You are on the offensive; let’s look at how to strategically choose a fight
Anyone can pick a fight, but strategically choosing a fight worth campaigning for is key to successful organizing
JUL 11, 2023
Before you can launch an effort to improve your community’s walkability, bikeability, or transit situation, one of the first things you need to do is choose your fight! The good news about the state of the world is that there are tons of ways to improve it. However, since our time and capacities are limited, it is critical to choose our fights wisely so we can better achieve what we want to achieve given our constraints. Plus, it is deeply empowering to recognize that you are in the position to choose the fights you fight and that feeling of empowerment helps keep motivation up. Recognizing that you are choosing your fight also puts you in an offensive mentality and has you working towards “yes.” That is a critical mindset since it helps you think more creatively, look expansively for a wider range of solutions, have more hope, be more magnetic, and shift what is possible.
On the other hand, a lot of people first step into activism because they seek to defend something and thus view themselves as on the defensive and think defensively. They were minding their own business and then something came along to which they stood up and shouted “NO.” To be clear, there are tons of things we need to shout “NO” to and no is extremely powerful. You can be a successful activist and make a meaningful difference in the world by effectively stopping bad things. But there is a critical difference between viewing yourself as a person who is proactively fighting a defensive battle vs. viewing yourself as someone who has to be on the defense.
A defensive mindset tends to view the world narrowly, as zero sum and sees themselves as pushing back against inexhaustible opposing forces. A defensive mindset is one that seeks to minimize loss, sees loss and failures everywhere and personally I believe it feeds into despair and burnout. And to be clear– loss and failures are everywhere, and it is important to not delude ourselves by thinking everything is hunky-dory, but societal progress is basically the story of humanity falling upwards. By all means, defend that which you want to defend and say no to bad things– but remember, you are not holding back the tide, you are choosing to defend something you care about and are building a fortress to protect and nurture it.
So, with all THAT in mind, as you consider what fights you want to wage, here is a rubric of questions that might help you bring your vision into focus and make your next steps clearer:
If you’re working as an organization: Do you want to build an army or do you want to mobilize the army you have?
The version of this for an individual is: Do you want to unite the existing voices that are speaking out, or do you want to add your instrument to the orchestra?
This question helps you assess where you are. If you are new on the scene or need to breathe new life into an existing group, then you might want to pick a campaign that will help you bulk up your side. Think: big, grand, positive vision to campaign for which will help be a big magnet to your effort. If you’ve already got a lot of things churning and people engaged, then you might want to pick a campaign that will help you direct the forces you already have marshaled. Think: tangible near term highly visible potential victories.
Is there a special window of opportunity open now, or do you want to open your own window or do you want to build a foundation so when the window opens you are more ready?
Is there an election, a vote, a hearing or something else time-sensitive you are trying to make use of? If there is not a particular thing coming up, you can put your issue on the agenda by bulking up support for it or run some “trial balloon” ideas. Or you can work on a related matter that will help you plant ideas and move the culture so you have more favorable ground to work with when the time comes. Think: bike events, or transit ride-alongs, panel discussions. But also, once you scratch the surface you’ll see that there is always some vote, some budgetary hearing, some process for rule setting, codes & standards etc that is relevant to your work that you can mobilize around.
What is a victory that makes future victories easier? What is a victory that would make future victories harder? What’s a loss that would make future victories harder? What is a loss that would make future victories easier?
Maybe your big dream isn’t possible yet– what is a victory you can win that brings you closer to that? Or what is a campaign you can run that even if you lose, puts you in a better position than where you first started? Sometimes a campaign can fail on its stated goal but win because it injected an important concept into the broader awareness which tees up greater victories later. This is common in most political movements and a lot of political careers. Confusingly, some smaller victories make bigger victories harder. This mainly happens when a coalition partner gets what they want in the small fight and so they sit out the big fight that would expand the pie for everyone. Watch out for those!
To summarize:
Remember you are in control, you are setting your agenda
Pick a goal that accounts for your timeline, your resources, and your vision
If you can’t win your big goal right now, fall up.
If you’ve got questions, or want to schedule sessions to help you go from vision to campaign strategy, I’m here to help! Email me at Carter@carterlavin to schedule a conversation.