Make engagement a mindset, not a process
Distinctive Dispatch #33: How human comms unlocks progress; catch our free strategy sessions; what Traitors tells us about comms.
Better comms for people, places and work
We had a few sign ups in response to our AI edition in January. This month, we join the dots with other important but less heralded comms challenges, which don’t always sit on a spreadsheet: relationships, connections, understanding, and trust.
To those joining since the start of the year, a warm welcome to you. Whether you’re a regular or first-time reader, we hope you find this useful. And we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Human, inclusive engagement is more than the ‘glitter and glue’
We talk a lot about human engagement at Distinctive. We talk about listening, consulting, involving and empowering.
Somewhere, engagement became a stage in a process rather than genuine dialogue. A tick-box under: “Have we told people what we need to?” Followed by a sigh of relief.
As trust in organisations erodes, the impact of this approach is clear to see.
Every day, organisations face stalled projects, low adoption, stakeholder frustration and malaise, or products that just don’t land. Often, the root cause is the same.
You didn’t listen early enough, deeply enough, or widely enough.
Human-centred engagement isn’t glitter and glue. It’s a strategic imperative that strengthens everything: trust, design quality, adoption, innovation, influence, support and long-term resilience.
In a disrupted, volatile world, this matters more than ever across the industries we support. We’re going to light on a few that shape our future: education, tech and the built environment.
Education – when people feel heard, everything works better
In education, engagement is often treated as a polite nod towards students, their families and colleagues. A forum here or there. A Chatham House discussion. Always a feedback form.
When schools and colleges bring their stakeholders people into conversations early and openly, they reap the benefits. Students engage more when they see themselves reflected in decisions. Parents support change when they understand the ‘why’. Colleagues feel valued when they co-author decisions and are more inclined to stay and follow the change through.
If we want the education ecosystem to genuinely work, we must build it with everyone.
Technology – innovation needs people at its heart
The tech industry loves the word ‘user’. It loves data, dashboards and algorithms, but that only tells part of the story.
Behind every click, swipe, or sign-in, is a human with needs that no dataset can fully capture.
When engagement is treated as a late-stage validation step, products can miss the mark and fail to meet the needs of its intended audience.
When those in the tech industry bring diverse voices in the room early, the results are smarter, safer, competitive and more widely adopted. Interfaces don’t build trust. People do.
Places thrive when they work for (and with) communities
New regeneration schemes across the country succeed or fail for one reason.
Do they make daily life better for people who use them, and people around them?
You can develop the most beautiful, sustainable scheme. But if it doesn’t meet the communities’ needs, it won’t thrive.
Superficial consultation often leads to designs that don’t work - creating accessibility barriers, public backlash, and costly planning delays.
Consultation done properly can create places can feel proud of and connected to.
We’ve just published a guide to support this process. Take 20 seconds to download it here.
The common thread
Across these industries, and others too, one golden thread runs through…
Engagement isn’t a shiny event. It’s a mindset that must be central to what you want to achieve.
When organisations embrace this, they gain better ideas, timely insights, greater trust, higher adoption and stronger relationships.
What next?
Whether you’re shaping a curriculum, building an app, or redesigning brownfield land, the fundamentals remain the same.
If you build it with people, it genuinely works better.
Consider the following steps, to propel your projects forward:
1. Start early – invite people in before the solution is shaped.
2. Be curious – ask questions and speak to those who are underrepresented.
3. Treat every voice as valuable.
4. Close the loop – show how people’s voices influence the journey.
5. Build connections – engagement is continuous, not just a moment in time.
Getting these steps right makes the difference between progress and gridlock. Recognising that good engagement isn’t just a bolt on to your project plan is an important first step.
Photo in header by Nick Fewings on Unsplash.
Catch a strategy session to support your next project
We start 2026 by offering free strategy sessions to built environment connections who want to understand how comms can support their project through the planning process.
We know from working on project of all sizes that getting your strategy right from the outset matters hugely.
