LEADERSHIP, ORGANIZING & ACTION: LEADING CHANGE
FEBRUARY 9TH 2015 – MAY 28TH 2015
---------------------------------------------------------------------------F ACULTY INSTR UCTOR
TEACHING FELLOWS
Marshall Ganz
[email protected]
Lara Ayoub
[email protected]
FACULTY ASSISTANT
Gerta Dhamo
617-384-9637
[email protected]
Ana Babovic
[email protected]
TECHN OL OGY SUPPORT
James Brockman
[email protected]
HEAD TEACHING FELLOW
Rawan Zeine
[email protected]
Tessa Frost
[email protected]
Ashraf Hamzah
[email protected]
Jeff Rousset
[email protected]
Chris Torres
[email protected]
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“In democratic countries, knowledge of how to combine is the mother of all other
forms of knowledge; on its progress depends that of all the others.” — Alexis de
Tocqueville
A. OBJECTIVES
Fulfilling the democratic promise of equity, accountability and effectiveness requires the
participation of an “organized” citizenry able to formulate, articulate and assert its shared
interests effectively. Organizing, in turn, requires leadership: accepting responsibility for
enabling others to achieve shared purpose in the face of uncertainty. Organizers identify,
recruit and develop leadership; build community around that leadership; and build power
from the resources of that community.
In this course, participants practice leadership by organizing a leadership team to work with
him or her to mobilize members of a “constituency” to work together to achieve specific
outcomes in the pursuit of a shared purpose by the end of the course. Participants learn five
core leadership practices: building committed relationships; using narrative to translate
values into the capacity for agency; turning resources into power by strategizing; turning
intentions into effective action; and structuring organization so as to develop leadership,
engage constituents, and achieve goals. Participants learn to coach others as well receive
coaching. They also learn the limits of mobilizing resources in the short-term – as in getting
petition signatures or mouse clicks – unless linked to organizing people for the longer-term –
as in building an organization or movement.
B. P A R T I C I P A N T S
This course is for people interested in learning how to exercise leadership to create social
change through collective action. There are no prerequisites. People with and without “real
world” experience find the class equally useful. Participants with a strong commitment to
the constituency with whom they are working will be most successful. Because this is a
course in practice, it requires trying new things, risking failure, and stepping outside your
comfort zone. As reflective practitioners, students will learn through critical reflection on
their experience, feedback and coaching. If you are not prepared to step outside your
comfort zone, this course is not for you.
C.PEDAGOGY
People learn organizing from the experience of conceptualizing it, seeing it, doing it,
debriefing their experience, and trying again.
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Explain
Debrief
Model
Practice
This requires leading an organizing project, reading background material, participating in
lecture, writing reflection papers, completing skill practice assignments, taking part in
section meetings, receiving coaching from your Teaching Fellow and coaching each other.
Students are expected to invest an average of 10 hours per week doing all of the above.
The course is organized in nine modules. Each module focuses on specific “Learning
Objectives.” Each module also specifies an “Action Objective,” a particular skill to be
practiced with members of your constituency. Each module builds on the previous learning
and action objectives.
D.COURSE FLOW
2 WEEK FLOW
1-WEEK FLOW
3
E. G E T T I N G S T A R T E D
STEP 1: SET UP YOUR COMPUTER
Tuesday, Feb 10
9:00-11:00am EST
Wednesday, Feb 11
2:00-4:00pm EST
STEP 2: MEET WITH YOUR TF
Scheduled by TF
STEP 3: MEET YOUR SECTION
Thursday, Feb 12
Students are required to
visit the LOA Technology
Testing Room and confirm
that they are able to use
WebEx technology to
transmit and receive the
audio and video required
for participation in class and
section. Follow the
instructions on the “Getting
Started” tab on the course
website. Students must also
participate from the same
stable internet connection –
not any mobile unit. Please
make sure you have a
working microphone,
headphones and webcam
connected to your
computer in a quiet space.
Students are required to
meet their teaching fellow
and receive coaching on
their project. The teaching
fellow will request a 20minute WebEx one-to-one
at a scheduled time prior to
the first section meeting.
Students will also meet oneon-one at mid-term and at
the end of the class.
Students are required to
attend an introductory
meeting with their
4
designated section. At the
section meeting, students
will be introduced to their
section members, set team
norms, learn the
technology, and receive
clarification regarding the
pedagogy. Students will be
informed of the exact timing
a week prior to launch on
the course website and via
email.
The required readings,
videos, and other materials
can be found on the course
website. Students will be
required to have read the
required
material
for
Module 1 prior to the first
lecture.
STEP 4: AQUIRE READINGS
F.COURSE COMPONENTS AND SCHEDULE
1. Organizing Campaign: Students base class work on what they learn from their
experience leading an "organizing campaign" of their own choosing or design.
Practicing leadership means organizing a leadership team to organize the members
of your “constituency” to work together to achieve specific outcomes in the pursuit
of a shared purpose by the end of the semester.
2. Readings: Readings provide valuable background for class discussions. My
“Organizing Notes” frame the readings, explain charts, and articulate a learning
framework. Students are expected to complete required reading before each
lecture. Should students wish to pursue a topic more deeply, optional readings are
provided. Training materials are also available for students to use with their team via
