Two decades ago, I began a series of consulting gigs - mostly to non-profits - and I would gather the stakeholders of the organization together for eight weekly 2 - 3 hour meetings. I walked them through a look at their organization from a collaborative set of eyes. We started from how they reached people, invited people, engaged people, and the dynamics of how they operated internally. Six meetings of exploration and two to wrap up and assign tasks to make the organization better.

My job was to facilitate conversation among people who worked together every day. Too often, we make assumptions at work. We believe that people understand what we think, how our job is done, what others think, what it takes to do their job. We make assumptions about our customers. Our vendors. And so on. Assumptions kill us. Assumptions can thwart our mission and our productivity.

Each week, I would ask a tailored set of questions to penetrate assumptions and push the participants to look at the organization as though for the first time. At one meeting, I asked an organization that helped cancer-stricken children and their families about the impression people had when they walked up to their office. It was a plain, brick building and you would open the front door to encounter a light gray wall. Down the hallway to the left were the staff offices. Down the hallway to the right was the reception area.

I took the team outside and we walked together to the front door. I opened the glass door and confronted the gray wall. I turned to Mark, the org's director.

"You've never been here before. I'm expecting to find a warm, compassionate organization to help my child and my family through this process of getting through cancer. I open the door to a gray wall. Mark, isn't that what cancer feels like? Shouldn't we knock down this wall and see immediately the tremendous warmth of what your organization offers?"

It became one of the takeaways of the sessions and three months later, the wall was gone and the door opened to a cozy reception area with bean bag chairs and soft colors and immediate smiles from the staff. Perfect for a kid with cancer and the family.

Mark later said this about the process: It "challenges you to re-think the way you 'have always' conducted your business. Brett cut a hole in the box and let you look outside at a whole new world. He pushes you to take the road less traveled and find the niche that will make your business unique."

Now take this to politics. There is so much that is accepted wisdom that doesn't prove effective. I find myself lately going back through business strategies I've seen employed or that I've employed in a business setting and putting it on a campaign. I'm re-working project management techniques for campaign work. I'm rethinking campaign management.

The book introduces good first steps. But let's go forward.

In any battle preparation, you consider the following:

  • Intelligence Gathering
  • Strategic Planning
  • Logistics and Supplies
  • Training and Readiness
  • Communication Preparedness
  • Resource Positioning
How does that apply to a winning a campaign? The answer is that it certainly does.

Campaigns are not just deciding that you're running and then tweeting your way on X to the crescendo of election victory. I believe that success from other areas of life can be laterally applied. At least they should be considered.

Lots of good work ahead to get the right people into office.