Rick was kind enough to send me a copy of his excellent book, Coherence, at a time that we were exploring a partnership. Coherence is such a rich way to think about marketing and Rick employs the word masterfully. In a world of so much formulaic communication, Rick issues a clarion call to the truth that comes through coherence.

Anyone in higher education should read this book, but anyone outside education (like me) can still benefit. My favorite section was the three Satellites that any organization can use to build a coherent communication plan. I recognized much that I have already incorporated in our approach to defining the culture of the organizations we work with and picked up a couple of new tips.

This updated edition was written early in the COVID-19 pandemic and has some useful thoughts for how Rick’s constituents can respond. Now that we’re nearly a year into the pandemic, it’s easy to see that he was right: there will be no return to normal. And in the new normal, one expects that Coherence will be even more important.