links to the New Organizing Institute’s Toolbox.
3. Live Lecture Discussions: Students learn to use our organizing framework to
integrate lectures and reading with critical reflection on their project experience.
Live lectures (1.5 hour long) led by Prof Marshall Ganz will be held on Tuesdays from
11:00am-12:30pm EST/EDT. Students must attend all classes and take an active part
in discussions. You must “show up” for class at 10:45am EST/EDT to trouble-shoot
any technological problems before lecture begins.
Live Lecture Dates:
Feb
Feb
Mar
Mar
Apr
Apr
Apr
May
May
17th
24th
10th
24th
7th
14th
28th
12th
19th
5
4. Special Sessions: Students can attend special sessions (optional) on topics targeting
challenges in specific fields of work. Kate Hilton, Director of Re-Think Health will be a
guest speaker holding a special session on strategizing when organizing in
healthcare. Professor Marshall Ganz and the teaching team will be holding a special
session on best practices when teaching organizing.
Feb
May
26th
26th
11:00-12:30pm EST
Strategizing in HealthCare
With Kate Hilton
11:00-12:30pm EDT
Teaching Organizing
With Marshall Ganz and Teaching Team
5. Reflection Papers: Students are required to submit reflection papers of no more
than 2 pages double spaced in which they analyze and reflect on their experience of
their organizing project. Each week on the course website, questions will be posed
to stimulate reflection. Papers are due at 6:00pm EST/EDT each Thursday following
lecture. Late papers and papers more than 2 pages double spaced will be
downgraded. Submit your reflection paper by uploading it to the online dropbox
assigned to student’s teaching fellow o n the co urse website. Papers more than 2
weeks late will not be accepted. They will be returned with feedback from the
teaching fellow by 9:00pm EST/EDT on the following Sunday.
Reflection Paper Due Dates:
Feb
Feb
Mar
Mar
Apr
Apr
Apr
May
May
19th
26th
12th
26th
9th
16th
30th
14th
26th
Skill Practice Assignments: Skill practice assignments offer students the opportunity
to practice key organizing skills with an assigned ‘learning partner’ from their
section. Students will set a regular meeting time with their ‘learning partner’ to
complete the Skill Practice Assignment online together. Student will email their
meeting time to their Teaching Fellow who will provide them with a WebEx link for
their meeting, which will be recorded. Assignments will be posted each week on the
website so feedback can be provided by your Teaching Fellow.
Assignments are due at 6:00pm EST/EDT each Monday on each week without a
lecture. Upload the Skill Practice Assignment worksheet to the online drop box
assigned to student’s section on the course website. Skill Practice Assignment
feedback will be provided by the student’s teaching fellow by 9:00pm EST/EDT on
Wednesday of the same week.
Practice Assignment Due Dates:
Mar
Mar
Mar
Apr
May
6
2nd
16th 30th 20th
4th
6. Section Meetings: Section meetings provide students the opportunity to consolidate
their learning in each module by reflecting on their projects with other students.
Section meetings will be a 1.5 hour meeting and will occur on Thursdays of each
module. Students are required to participate and ensure they have a stable Internet
connection in a quiet space. Students can find their assigned section and time on the
course website.
Section Meeting Dates:
Feb
Feb
Mar
Mar
Apr
Apr
Apr
May
May
12th
19th
5th
19th
2nd
9th
23rd
7th
14th
7. Office Hours. Office hours provide students the opportunity to discuss their
learning, projects and receive coaching from Professor Ganz. These sessions will
happen every two weeks on Fridays. Students will not have to book a time for
Marshall’s office hours; office hours have a first come, first serve policy. Teaching
Fellows will also be available for one-to-ones with students throughout the course.
Office Hours Dates and Time:
Feb
Feb
Mar
Mar
Apr
Apr
20th 27th 10th 24th 10th 14th
11:30am12:30pm
EST
4:00pm5:00p
m
EST
1:30am2:30p
m
EDT
1:30pm2:30pm
EDT
11:30am12:30pm
EDT
2:00pm3:00pm
EDT
May
1st
11:00am12:00pm
EDT
May
May
15th 22nd
4:00pm5:00pm
EDT
11:00am12:00pm
EDT
G. C E R T I F I C A T E R E Q U I R E M E N T S
We expect an appropriately high level of commitment from participants. To earn a course
certificate, students must complete all of the following on time:
 Attend and participate in 9 course lectures and 9 section meetings
 Submit 9 reflection papers and 5 practice assignments
 Hold an introductory and mid term 1:1 with their TF.
 Submit course evaluations.
Make Up Policy. In case of a work or family emergency that cannot be rescheduled without
putting jobs/health in jeopardy, students may miss up to two scheduled sessions (lecture or
sections). There are three requirements to make up the missed session:
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 Explain your absence to your TF in advance.
 Watch the video (available on the course website under "section debrief").
 Within 2 weeks after a missed session submit a ½ page written evaluation of the
video (takeaways, pluses, and deltas) to your TF.
Papers will also be due by the set deadline. If an emergency occurs and the paper may not
be submitted on time, students have a maximum of two weeks to submit it. Any paper
submitted two weeks late will be an equivalent to missing a section/lecture.
H. C O U R S E O U T L I N E
The following is the breakdown for each module. Please note, some modules are 1 week
(Module, 1, Module 5, Module 8, Module 9) indicated with one * while others are 2 weeks
(Module 2, Module 3, Module 4, Module 6, Module 7) indicated with **.
The letters to the right of each reading indicate whether the focus is theoretical (T), practical
(P), or historical (H). Readings designated with a * are important for class discussion.
PRE COURSEWORK | SECTION LAUNCH
Thurs
February
12th
Welcome! This week we get acquainted with our section, review course
requirements and discuss how we will work together. We will get oriented
on what to expect from one another for the remainder of the course.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES



