The popular book on Movements called "The Starfish And The Spider" holds keys to understanding how movements are catalyzed and sustained. In this video we unpack Peter Lindell's blog post on the subject hitting on 5 keys:
Below is an Excerpt from Peter's excellent blog post (Read it here: https://bit.ly/3qMbI3h)
1. Circles. Independent, autonomous but connected circles of like-minded individuals. I would add to the authors’ explanation and say the circles should be filled with practitioners.
2. Catalysts. People that start things, inspire others, lead by example, and connect people into circles. "A catalyst is like the architect of a house: he’s essential to the long-term structural integrity, but he doesn’t move in.” (The authors say the catalyst, but I think it is better to have catalysts upon catalysts).
3. Ideology. This is probably the most important leg. Decentralized structures need to have a common ideology to hold them together.
4. The pre-existing network. The authors gave examples in two circumstances (the abolitionist and woman’s suffrage movements) of how pre-existing networks helped facilitate the work catalysts were starting.
5. The Champion. The Champion differs from the catalyst in that they are not usually the starter. Instead, they are the person that won’t stop talking about it.