Once you know that the people in the room include all four of the gifts that successful groups need, then take some time to consolidate. One metaphor in the field of organizing is the snowball: If you pack it tight, it will attract other snow when you roll it down the hill and you'll end up with an amazing snowperson; if you don't pack it tight, it will attract very little and go nowhere. Here are some of the challenges of successful group-building that you may face next.
As prospective members of your group are getting to know each other, beware of letting friendship be the tail that wags the dog. Some groups start by placing such a high priority on inclusiveness that they fail to accomplish anything important. They don't achieve the clarity or focus to be edgy or consequential. So, as the people you gather together do their elaborate and subtle dance with each other, expect that some may leave, and they should. It's better that your group should stand for something than that it should stand for anything.
Leadership and decision-making are on people's minds whether they mention it or not, so you might as well raise it to the surface. Talk about what processes will support the vision for the group. Consider what will empower certain group members for certain tasks, and the kinds of members you want to attract. Try to avoid simplistic polarizations or the kind of political correctness that prevents later effectiveness. Although I've had great successes with consensus decision-making and shared leadership, I've also started successful organizations with defined leadership roles and the possibility of taking votes. It depends on whom I want in the room, what their backgrounds are and what expectations I encounter. Ironically, consensus decision-making can disempower and even exclude some people, depending on cultural factors. Chapter 5 of Grassroots and Nonprofit Leadership describes eight models that movement groups have used for their structures. Easy answers don't work for a diverse group; anticipate having to think each situation out carefully, consider options and constantly touch base with your mission.
In the group, clarify your mission. Do you want to be all things to all people? (You'll fail!) Do you want to work in a way that shows the connections among a number of different issues, or do you want to focus first on a particular issue and make a difference there? Do you want to add an ingredient that's missing in the array of organizations now working on the issue? Make your mission clear enough that you'll know whether you're gaining or losing ground. With a clear mission, also, a group can readily reject some supposedly bright ideas because they don't happen to fit into the mission -- thus saving itself a lot of time.
Map your first campaign. One-off protests are okay for bonding, but the way for your group to develop a learning curve and actually make a difference is to create a campaign -- or to join, as an ally, a campaign underway. Put your analysts to work and identify some relatively easy options to choose among, because, for a new group, nothing succeeds like success. A goal may qualify as easy because public opinion is already on your side, or because strong organizations already in the field are working on it and have done a lot of the research and action experimentation needed, or because the injustice is so outrageous that even some of the other side's allies are deserting their cause.
The choice of the first campaign is critical to the success of your group, so it often pays to call in a veteran organizer/trainer to facilitate a strategy retreat. She or he will help you think about the target, the strengths of your constituency and other considerations for maximizing your clout this first time out.
Take a risk. It's amazing how many excuses seven politically-correct people can find for talking instead of acting boldly. Build a culture of resistance by yourself taking a risk, and explain to your friends that inspiring each other to act requires a lot of risk-taking on everyone's part -- while recognizing that different people can take different risks more or less easily. Watching a movie together like Danny Glover's Freedom Song, about the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee entering Mississippi Klan country in 1961, can help build your action group's resolve. That was one of Dr. King's greatest contributions to the young activists of his day: He showed through action how people inspire one other to organize and act in turn.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
1