Learn how to set team norms
Learn how to build relationship with section members
Understand course flow and requirements

REQUIRED ACTION FOR THE MODULE


Complete the initial draft of your project
Confirm commitment for the course
 SECTION DISCUSSION

Thursday February 12th
MODULE 1* | COURSE OVERVIEW: LEADERSHIP, ORGANIZING
& ACTION
[ONE WEEK MODULE]
Welcome. Today we get acquainted, discuss course goals, our strategy for
TUE
achieving them, and our course requirements. “What is Organizing”:
February
introduces the framework with which we will structure our learning,
17th
explained more fully in "Leading Change: Leadership, Organization, and
Social Movements.” “Organizing for Democratic Renewal,” recounts the
story of organizing in the US on the eve of the first Obama campaign, in which organizing
played the key role. But the practice of organizing itself is rooted in ancient traditions – in
8
the West, for example, in faith, civic, and popular traditions. Organizers empower
constituents: they do not serve clients nor do they market to customers – as argued by
Alinsky, McKnight, and Giridharadas. Organizers create tension, they do not avoid it. This is
because conflict, challenge, and change are required for a democracy. Because it is a
practice, learning organizing requires doing it, a point Kierkegaard makes. To learn new
ways we have to let go of old ways – a point on which Thich Nhat Hanh offers a wise parable
and Langer offers wise advice. Dweck reminds us that failure in the service of learning is
evidence of effort, not lack of talent, urging us to adapt what she calls a “growth mind set”
as opposed to a “fixed mind set.” Sitkin argues short-term failure is often required for
success, while fear of failure can ensure it. The “Organizing in Action” readings are
snapshots of some recent examples of different ways in which organizing has been
influencing public life.
DAY
ONLINE
INDIVIDUAL WORK
Tuesday
Live lecture
11:00am-12:30pm EST
Complete readings
Thursday
*Section will be scheduled for Thursday, depending
on your section (see course website)
Submit reflection
paper by 6:00pm EST
SKILL
PRACTICE
Friday
Feedback by TF due Sunday 9:00pm EST

LEARNING OBJECTIVES




Welcome, review norms, set goals
Learn how leadership, organizing, and change work
Define organizing project: differentiate from advocacy, service, or awareness
Learn how to coach

REQUIRED ACTION FOR THE MODULE

Reflect on your leadership experiences. What type of leader are you? What has
worked? What you have found challenging? Set your personal leadership goals.
Reflect further on whether your project is an organizing, servicing or mobilizing
project.

READING
REQUIRED READING
 ►Marshall Ganz. Organizing Notes: “What is organizing?” 2015. (T)
 ►Marshall Ganz, “Leading Change: Leadership, Organization, and Social
Movements,” Chapter 19 in Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice, edited by
Nohria and Khurana; HBS Press, 2010 (pp. 527-568) (T).
 Marshall Ganz, “Organizing for Democratic Renewal”, TMP Café, March 27, 2007. *
 The Bible, Exodus, Chapter 2-6. (H)
 Saul Alinsky, Reveille for Radicals, Chapter 1, (pp.3-23). (P)
 ►John McKnight, "Services are Bad for People," (pp.41-44). (T)
9
 ►Marshall Ganz. Organizing Notes: “Learning to Organize: Notes, Questions, and
Helpful Hint #1” 2014. (T)
 ►M.S. Kierkegaard, “When the Knower Has to Apply Knowledge” from “Thoughts on
Crucial Situations in Human Life”, in Parables of Kierkegaard, T.C. Oden, Editor. (P)
 ►Thich Nhat Hanh Thundering Silence: Sutra on Knowing the Better Way to Catch a
Snake, "The Raft is Not the Shore," (pp.30-33). 2001 (T)
 Ellen Langer, Mindfulness, Chapter 3, "The Roots of Mindlessness," (pp.19-35);
Chapter 4, "The Costs of Mindlessness," (pp.43-55); Chapter 5, "The Nature of
Mindfulness," (pp.61-77); Chapter 7, "Creative Uncertainty," (pp.115-129). (P)
 ►Carol Dweck, Chapter 1, “The Mindsets” from Mindset: the New Psychology of
Success (2006), (pp.1-10) (P)
 Sim Sitkin, “Learning through Failure: The Strategy of Small Losses,” Research in
Organizational Behavior, Vol.14, 1992, (pp.231-256). (T)
 ►Coaching as Leadership Practice, adapted from work of Ruth Wageman, Marshall
Ganz (2014). (P)
 Organizer’s Journey Handout, Jonah Evans, 2012. (P)
ORGANIZING IN ACTION: Examples of organizing campaigns across the world





Julia Preston, Young Immigrants Say It's Obama's Time to Act, New York Times,
Nov., 20130, 2012.
David Freelander, The NRA Has a Head Start Against Newly Energized Gun-Control
Advocates, The Daily Beast, Dec. 18, 2012.
Amy Dean, How Domestic Workers Won Their Rights: Five Big Lessons, Yes
Magazine!, October 9, 2013.
Harold Meyerson, Dan Cantor’s Machine, The American Prospect, Jan. 6, 2014 (New
York Mayoral election).
Shane Greene, Magic Number 770 Could be an Environmental Game Changer in
Victorian Election, The Age, October 26, 2014.
FOR FURTHER READING:
 Aristotle, Politica, Book 1, Chapter 1-2 (pp.1127-1130). (T)
 Robert Middlekauff, The Glorious Cause, Chapter 11, “Resolution,” (pp.221-239).
 Louis Fischer, The Life of Mahatma Gandhi, Chapter 31, “Drama at the Seashore,”
(pp.263 -275). (H)
 Howard Spodek, “The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in India:
Feminist, Gandhian Power in Development”, Economic Development and Cultural
Change 43 (1), Oct 1994, (pp.193-202). (H)
 Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan, Why Civil Resistance Works: the Strategic
Logic of Nonviolent Conflict, Chapters 1-3 (pp.1-82)
ORGANIZING TOOLS:

New Organizing Institute Training Resources:
o Coaching 101: http://neworganizing.com/toolbox/training/coaching-101/

ASSIGNMENTS

Reflection Paper #1 - due by 6:00pm EST on Thursday February 19st
10
SECTION DISCUSSION

