By Hel Reynolds (originally published in The Big Yellow Newsletter).

There’s an old thought experiment, called ‘The Ship of Theseus’.

It asks:

’If you gradually replace every part of a ship, is it still the same ship?’

It’s a bit like one of my old favourite bands, The Fall, who went through so many different members that the lead singer (the only constant) had to clarify that it was actually the same band: “If it’s me and yer granny on bongos, it’s the Fall.”

Anyway, I think about The Ship of Theseus a lot when I’m chatting with our members, because in comms, we have loads of our own versions of this phenomenon.

Why this matter for comms

Our jobs evolve.

You start with a nice, neat job description. It makes sense. You’ve got a title, a set of responsibilities, a goal.

Then things shift.

A new boss, a new tool, a new platform.

Maybe you step in to help with something “just for now”. You get good at it. And give it a year or so and you’re doing a totally different job to the one you were hired for.

It happens to us at all levels in comms.

For managers, strategy turns into delivery. Leadership turns into firefighting. One minute you’re setting direction, the next you’re resizing logos for a newsletter that wasn’t supposed to exist.

The work can become rudderless.

It also happens to channels. Strategies. Whole teams.

Let’s say you get a job in social and inherit the corporate social media accounts set up years ago. It pumps out all the recruitment posts, customer service announcements, and promos for every audience.

It’s become a big old mish-mash of stuff, with no clear purpose.

Or maybe your comms strategy was written three years ago. Since then, the team has halved, the organisation’s goals have changed, and nobody can remember what the original vision even was.

Try this: reboard the ship

Take a look at your role. Your channels. Your strategy.

What was it meant to be? What is it now? What do you actually need?

You don’t have to scrap it all. But it helps to pause and ask, are we still steering this thing? Or just patching it up as we go?

If you want to rethink how your social channels or comms plans fit into the bigger picture, our social media strategy programme and comms strategy class are made for this kind of moment.

Oh, and if your job title says “internal comms” but you’re also doing events, recruitment campaigns and helping out with social too – you’re not alone!

Judging by chats I’ve had with Comms Creatives Academy members in the past few years, you’re on a very well-travelled ship.

If your comms ship has veered off, or picked up a few unexpected passengers over the years, come and join us in Comms Creatives Academy.

We’ll help you build the clarity to know where you’re heading, the competence to get there, and the confidence, creativity and capacity to make the journey a lot more enjoyable.