On Aliens and Public Relations

Paul Bennewitz's belief in an alien invasion was fueled by U.S. government deception to mask Cold War weapons development. This narrative highlights the importance of perception management, crucial for managers to align with organizational goals. Effective communication of achievements, tailored to decision-makers, can expand influence and secure resources, as demonstrated by case studies in various industries. #aliens, #publicrelations, #PaulBennewitz, #ColdWar, #perceptionmanagement, #communication, #influence

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to the Colig Experience podcast. In today's episode, we're diving into bold

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insights, groundbreaking leadership strategies, and the power of experimentation. We'll explore
how perception management can shape organizational success, drawing from intriguing examples
like the Paul Benowitz case and its lessons for leaders today. Buckle up for an exciting
journey into the art of aligning perceptions with purpose. Let's start.

(00:34):
Paul Benowitz was a central figure in a society that believed aliens were trying to take over
Earth. In the 1980s, while living near a US Air Force base in New Mexico, he occasionally
witnessed strange lights moving across the sky. This naturally reinforced his belief
in an imminent alien invasion, and also led to a few months of forced hospitalization

(00:58):
after he decided his wife was controlled by extraterrestrials. Surprisingly, when he
reported what he saw and thought to authorities, they confirmed his theory, leading him to
believe he was privy to a closely guarded secret. They knew how he couldn't be trusted
to keep this secret. Benowitz wasn't alone. Many others like him existed across the United

(01:21):
States. It was later revealed that he and others were part of a deception program by
the American government, which was developing cutting-edge weapons during the Cold War.
To hide the fact that these were game-changing weapons against the Soviets, the American
defense establishment devised a deception plan, an alien invasion narrative. Benowitz was

(01:43):
an easy target. This program was part of a broader government initiative. President
Reagan's advisors called it Perception Management. They understood that in such a complex world,
leaders have little influence over what actually happens in reality. But they do have the ability
to change the public's perception of reality. Today, we want to talk about perception management

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in organizational contexts. Let's start with the conclusion. Managing the perception of
yourself and the unit you lead isn't just nice to have. It's not some shameful matter
for politicians. It's as part of the job, an important part, in fact. You might not
love this aspect of your role, but in senior positions, you don't have the luxury of deciding

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not to do it. In our view, it's not only not unprofessional, it's actually part of your
professionalism as managers. And if you ask us, you should be evaluated on it, among other
things. We recently discussed organizational politics. When we at Co-League talk about
productive organizational politics, one of the key principles we emphasize is, manage

(03:00):
the perception of yourself as managers and of the units you lead. Why? For several reasons.
One of the most important is that how you're perceived has a direct connection to your
sphere of influence in the organization. The more aligned the perception of you personally
and your unit is with the culture, strategy, and interests of the organization, the greater

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your ability to influence and lead systemic initiatives. When it comes to senior management,
the ability to influence systemically isn't a bonus. It's a basic expectation. And one
of the conditions for having such influence is being valued by the organization for your
work and that of your teams. Simple. The responses we often receive from participants

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in our groups on this topic fall into two categories. A feeling of distaste for the
idea, I didn't become a manager to do PR. The naive thought that the organization already
knows what's happening in their unit and there's no need to invest too much in this.
Following the first response, as mentioned, managing perception is an important, even

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critical part of management work, especially in senior roles. We should note that in Israeli
companies that are part of global corporations, perception management is even more important.
When your stakeholders are overseas and speak a language that is, well, not Hebrew, they
usually have a broader set of interests than yours. If they aren't aware of what's happening in

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your organization, they might make decisions contrary to your position. As we said, this
is about expanding your sphere of influence. Those who have been in this position know the
frustration when another unit that speaks the management's native language receives greater
appreciation despite everyone knowing they don't deserve it. Regarding the second response,

(05:01):
the naive thought that the organization knows what's happening in your unit. Well,
the answer is embedded in the question. It is naive. Even if everyone around you has access
to all the knowledge that would enable them to know what's happening in your unit,
even if you send detailed and readable reports describing the various activities you lead,

(05:23):
even if you're careful to update on the status of your projects in management meetings,
even if you do all this, it doesn't mean the message will get through. Why? Because that's just
one of the three components of perception management. The first component is defining the
perception you want for yourself and the units you manage. Remember that we're in the context of

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organizational influence, so you need to think about which perception will contribute to your
influence. The second component, as mentioned, is communicating what's happening in a way
that aligns with the desired perception, assuming, of course, that it also aligns with reality.
We're not in the business of falsification. The third component is ensuring the message gets

(06:08):
through. How will you know if the message is getting through? As we always say, when you don't know,
ask. Yes, exactly like that. Sit down with your colleagues occasionally and ask them about their
perception of you and your unit in their eyes. If you've chosen the management profession,
or it chose you, then it's entirely your responsibility to manage everything that

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affects and is affected by your personal success and that of your unit, including public relations.
We saw this play out dramatically in a software company we worked with last year,
the R&D team had developed an innovative machine learning algorithm that significantly
improved their product's performance. However, despite their technical achievement,

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the executive team was considering outsourcing future development work to reduce costs. When we
investigated, we discovered that while the R&D team was documenting their work thoroughly in
technical reports, they weren't communicating their achievements in terms that resonated with the C-Suite's
priorities, market differentiation, and competitive advantage. We helped them reframe their communications

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to highlight how their innovations were creating barriers to entry for competitors and enabling
premium pricing. Within three months, not only was the outsourcing plan shelved, but the R&D team
received additional budget for expansion. In another case, we worked with a biotech startup
whose research team had made significant progress on their drug candidate but was struggling to

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secure the next funding round. The science was solid, but the perception problem became clear
to us during executive meetings. The research team, led by brilliant scientists, communicated in
highly technical language about protein-binding affinity and molecular mechanisms. While accurate,
this failed to address what investors needed to hear, timeline to clinical trials, potential

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market size, and competitive positioning. We helped them develop a dual communication strategy,
maintaining their detailed scientific documentation while creating parallel communications
that translated their progress into business milestones. The result was not just securing
their next funding round, but attracting interest from two major pharmaceutical companies for potential

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partnerships. If you're in management, perception management isn't just an optional skill.
It's as fundamental as budget planning or team development. It's about ensuring that your valuable
work doesn't just happen, but is understood and appreciated in the right context by those who
make decisions affecting your future. In our experience, the most technically brilliant teams

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can still fail if they neglect this critical aspect of organizational effectiveness.
We've reached the end of today's podcast where we explored how Paul Benowitz was part of a
government perception management strategy during the Cold War and discussed the importance of

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effective perception management in organizational leadership to align perceptions with culture
and strategy. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and share this episode with your friends and
colleagues so they can also stay updated on the latest news and gain powerful insights.
Stay tuned for more updates.