose. If it is a very good and needed one, even the off-purpose and out-ethics cats have to give at least surface or public agreement to it. Thus we use the words “ding in.”

If one studies this and works out his own examples, one can see that successful campaigns all begin with a stellar, well-stated purpose. Then one uses this, repeating it often, to get done the targets that will accomplish it.

It is a deadly tool-even the most balky or privately other-intentioned people have to cooperate: “But you agree that (purpose), so therefore–.”

So a PR can work and accomplish a well-defined and vital purpose even when the group that should be cooperating (a) has no purpose at all or (b) has other purposes.

It also follows that a PR can instill purpose in a group, using all manner of PR tech. Thus a PR should be an expert in shaping, defining and communicating purposes.

A survey finds what buttons a group has-what they will accept. One can also survey trial purposes to find out what communicates.

But one is not limited by what a group accepts. Most groups are far below purposes-probably even below orders on the Admin Scale.

A PR skilled in the developing and handling of purposes can get almost anything moving. It can be the “long enough lever to move the world.” All PR campaigns that failed did so because they omitted this step. All those that really succeeded had great purposes behind them, well-stated and dinged in.

One works it out, then tells the people what purpose they have. The PR operates at cause.

With practice, skill and communication, the PR, knowing this, can start or end wars; drive whole populations into serenity or mass hysteria. It is no light tool.

PRs should know this cold.

In many instances over the years this has been THE Why of management troubles-they had not grasped purposes. And there a PR can really shine!

L. RON HUBBARD
Founder

Compilation assisted by
LRH Technical Research and
Compilations

Notes