Thursday February 19th
MODULE 2** | PEOPLE, POWER & CHANGE: MY PROJECT
[TWO WEEK MODULE]
Organizers start by asking three questions: who are my people, what is
their problem, how can they use their resources to solve the problem?
Who are your people? Who is your constituency whose values are at risk?
th
What urgent challenge do they face? How could they turn resources they
24
have into power they need to solve the problem? How could you design a
campaign to achieve an outcome that would help solve this problem within the next 12
weeks?
Tue
February
What does organizing look like? How is it different from mobilizing? How is it different from
marketing? As a “case,” the Montgomery Bus Boycott can help us see concepts fundamental
to organizing work. Alinsky helps us consider reactions we may have to word what we need
to explain organizing: power. We focus on actors, values, and interests to map a
constituency, other actors, and an opposition. We ask the four questions to track down
power by drawing on Loomer to see how it can be created with others or used over others.
Gaventa shows how to make power over others visible. Hirschorn draws attention to the
role of timing in campaigns. Chris Lawrence-Pietroni’s “What Is Organising” is a very clear
reminder of what an organizing project is and what it isn’t, a point at the heart of Hahrie
Han’s distinction between “organizing” and “mobilizing.”
DAY
Tuesday
ONLINE
Live lecture
11:00am-12:30pm
EDT
Thursday
Submit reflection paper by 6:00pm
EST
Work on skill practice assignment
Receive feedback from TFs on reflection papers by Sunday 9:00 pm EST
Submit skill practice assignment by
6:00pm EST
Prepare for section
Receive feedback on skill practice
assignment by 9:00pm EST
Section
Complete next week’s
readings
Complete next week’s
readings
Friday
Monday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
INDIVIDUAL WORK
Complete readings
Work on reflection
paper
SKILL PRACTICE

LEARNING OBJECTIVES





Learn to identify your constituency and its values, resources and interests
Learn to define the challenge your constituency faces
Learn how they can get the power to meet the challenge
Learn to focus on a strategic goal they can achieve over the course of the semester
Learn how to design a 10 week campaign to achieve that change
11

REQUIRED ACTION FOR THE MODULE

Develop your “organizing statement:” I am organizing (who) to (do what) by (how)
by (when).

READING
REQUIRED READING:
 ►Marshall Ganz, “People, Power and Change: Notes, Charts, and Questions,” 2015.
 Marshall Ganz, “Looking at Power”, Gettysburg Project, 2014.
 ►Marshall Ganz, “Introduction to Montgomery Bus Boycott,” 2010.
 ►Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters, Chapter 4, “First Trombone” (pp.120-142),
Chapter 5, “The Montgomery Bus Boycott,” (pp.143 -205). (H)
 Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals, “A Word About Words,” (pp.48-62). (P)
 ►John Gaventa, Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in an
Appalachian Valley, Introduction, (pp.3-32). (T)
 ►"The Campaign Approach to Change," Hirschhorn and May, Change Magazine
http://www.grantcraft.org/pdfs/campaignapproach.pdf (P)
 Hahrie Han, How Organizations Develop Activists, Chapter One, “Introduction” (pp.
1-28).
ORGANIZING TOOLS:
 New Organizing Institute Training Resources: The Theory of Change.
FOR FURTHER READING
 Thucydides, The Peloponnesian Wars, Book V, Chapter 7, “The Sixteenth Year – the
Melian Dialogue,” (pp.400-408). (H)
 Bernard M. Loomer, “Two Kinds of Power,” The D.R. Sharpe Lecture on Social Ethics,
October 29, 1975, Criterion, Vol. 15, No.1, 1976 (pp.10-29). (T)
 Jean Baker Miller, Women’s Growth in Connection: Writings from the Stone Center,
Chapter 11, “Women and Power,” (pp.197-205). (T)
 Connie Gersick, "Pacing Strategic Change: The Case of a New Venture," Academy of
Management Journal, February 1994 (pp.36-42). (T)
 Peter Dreier, Cold Anger in Restless Times: The Growing Movement for Racial and
Social Justice, Moyers & Company, December 8, 2014.
ASSIGNMENTS


Reflection Paper #2 – due by 6:00 pm EST on Thursday February 26th
Skill Practice Assignment #1 – due by 6:00 pm EST on Monday March 2nd
SECTION DISCUSSION

Thursday, March 5th
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M ODULE 3** | P UBLIC NARRATIVE: YOUR STORY
[TWO WEEK MODULE]
Leadership requires enabling one’s people to respond – as opposed to
react – to urgent challenges to their shared values with purposeful action:
the exercise of individual and collective agency. Public narrative can be
used to access the emotional resources needed to respond mindfully by
mobilizing hope over fear, empathy over alienations, and self-worth over
self-doubt. Leaders learn how to tell a “story of self” that can communicate the values that
explain why they have been called to lead; a “story of us” that brings alive values their
community shares; and a “story of now” of the urgent challenge to those values that
requires action. Because it engages the “head” and the “heart,” narrative instructs and
inspires, teaching us not only how we should act, but moving us to act. It is not public
speaking, messaging or image making. As Jayanti Ravi, MPA/MC 07 said, it is learning how to
bring out their “glow” from within, not how to apply a “gloss” from without. The clearer you
are as to your own sources of motivation the better the choices you – and others – can make
about working together.
Tue
March
10th
In my ‘Organizing Notes” and “Public Narrative, Collective Action, and Power,” I explain our
basic approach. Bruner grounds our work in the discipline of cultural psychology. Marcus
explains the neuroscience of anxiety, why we pay attention, on the one hand, and that of
response, on the other. Nussbaum helps us understand how we experience value through
the language of emotion, essential for making choices. And Bruner explains how we use
narrative to construct our “selves”. Come to class having completed your “Public Narrative
Worksheet”. This week, we ask you to reflect on what calls you to leadership on behalf of
the mission you have chosen?
DAY
Tuesday
ONLINE
Live lecture
11:00am-12:30pm
EDT
Thursday
Submit reflection paper by
Friday 6:00pm EDT
Work on skill practice
assignment
Receive feedback from TFs on reflection papers by Sunday 9:00pm EDT
Submit skill practice
assignment by 6:00pm EDT
Prepare for section
Receive feedback on skill
practice assignment 9:00pm
EDT
Section
Complete next week’s readings
Complete next week’s readings
Friday
Monday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
INDIVIDUAL WORK
Complete readings
Work on reflection paper
SKILL WORK

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
 Learn why leadership requires mastery of public narrative: self, us, now
 To learn how public narrative works: values, emotion & story structure
 Learn to tell your story of self and coach others in telling their narrative
REQUIRED ACTION FOR THE MODULE
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


