Navigating the in-between.

Written by

Kevin Smith

Three questions to unlock your cause’s future, courtesy of a 140-year-old painting.

I was in high school when I first visited the National Gallery of Art. As soon as I arrived, I never wanted to leave. Fast forward a handful of decades, and I’m still standing in front of paintings, quietly inspired. That was the case when I saw this painting by Edgar Degas at an exhibit, French Moderns: Monet to Matisse, 1850–1950, at my local museum.

Quiet inspiration feels appropriate as we begin this year filled with equal parts of opportunity and uncertainty. It’s an in-between time. A moment of what ifs. Navigate it correctly, and your organization can break new ground.

Let’s begin by asking some critical questions, and by stepping back 140 years for some modern-day inspiration.

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1

Is it time to widen your viewpoint? We tend to focus on fundamentals in times of change. That’s not always to our benefit, especially when the problems we are working to solve become more intense. Innovations aren’t born from narrow perspectives. For centuries, France’s Ecole des Beaux Arts regarded classicism’s historical, biblical, or mythological paintings as the most acclaimed form of expression. Edgar Degas made an artistic U-turn away from that philosophy by depicting ordinary people and everyday life. He elevated a mundane bath to a medium previously reserved for mythological Gods and Christian saints, making the average exceptional. It’s no surprise that our approach to addressing the unhoused needs a similar upending. Homelessness increased by 18 percent between 2023 and 2024, and this isn’t the only double-digit increase of late. I’ve heard from many about both the escalating causes and the unwillingness to embrace systemic change.

Meanwhile, I watch with admiration as one of our clients expands from temporary housing for families to a full continuum of care, from emergency shelter to affordable permanent housing. While others despair, she has heightened her organization from a manager of crises to a developer with an urban renewal mindset.

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2	Is apprehension undermining your success?

There’s a tendency to hesitate when you’re facing an uncertain future. Yet timidity hinders creativity and growth. Tentative gestures won’t solve big problems. It’s almost a shame to see Nude Woman Drying Herself on this screen. In person, it’s five feet tall and seven feet wide. The gestures are bold and spontaneous. It is completely unafraid. You might think that someone in the business of job training might be fearful of a labor shortage and historically low unemployment. Instead, our friends at Goodwill viewed this as an opportunity to reimagine their approach to workforce development. Their “ABC” philosophy (a job, a better job, a career) isn’t about getting someone a job. It’s about helping them find the right job wherever they are in their career journey.

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3

Is having it all figured out a prerequisite for beginning? We all want to know how things will end. Planning typically begins by identifying desired outcomes. Yet our world is increasingly fluid, and being able to respond well might be as important as having a plan. Nude Woman Drying Herself is an imposing painting. It’s also an unfinished one. The piece is an underpainting establishing composition, gesture and tone. Degas lived more than 30 years after painting it. A known tinkerer, he frequently went back into finished works. So why he didn’t add color to complete this one is a mystery to art historians. One of my painting instructors never admonishes an effort. During critiques, he won’t allow students to say their paintings are bad. Instead, they are unresolved, and you are meant to keep working until the painting is resolved. I like to think that Degas saw this bather as resolved. After a bold beginning, it didn’t need another thing.

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This reminds me of another painter I admire who says that he paints to see how the work turns out. I believe that many of our clients share this mix of wisdom and curiosity. Perhaps that’s the best reason to be unafraid about navigating the in between or facing the what ifs. Sometimes, there is bravery in just beginning.

Fondly,

Kevin

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Kevin Smith, Principal   Kevin helps clients apply the principles of behavioral science to communications strategies that compel people to adopt life-changing behaviors. He has recently directed communications for the largest statewide contraceptive access initiative in the US, resulting in a 58% reduction in the number of unwanted pregnancies.

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