A New Approach to Activism, Advocacy, and More
Social activists, environmentalists, and some nonprofits focused on public education tend to use reasonable tactics to get their points across. They use professional Web sites and direct mail materials, take out ads in newspapers, try to recruit celebrity spokespersons, and otherwise try to get into the spotlight.
Sometimes, the tactics do become ridiculous. PETA has had nude models painted like animals or wearing strategically placed lettuce appear in public to get attention. When I was in college I encountered one of the worst consciousness-raising exercises of all time. A student group at a university, I can't remember which one, wanted to draw attention to the problem of date rape on campus. Their tactic: They pulled some male names from the student directory and posted fliers listing those names under the heading "Potential Rapists."
I suppose these sorts of stunts are useful in a roundabout way because they can lead to serious discussion of an issue. The disadvantage is that people are schocked, offended, and/or angered by such "in your face" stunts. There can even be a backlash against what is really a pretty good point. Going back to one of those PETA examples, the environment probably would be healthier if more people were vagans or vegetarians. I am not sure that models who wear lettuce in public really get that message across.
What we need to do here is to come up with some tactics that are highly inventive (and so are more likley to get media attention), effective, and noncontroversial. If we want our actions to garner support for some policy or law, we need to back up our showmanship with things that make sense, e.g. stand up to logical scrutiny, science, and whatever "values test" the idea is likely to face.
Techniques for developing those tactics, policies, laws, or lifestyle changes, and seeling the changes we want to exist and do get overlooked. These techniques are designed to assist in brainstorming new ideas, evaluating ideas, understanding the true nature of a problem, and projecting the likely impacts of our actions. Some of the techniques are relatively simple pen and paper tricks, for individual or for groups. Many companies offer software that supports brainstorming, decision making, and general problem solving.
Some of my recent posts have been devoted to sources of information on the techniques and the software. I plan to continue focusing on those two topics. Next Sunday I'ill have a few words to say about using fantasy and imagination to create new ideas that you can actually implement. That post and probably the next two will use material drawn from Michael Michalko's book Cracking Creativity. You can order copies through Amazon.com and could probably get a decent used copy for under $10.
You may also be interested in reviewing my posts titled "Education and Social Change", "Thinkertoys and Social Change", and "Salesmanship and Social Change"
Finally - Do you have any stories to tell about how brainstorming techniques, creative-thinking software, or similar tools have helped your organization or group? Please post them as comments!
Sometimes, the tactics do become ridiculous. PETA has had nude models painted like animals or wearing strategically placed lettuce appear in public to get attention. When I was in college I encountered one of the worst consciousness-raising exercises of all time. A student group at a university, I can't remember which one, wanted to draw attention to the problem of date rape on campus. Their tactic: They pulled some male names from the student directory and posted fliers listing those names under the heading "Potential Rapists."
I suppose these sorts of stunts are useful in a roundabout way because they can lead to serious discussion of an issue. The disadvantage is that people are schocked, offended, and/or angered by such "in your face" stunts. There can even be a backlash against what is really a pretty good point. Going back to one of those PETA examples, the environment probably would be healthier if more people were vagans or vegetarians. I am not sure that models who wear lettuce in public really get that message across.
What we need to do here is to come up with some tactics that are highly inventive (and so are more likley to get media attention), effective, and noncontroversial. If we want our actions to garner support for some policy or law, we need to back up our showmanship with things that make sense, e.g. stand up to logical scrutiny, science, and whatever "values test" the idea is likely to face.
Techniques for developing those tactics, policies, laws, or lifestyle changes, and seeling the changes we want to exist and do get overlooked. These techniques are designed to assist in brainstorming new ideas, evaluating ideas, understanding the true nature of a problem, and projecting the likely impacts of our actions. Some of the techniques are relatively simple pen and paper tricks, for individual or for groups. Many companies offer software that supports brainstorming, decision making, and general problem solving.
Some of my recent posts have been devoted to sources of information on the techniques and the software. I plan to continue focusing on those two topics. Next Sunday I'ill have a few words to say about using fantasy and imagination to create new ideas that you can actually implement. That post and probably the next two will use material drawn from Michael Michalko's book Cracking Creativity. You can order copies through Amazon.com and could probably get a decent used copy for under $10.
You may also be interested in reviewing my posts titled "Education and Social Change", "Thinkertoys and Social Change", and "Salesmanship and Social Change"
Finally - Do you have any stories to tell about how brainstorming techniques, creative-thinking software, or similar tools have helped your organization or group? Please post them as comments!
posted by Dr Society | 4:20 PM
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