Write and develop your campaign’s public narrative
Start sharing your public narrative in your organizing work to recruit others
If you have a team, train them how to develop their story of self
READING
REQUIRED READING:
 ►Marshall Ganz, Organizing Notes: “What Is Public Narrative?” Charts, Questions.
2015.
 ►Marshall Ganz, “Public Narrative, Collective Action, and Power”, Chapter 18,
Accountability through Public Opinion: From Inertia to Public Action, World Bank,
2011. (T)
 ►Jerome Bruner, “Two Modes of Thought”, Chapter 2 in Actual Minds, Possible
Worlds (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1986), (pp.11–25). (T)
 ►James Croft, 6.2 Minutes, Public Narrative Class, 2010.
 ►Kerubo Abuya, Leadership, Organizing and Action: Leading Change Online
Program, 2014.
PLEASE COMPLETE PUBLIC NARRATIVE WORKSHEET BEFORE LECTURE.
ORGANIZING TOOLS:
 New Organizing Institute Training Resources:
http://neworganizing.com/toolbox/training/story-of-self/
 http:/neworganizing.com/toolbox/training/story-of-us-and-now/
FOR FURTHER READING



Marshall Ganz, Why Stories Matter, Sojourners.com, March 2009.
George Marcus, “Becoming Reacquainted with Emotion,” Chapter 4, The
Sentimental Citizen: Emotion in Democratic Politics, (University Park: Penn State
University Press, 2002), (pp.49-78). (T)
Martha Nussbaum, “Emotions and Judgments of Value”, Chapter 1, Upheavals of
Thought: The Intelligence of Emotions, (New York: Cambridge University Press,
2001), (pp. 19-33). (T)

ASSIGNMENTS


Reflection Paper #3 – due by 6:00pm EDT on Thursday March 12th
Skill Practice Assignment #2 – due by 6:00pm EDT on Monday March 16th

SECTION DISCUSSION

Thursday, March 19th
14
MODULE 4** | BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
[TWO WEEK MODULE]
Organizers build relationships among members of a constituency to create
Tue
commitment to a common purpose. Through relationships we can clarify
March
our own purposes and develop resources to act upon them. Gladwell
24th
reports on the power of relational networks in everyday life – with people
“like us” and people “not like us.” Simmons and Rosin describe
relationship building in action. The workshop material offers ways to teach relationship
building in practice. The second Gladwell piece and Brandzell’s response explore differences
in “online” and “offline” relationships. This week we ask you to reflect on whom you want to
recruit to your leadership team and to practice conducting one-to-ones.
DAY
Tuesday
ONLINE
Live lecture
11:00am12:30pm EDT
Friday
Monday
Wednesday
Friday
SKILL WORK
Submit reflection paper by
6:00pm EDT
Thursday
Thursday
INDIVIDUAL WORK
Complete readings
Work on skill practice assignment
Receive feedback from TFs on reflection papers by Sunday 6:00pm EDT
Submit skill practice assignment
by 6:00pm EDT
Prepare for section
Receive feedback from TFs on Skill
Complete next week’s
Section
readings
Complete next week’s
readings

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
 Learn why relationships are the foundation of organizing
 Learn to build public relationships thru one-to-one meetings and house meetings
 Learn skills necessary to conduct a successful one-to-one

REQUIRED ACTION FOR THE MODULE



Create your relational strategy: Make a list of 20 people who could be candidates for
your leadership team and plan how you will approach them
Hold one on one with potential team members and ask them to join your team if
applicable
Reflect on your experience of holding one-on-ones and your relational strategy

READING
REQUIRED READING:
 ►Marshall Ganz, “Relationships: Notes, Charts, and Questions,” 2015.
 ►Malcolm Gladwell, “Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg,” The New Yorker, January 11,
1999, (pp.52-63). (T)
 ►Ian Simmons, “On One-to-Ones,” The Next Steps of Organizing: Putting Theory
into Action, Sociology 91r Seminar, 1998, (pp.12-15). (P)
 Hanna Rosin, “People-Powered: In New Hampshire, Howard Dean's Campaign Has
Energized Voters,” Washington Post, Tuesday, December 9, 2003, p. C01 (H)
15

Reflections on how “one on one” meeting can turn into “house meetings” and what
they are from the 2007 Obama primary campaign in South Carolina, organizer
Jeremy Bird and local leader Grace Cusack. (H)
a. Obama Campaign, South Carolina House Meeting Video, July 2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF5jqtM-EkI
b. Obama Campaign, Reflections on a House Meeting Video, July 2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zuj3kMYA8ys
ORGANIZING TOOLS:
 New Organizing Institute Training Resources:
http://neworganizing.com/toolbox/training/building-relationships/
FOR FURTHER READING
 Malcolm Gladwell, “Small Change: Why the Revolution will not be Tweeted”, The
New Yorker, October 4, 2010. (T) (T)
 Ben Brandzell, “What Malcolm Gladwell Missed About Online Organizing and
Creating Big Change,” The Nation, November 15, 2010. (T)
 Jim Rooney, Organizing the South Bronx, Chapter 6, “Relational Organizing:
Launching South Bronx Churches,” (pp. 105-118). (H)
 Robert Putnam, Making Democracy Work, “Social Capital and Institutional Success,”
Chapter 6, (pp.163-185). (T)
 Elizabeth McKenna and Hahrie Han, Groundbreakers: How Obama’s 2.2 Million
Volunteers Transformed Campaigning in America, Chapter 4, “Building in Depth by
Investing in Relationships,”p.89-129.

