"Seven Principles for Effective Activism

Sure, there are a few other things you need to know if you want to be an effective activist! These seven principles are also goo dthings to keep in mind when you plan a campaign or think about what changes need to be made.

1. Targeted innovation – focus on social and technological innovations that attack the root of a problem, not just one or more symptoms.

2. Empirical approach – Use data, systematic observations, and formal analytical tools to understand the current situation and the impacts of your own efforts. Don’t let terms like “empirical” and “formal” disturb you; the concepts aren’t hard to apply.

3. Leverage – Look for ways to attack a social problem that will give the best results for your resources.

4. Formalism – Use a system to structure and explore challenges, create evaluation criteria for ideas, generate ideas, evaluate ideas, decide what to do, and monitor results. Again, this is not as complicated as it might seem.

5. Marketing Mindset – Think of yourself as being in sales or advertising, with your services or ideas being “sold” to benefit people.

6. Design Thinking – Consider how your idea fits with the culture, economic situation, physical infrastructure, available technology, and the political climate.

7. Values Thinking – Your idea must fit with prevailing values, lifestyles, beliefs, and attitudes; the closer the fit, the greater the odds of success.