Campaigns require momentum. People have to see how putting in their time is important. But while campaigns are sometimes a waterfall of actions and breaking news, sometimes they are slow, slow pushes. What to do in those slow times to keep your momentum from halting entirely?

• Circling the same set of data and not getting new information;
• Only getting smaller iterations in its new data — but the overall picture remains the same.

Antidote: Let go of not knowing it all.

Some groups research themselves to death because they want to know everything. Certain ones of us are reassured by feeling that we have all the information. But with a campaign like this, it’s unlikely we know everything. At some time, we have to let it go.

Antidote: Make a decision, accept the disappointment/tension.

Another reason groups stay in research is a fear of decision-making. If you pick this strategy over that strategy, some allies or members will be turned off. But if you don’t pick a strategy… well, initially nobody will be turned off. But then (guarantee!) everyone will eventually be turned off!

Decision-making is necessary for a campaign. A small group weakens its power if we try to “do it all.” Focus is part of our power.

(Focus doesn’t mean we can’t also be intersectional and talk about other issues — because all these things are connected. Once you pick a direction, you’ll learn how it ties in with all the issues that matter to your community.)

Set up “forced choice” spectrum where people have to move. Argue it out. And then reach a decision through your group’s process.

Read more about How to help make a group decision.

Problem: Same tactic, repeat.

Some groups repeat the same tactic over and over again. The approaches may only vary slightly to grow the group: a change of time, a new banner… but the tactic is always the same: a march, or standing outside of parliament, etc.

Antidote: Review how ineffective that has been

If your group is addicted to the same tactics, your group needs to see the ineffectiveness of that approach to break its habit. A favorite tool for this is the “Review of Activities Timeline” where we review all the actions we have done. We look at a timeline of what we’ve been up to and review what’s been working and what isn’t.

Debrief this and discuss the problem of choosing the same tactic. Our Climate Resistance Handbook has a good section on this that can be read and shared at a meeting.

Antidote: Force creativity (we never do the same action twice)

Just make it a rule: we never do the same tactic twice in a row (or for a bigger challenge: ever). Make it a group challenge.

Then pick some creative ways to get people thinking of other tactics they might do. Download helpful resources from Beautiful Trouble to get inspired — or facilitate using tools like the rapid tactic creation tool (great with coalitions) or action madlibs (one of our favorites).

Now, there’s a likelihood here: the group’s first time doing a different tactic might not radically change the energy. You may have to really get the group to commit to a phase of experimentation — to allow a bunch of new tactics and see which ones work.

Antidote: More training on the situation and a political analysis

There may be something deeper than just a lack of creativity going on: a lack of political analysis of what will move your targets and how this group can move them.

For this, a longer training in political power may be necessary. In such a training, we love tools like Spectrum of Allies and the Upside-down Triangle.

Problem: You are lost in bureaucracy

Unless you have some very helpful insiders, you don’t know the bureaucracy. So you can spend months getting pushed around to different agencies. No, you have to talk to… we can’t move without approval from…

This is a challenging problem. You do have to respect some bureaucracy rules. Here are some contradictions that are hard to sort through:

• bureaucrats know how to protect themselves by keep their fingers off of controversy and sending you away to someone else, and a helpful bureaucrat will tell the right person to send you off to.
• you have to respect every step in order to move through an institution, and every rule can be adjusted and might be circumnavigated.

Each situation of course calls for something different. But there are three antidotes that may help.

Antidote: Set a timeline for your team to escalate (if you don’t act by this date, then we will…)

The “If this, then that” is a powerful campaign framework. Gandhi was known for this: If you do not allow us to make salt, then in one month we will make it ourselves. He chose to dramatize this campaign demand with a march to the sea, where he performed his direct action. Along the way, who did he organize? Indian bureaucrats — trying to get them to stop aligning with the British.

Think of it this way: if you give people a timeframe, it focuses their minds and hopefully accelerates their responsiveness. It puts you on the offensive.

Two notes about this:

• Do check in about your timeframe with some trusted insiders to make sure it is within the realm of possibility;
• Do make sure the “if” is as clear as possible. Perhaps the complexity doesn’t have to be fully described externally, but it should enough flesched out that people inside can assess if it has or has not been done.

What’s particularly good about this approach is that some groups may never escalate because parts of their group want to pursue every avenue — but then they lose their energetic warriors. This model marries the two. Everyone knows “if you take too long, our campaign shifts.”

Antidote: Don’t antagonize directly, pressure without pressuring

This is not a hard rule, because sometimes you will need to antagonize to win. But, as you begin escalating there are lots of ways to apply pressure without applying pressure.

Here are some examples of tactics that signal escalation without actually escalating:

• A group disrupted City Council hearings in order to deliver awards to those same City Council members, “Thanks for what you’ve done so far.” They cheered loudly the City Council (who in truth had been doing the bare minimum) until police escorted them out. They didn’t target Councilmebers, but the threat was heard;
• The group needed a bureaucracy to make an approval. Instead of targeting them, when a second agency (who they didn’t need) weighed in negatively on their campaign, the group organised a high-profile action targeting that second agency. The first agency took notice and acted right.
• The Governor’s office was a hostile force. So on Valentine’s Day they delivered Valentine’s presents — and made friends with some of the secretaries (who helped give info later) and explained they would have to keep coming back if the Governor didn’t do more faster.
• The group held a 2-hour public training session on how to do direct action — right in front of their target. The promise was there without having to do it.

Many activists coming from “no” campaigning are used to loud and angry and direct. But there are many, many ways to express your anger. Sarcasm. Being overly friendly. Kind threats.