ASSIGNMENTS


Reflection Paper #4 – due by 6:00pm EDT on Thursday March 26th
Skill Practice Assignment #3 – due by 6:00pm EDT on Monday March 30st

SECTION DISCUSSION

Thursday, April 2nd
MODULE 5* | STRUCTURING LEADERSHIP: BUILDING TEAMS
[ONE WEEK MODULE]
What is leadership? A position? A person? Or a practice? We argue it is a
Tue
practice that we can structure in different ways. How can we structure
April
leadership so that it enables a constituency to achieve its goals, not only
7th
the personal goals of whoever is in charge? The selection from Exodus
shows the question of leadership structure – and how to avoid “being a
dot”. Dr. ML King cautions us not to fear the desire to lead, the critical question being how
we earn it. Freeman points out the danger of over-reacting to the “dot” structure so much
that we are left with no structure at all. Hackman and Wageman propose the alternative
collaborative leadership structure, the leadership team and show how to coach it. Exley
shows how structure worked in practice in the 2008 Obama campaign. In the optional
readings, Burns’ view of leadership as relational is foundational to our own as is Heifetz’s
emphasis on leadership as adaptive. Ancona points out that leadership teams need to be
“outward” looking as well as “inward” looking. The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra case shows
how to organize orchestral leadership without a conductor. And Wageman reflects on the
16
particular challenges of making leadership teams work at the very “top” of an organization.
Consider what makes an effective leadership team and reflect on the effectiveness of your
team structure.
DAY
Tuesday
Thursday
Friday
ONLINE
Live lecture
11:00am-12:30pm
EDT
Section
INDIVIDUAL WORK
Complete readings
Work on reflection paper
SKILL WORK
Submit reflection paper by Friday
6:00pm EDT
Launch your leadership
team
Receive feedback from TFs on reflection papers by Sunday 9:00pm EDT
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
 Learn how to structure a leadership team
 Practice how to launch a team
REQUIRED ACTION FOR THE MODULE
 Strengthen the structure of your leadership team
o
o
Set regular leadership team meetings
Establish a team’s shared purpose, norms, and roles

READINGS
REQUIRED READING:






►Marshall Ganz. “Structuring Leadership Teams: Notes, Charts, and Questions,”
2015.
►The Bible, Exodus, Chapter 18 (H)
►Dr. M.L. King, Jr. A Testament of Hope, “The Drum Major Instinct,” (p.259-67).
http://vimeo.com/77261262 (5:44) (P)
►Jo Freeman, “The Tyranny of Structurelessness,” Berkeley Journal of Sociology,
1970, (pp. 1-8). (P) http://www.anarres.org.au/essays/amtos.htm.*
►J. Richard Hackman and Ruth Wageman, “A Theory of Team Coaching”, Academy
of Management Review, Vol. 30, No 2 (Apr. 2005), pp. 269 – 287. (T)
Zack Exley, “The New Organizers, What’s Really Behind the Obama Ground Game,”
Huffington Post, October 8, 2008. (H)
ORGANIZING TOOLS:
 New Organizing Institute Training Resources:
o Coaching 101: http://neworganizing.com/toolbox/training/coaching-101/
o Team Building: http://neworganizing.com/toolbox/training/building-teams/
 Designing Effective Teams, Campaign Workshop Materials, 2009.
FOR FURTHER READING:


James McGregor Burns, Leadership, Chapter 1, "The Power of Leadership," (p.9-28),
Chapter 2, “The Structure of Moral Leadership” (pp.29-46). (T)
Ronald Heifetz, Leadership Without Easy Answers, "Values in Leadership," Chapter 1,
(pp. 13-27). (T/P)
17




Deborah Ancona, Henrik Bresman & Katrin Kaeufer, “The Comparative Advantage of
X-Teams,”MIT Sloan Management Review, Vol. 43 No.3, Spring 2002 (pp. 33- 39). (T)
No one on the Podium, Lessons on Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber
Orchestra, (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9372663/orpheum.mov) (P)
Ruth Wageman, et al, Senior Leadership Teams. Chapter 9, “What It Takes to Make
Them Great”, (207-218). (T)]
Liz McKenna and Hahrie Han, Groundbreakers: How Obama’s 2.2 million Volunteers
Transformed Campaigning in America, Chapter 5, “Creating a Structure to Share
Responsibility” (p.130 – 152).

ASSIGNMENTS

Reflection Paper #5 – due by 6:00pm EDT on Thursday April 9th
SECTION DISCUSSION

Thursday April 9th
MODULE 6** | STRATEGIZING
[TWO WEEK MODULE]
Strategy is how we turn what we have into what we need to get what we
Tue
want. It is both analytic and imaginative, figuring out how we can use our
April
resources to achieve our goals. We reflect on a “classic” tale of strategy
14th
recounted in the Book of Samuel: The Story of David and Goliath, a tale
that argues resourcefulness can compensate for lack of resources by
developing “strategic capacity”. Kahn describes one way to look at the role of strategy in
organizing. We will look at how strategy developed, changed, and refocused in the “Orange
Hats of Fairlawn” case.
When you designed your project at the beginning of our class you began to strategize. Since
then, you have learned a great deal about your people, the change you seek, and your
sources of power. Strategy is a verb - so now it’s time to re-strategize! What has worked,
what hasn’t, what has changed, what has not? And where do you go from here? Alinsky and
Sharp offer some “how to’s” for organizing, strategy and tactics. In the optional readings,
Nikolayenko uses similar tools to analyze the strategy of the Serbian youth movement,
Otpor, in bringing down their dictator.
DAY
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Monday
Wednesday
ONLINE
Live lecture
11:00am-12:30pm
EDT
INDIVIDUAL WORK
SKILL WORK
Complete readings
Work on reflection paper
Submit reflection paper by
6:00pm EDT
Work on skill practice assignment
Receive feedback from TFs on reflection papers by Sunday 9:00 pm EDT
Submit skill practice assignment by
6:00pm EDT
Prepare for section
Receive feedback from TFs on skill
practice assignment
18
Thursday
Friday
Section
Complete next week’s readings
Complete next week’s readings

LEARNING OBJECTIVES






Learn how to re-strategize
Learn to set tactics that build the campaign’s strategic capacity
Develop your campaign chart and peaks
REQUIRED ACTION FOR THE MODULE
Conduct a strategic “check-in” with your leadership team. Are you on track? What
has worked? What hasn’t? What changes do you need to make? How will you use
your remaining time together?
Conduct a one-to-one with your teaching fellow.