Led by a senior member of the Distinctive team, this session helps make rushed timelines, missed stakeholders and mixed messaging a thing of the past. We follow it with a set of recommendations, shaped by our engagement principles, to take your project forward.
Things we’ve seen
Mark Carney’s speech at Davos: Against a backdrop of headlines screaming chaos at us, Canadian MP Mark Carney’s call to ‘middle countries’ to become beacons in ‘a world that’s at sea’ resonates. Speaking clearly of complex issues without cliché, his comments on a ‘rupture’ in the world order led the news from Davos. Catch the full 15-minutes below (listen after 11 minutes and 9 seconds if the video starts from 0).
This post explains why it worked. Whatever your views, it stands in contrast to much of the sub-par commentary served up here.
Which brings us to…
PM rolls out the cringe on Burns night: They say an image speaks a thousand words, but Sir Keir Starmer’s Instagram post wishing Scots a happy Burns night screamed just one: CRINGE. Sat at a desk with a can of Irn-Bru, some Tunnocks Tea Cakes and Caramel bars conveyed a weird sense of disconnection. Authentic it wasn’t. We wonder what he’ll do on St David’s Day on 1 March.
Things we’ve read
LinkedIn articles get more citations in AI responses: Research suggests that chatbots like ChatGPT and Perplexity now cite LinkedIn posts up to five times more than before, putting the platform ahead of Wikipedia, YouTube and Google. Longer form LinkedIn articles and standard posts have an impact here, highlighting the platform’s importance in your own and your company’s communication.
Why people believe misinformation even when they’re told the facts: Misinformation – falsehoods spread by someone who believes them to be true – can have serious impacts on a personal, organisational and political level. So why do we readily believe false or inaccurate claims? It’s proven that people find it cognitively easier to accept information than to reject it, which is compounded by factors like algorithm bias and existing personal values. This article explores what happens.
Affluenza: the new British disease (gift link): The Economist’s Bagehot spikes well used argument that the UK economy is the ‘sixth largest’ in the world. When considering national income from a different perspective, it seems we’re not as rich or as able to spend as many claim.
Things we’ve heard
Shape better places across South East Devon: We’re working with South East Devon Wildlife to hear from visitors how they enjoy the spaces the organisation cares for. If you recently visited the Pebblebed Heaths National Nature Reserve, explored the Exe Estuary, enjoyed Dawlish Warren, visited Dawlish Countryside Park or ventured to Ridgetop Park, please take the time to share details of your visit.
Mandelson’s disgrace: How Epstein poisoned our politics: The Rest is Politics is hardly an up-and-coming new podcast, but the recent episode about Epstein is worth a listen. As someone working within New Labour at the time, Alistair Campbell reckons with the fact that Mandelson may well have been messaging the world’s most high-profile sex offender when they were both in the same room. An insider’s perspective on a truly shocking political (and moral) scandal - one that will have serious consequences for Labour, and politics more generally.
Things we’ve said
What The Traitors can teach us about comms: If you could look beyond the backstabbing, this year’s contestant - and winning traitor - Rachel Duffy delivered a masterclass in calm, consistent communications. In this blog, we speculate on the professional skills (Duffy is the Comms Director for a charity) that may have helped her reach the final. We also unpick the techniques used by the BBC, from multi-platform content to strategic PR, which have kept the programme at the top of the national conversation.
Cut consultation headaches: how to prepare for tricky comments: Have you ever run consultations where the questions coming back at you are just baffling? Our team has heard them all. Ryan’s post highlights some of the top ones and provides tips on how to handle them.
Catch the next edition on 6 March. If you have any suggestions on what you’d like to hear from us, please get in touch.
Excellent framing. The tickbox consultation model drives me nuts too, especially when teams treat it as liability mitigation instead of actualy learning. I've seen this play out in product development where early user involvement caught dealbreaker issues that would have tanked adoption later. The trickiest part is convincing stakeholders that spending time upfront on genuine engagement isn't a delay, its risk reduction.