READING
REQUIRED READING:
 ►Marshall Ganz. “Strategy: Notes, Charts, and Questions” 2015.
 ►The Bible, Book of Samuel, Chapter 17, Verses 4-49. (H)
http://www.bibleontheweb.com/Bible.asp
 ►Si Kahn, Organizing, Chapter 8 “Strategy,” (pp.155-174). (P)
 ►Kennedy School Case C16-91-1034, “Orange Hats of Fairlawn: A Washington DC
Neighborhood Battles Drugs,” (pp.1-18). (H)*
 Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals, Tactics, (pp. 126-136, 148-155, 158-161). (P)
 Gene Sharp. “198 Methods of nonviolent Protest and Persuasion”, The Politics of
Nonviolent Action, (Boston: Porter Sargent Publishers, 1973). (P)
o http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations/org/198_methods.pdf
 Steven Greenhouse, In Florida Tomato Fields, A Penny Buys Progress, New York
Times, April 24, 2014.
 Peter Dreier, The Way Over Wages, City by City, The Huffington Post, October 1,
2014.
ORGANIZING TOOLS:


New Organizing Institute Training Resources: Tactics and Timing:
http://neworganizing.com/toolbox/training/tactics-and-timing/
Devising Strategy, Campaign Materials, Leading Change Project 2014. (available on
MLD 377 course page)
FOR FURTHER READING



Kim Bobo, Organizing for Social Change, Chapter 4 “Developing a Strategy” (pp.2032), Chapter 5, “A Guide to Tactics,” (pp.34-41). (P)
Marshall Ganz. “Resources and Resourcefulness: Strategic Capacity in the
Unionization of California Agriculture, 1959-1966”, American Journal of Sociology,
January 2000, (pp.1003-1005; 1019-1044). (T/H)
Olena Nikolayenko, “Origins of the Movement’s Strategy: The Case of Serbia’s Otpor
(pp. 1 -19), International Political Science Review, October 31, 2012. (T/H)

ASSIGNMENT
19
 Reflection Paper #6 – due by 6:00pm EDT on Thursday April 19th
 Skill Practice Assignment #4 – due by 6:00pm EDT on Monday April 21st

SECTION DISCUSSION

Thursday April 23rd
MODULE 7** | ACTION: MOBILIZING & DEPLOYING
RESOURCES
[TWO WEEK MODULE]
Organizers mobilize and deploy resources to take action based on
Tue
commitments they secure from others. Researchers have learned that the
April
way we organize the action can itself enhance our capacity for action — or
28th
the opposite. In the optional readings, Oliver and Marwell argue, the way
we mobilize resources influences how we can deploy them and vice-versa.
But whatever the constraints, acting to make change involves risk, and risk requires courage.
Hackman also argues that we can organize action to motivate further participation – or the
opposite. Levy shows how to knit tactics together strategically.
DAY
ONLINE
Live lecture
11:00am12:30pm EDT
Tuesday
Thursday
Friday
Monday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
INDIVIDUAL WORK
Complete readings
Work on reflection
paper
Submit reflection paper
by 6:00pm EDT
SKILL WORK
Work on skill practice assignment
Work on skill practice assignment
Receive feedback from TFs on reflection papers by Tuesday 9:00pm EDT
Submit skill practice assignment by
6:00pm EDT
Prepare for section
Receive feedback from TFs on Skill
Practice Assignment by Wednesday
9:00pm EDT
Complete next week’s
Section
readings
Complete next week’s
readings

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
 Learn how to design action that generates the motivation for more action
 Understand the linkage between mobilizing and deploying resources and the

centrality of commitment to both
Learn and practice how to ask for a commitment

REQUIRED ACTION FOR THE MODULE



Analyze a volunteer action task and mold it to be more motivational.
Ask 5 people to commit to your upcoming peak.
Reflect on how you have been getting people’s commitment. What has worked?
What could have been done differently?
20

READING
REQUIRED READING:




►Marshall Ganz. Organizing Notes: “Notes on Action”, Charts and Questions, 2015.
►Richard Hackman, “Designing Work for Individuals and for Groups”, adapted from
J.R. Hackman, Work Design in J.R. Hackman & J.L. Suttle (Eds.) Improving Life at
Work: Behavioral science approaches to organizational change. Santa Monica:
Goodyear Publishing Company, 1977. (pp.242-255). Please take special note of
pages 242-244, and 248-250 and the Job Characteristics Model and how to use it. (T)
*
Columbia, SC Rally, “Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey Rally” Video, 2007. (H)
Canvassing Video, “The Marriage Plot: Inside This Year’s Epic Campaign for Gay
Equality”, the Atlantic, December 11, 2012. (H)
ORGANIZING TOOLS


Task Design, Leadership Development Project, Sierra Club, 2007.
NOI Action Resources
o Getting Commitment - http://neworganizing.com/toolbox/training/gettingcommitments/
FOR FURTHER READING




Jacques Levy, Cesar Chavez, Prologue, (pp. xxi-xxv). (H)
Pamela Oliver and Gerald Marwell, Frontiers in Social Movement Theory, Chapter 11,
“Mobilizing Technologies for Collective Action,” (pp 251-271). (T)
Kim Bobo, Organizing for Social Change, Chapter 7, “Designing Actions,” (pp.70-79),
Chapter 21,“Grassroots Fundraising.” (P)
Liz McKenna and Hahrie Han, Groundbreakers: How Obama’s 2.2 Million Volunteers
Transformed Campaigning in America, Chapter 6, “Using Metrics to Get to Scale”
p.153 – 182.

ASSIGNMENTS


Reflection Paper #7 – due by 6:00pm EDT on Thursday April 30th
Skill Practice Assignment #5 – due by 6:00pm EDT on May 4th
SECTION DISCUSSION

Thursday May 7th
MODULE 8* | PULLING IT ALL TOGET HER
[ONE WEEK MODULE]
In class, we will discuss ways to link one’s story of self, story of us, and
Tue
story of now. Sometimes a public narrative begins with a “story of now”,
May
not a “story of self”, as in the Croft example. But the “story of now” will
12th
work only if it links to a “story of us” based on genuinely shared values,
something Susan Christopher models. And, in the end, as a leadership
practice, it must link back to a “story of self.” Public narrative can also be used strategically
21
to deal with major challenges, such as resistance to domination, explained by Scott, or as a
source of resilience in response to loss, as explained by McAdams and modeled by Sen.
Robert Kennedy, delivering the news of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination to a largely
African American audience in 1968...this week we ask you to reflect on how your story of
self, us and now are tied together to reflect your constituency’s hopeful outcome, urgency,
shared purpose and a call to leadership.
DAY
Tuesday
Thursday
ONLINE
Live lecture
11:00am-12:30pm
EDT
Section
TEAM WORK
INDIVIDUAL WORK
Complete readings
Work on reflection paper
Submit reflection paper by 6:00pm EDT
Receive feedback from TFs on reflection papers by Tuesday 9:00pm EDT

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
 Develop a complete pubic narrative (Self, Us, Now)
 Develop a concrete call to action
 Learn to coach others on creating a strong public narrative

REQUIRED ACTION FOR THE MODULE
 Develop your complete public narrative and call to action
 Use your public narrative at one of your action programs
 Reflect on how you used your public narrative in your campaign

READING
REQUIRED READING:
 ►Susan Christopher. Story of Us, Camp Obama, Burbank, CA, July 2007. http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-WEM-taoG8. (H) *
 ►Video from Gandhi. Screenplay, John Briley. Dir. Richard Attenborough. Kingsley.
(H)*(http://video.ksg.harvard.edu:8080/ramgen/courseMaterials/ganz/Gandhi.rm
 Asma Mahfouz. Meet Asmaa Mahfouz and the vlog that Helped Spark the
Revolution, Cairo, Egypt, January 2011. (H)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgjIgMdsEuk.
 ►Robert F. Kennedy, “Remarks on the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King”,
April 4, 1968. (H) *
 ►Dan P. McAdams and Philip J. Bowman, “Chapter 1: Narrating Life’s Turning
Points: Redemption and Contamination,” Turns in the Road: Narrative Studies of
Lives in Transition, (Washington D.C.: American Psychological Association, 2001),
(pp. 3-34). [32 pages] (T)
 ►James C. Scott, Chapter 1, “Behind the Official Story” (pp. 1-16), in Domination
and the Arts of Resistance (New Haven: Yale, 1990). [16 pages] (T)
 Jerome Bruner, “The Uses of Story” in Making Stories: Law, Literature, Life (New
York: Ferrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002), p. 3-36. [34 pages] (T)
 Shane Green, Trade Unions, The New Broom in the Hall, The Sydney Morning
Herald, December 12, 2014.

ASSIGNMENTS
22

Reflection Paper #8 – due by 6:00pm EDT on May 14th

SECTION DISCUSSION

Thursday, May 14th
MO DULE 9 | W RAP U P: ORGANIZERS, ORGANIZATIONS & T HE
FUTURE
[ONE WEEK MODULE]
This week we reflect on organizing as a craft, art, and vocation: why do it,
Tue
what can make a person good at it, what about the rest of our lives, how
May
can we continue to grow? Organizing requires learning to manage real
19th
organizational tensions, as described in my “Organizing Notes”. It also
requires learning to manage the personal tensions, addressed by Heifetz
when he urges us to learn to “get on the balcony”. And it requires meeting the challenge of
actually making the difference we claim we want to make, getting to scale, a challenge Weir
and I address in our piece and that Peter Murray addresses in his.
We will also hear from everyone about what they have learned from their participation in
the course. What have we learned about ourselves as organizers? What have we learned
about organizing, how well did we meet goals we set at the beginning of the semester?
What's next? In this week’s readings, Heifetz poses challenges of accepting responsibility for
leadership. Weir and Ganz argue that there is a need for greater participation.
DAY
ONLINE
Live lecture
11:00am-12:30pm
EDT
Tuesday
Thursday
TEAM WORK
INDIVIDUAL WORK
Complete readings
Work on final reflection paper
Submit final reflection paper
(4 pages double spaced) by 6:00pm EDT
Wednesday

LEARNING OBJECTIVES



Reflect on organizing as a craft, art and vocation
Reflect on the role of organizing in your work: the big picture
How to deal with organizing tensions

REQUIRED ACTION FOR THE MODULE




Reflect on your leadership experience as an organizer, learner and leader
Evaluate the course
Articulate what’s next
Celebrate!
READINGS
REQUIRED READING:

►Marshall Ganz. Organizing Notes: “Organizations” Notes, Charts, and Questions”
2015. (P)*
 ►Ronald Heifetz, Leadership without Easy Answers, Chapter 11, “The Personal
Challenge,” (pp.250-276). (P)*
23



Margaret Weir and Marshall Ganz, The New Majority: Toward a Popular Progressive
Politics, “Reconnecting People and Politics,” (pp. 149-171). (T)
Peter Murray, “The Secret of Scale”, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fall, 2013,
(p.32-39)
Rebecca Solnit, “ The Age of Capitalism is Over”, Salon.com, December 27, 2014.
FOR FURTHER READING
 Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela,
Chapter 14, (pp. 121-140). (H)
 Ellen Langer, Mindfulness, Chapter 8, “Mindfulness on the Job,” (pp.133-148). (P)
 Cesar Chavez, “The Organizer's Tale,” Ramparts Magazine, July 1966, (pp.43-50). (P)
Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals, “The Education of the Organizer,” (pp.63-80). (P)
 Charles M. Payne, I’ve Got the Light of Freedom, “Chapter 8: Slow and Respectful
Work” (pp.236-264). (H)
 Kenwyn Smith and David Berg, "A Paradoxical Conception of Group Dynamics",
Human Relations, Vol. 40:10, 1987, (pp. 633-654). (T)
 Irving Janis, "Groupthink", in Psychology Today, November 1971, (pp. 43-44, 46, 7476). (T)

ASSIGNMENTS

Reflection Paper #9– due by 6:00pm EDT on Tuesday May 26th
This final reflection paper should be 4 pages double-spaced in length.
24