12 > SHOW OF STRENGTH: BALANCE NEEDED:

< SUMMARY 12 > SHOW OF STRENGTH: BALANCE NEEDED:

<< SHOW OF STRENGTH: BALANCE NEEDED: >>
In the Resolution Phase, you are trying to balance a Show Of Strength,
to make sure your concerns are taken seriously, with an effort at finding
common ground, so you can work with your Adversary and/or the Decision Makers
to address your concerns. You may need to move back and forth between these
two positions while addressing different aspects of your issue. The key is
balance: to use just enough pressure to have your concerns taken seriously,
while not doing permanent damage to the potential for a working relationship
with your Adversary and the Decision Makers to resolve the issue.

YOUR CURRENT POSITION: RAISING CONCERNS AND NOT TAKING SIDES:
Up to this point you have been raising concerns and working towards
building a broad base of support in your community to have your concerns
addressed (see Choosing A Position). As you get closer to the Resolution
Phase, you will begin to draw on the base of support that you have been
building so you can mobilize strength for your position on the issue.

EVALUATE YOUR STRENGTH IN TERMS OF YOUR POSITION AND BASE OF SUPPORT:
Your position is that the concerns that you have raised need to be
addressed. Do you have a good solid case for your position on the issue or at
least certain aspects of the issue? What are the strongest points in your
position? The weakest? Be as realistic and objective as possible so you can
focus on your real strengths and be ready to defend yourself where you are
weakest.
Evaluate your base of support? Do you have a broad base of support in
your community to have your concerns addressed? Identify the areas where your
support is strongest, where it is weakest. Can you reach out to strengthen
support where it is weak? What part of your base of support will be most
easily mobilized if a show of strength is necessary?
Begin to look at what aspects of your position and base of support can
be combined to increase your strength. What aspects are best to avoid? How
would you rate your overall strength in terms of your position and your base
of support?

EVALUATE YOUR ADVERSARY'S STRENGTH: WHAT ARE YOU UP AGAINST?
Look realistically at the strengths and weaknesses of your Adversary's
position on the issue. Is your Adversary's position open to criticism from
the perspective of a fair and reasonable observer? What are the strong points
of their case? What are the weak points?
Next look at your Adversary's base of support in terms of support in
the community. Do segments of the public strongly support your Adversary's
position? Where is their support strongest? Where is it weakest? Make a
detailed list.
Role Play their situation. If you were them how would you view their
situation? Are they aware of their own strength? Are they aware of their
weakness? How would you be getting ready for resolving the issue if you
were them?

TIMING: NOW OR LATER:
The timing on when the resolution of an issue takes place can often be
influenced to some degree. Look at your situation and decide how timing could
play a role.
For example, if your group's present position and base of support
looks about as strong as it will ever get and your Adversary seems to be
gaining support then it is in your interest to consider working to come to the
Resolution Phase as soon as possible. On the other hand, if it looks like you
will gain strength with more time or your Adversary's strength will weaken
over time (more than yours) then working for a delay would be an approach to
consider. If you need to slow down the process, the discovery of new
information related to the issue or a serious lack of available information
can often be used to justify a delay.

FOCUS EFFORTS ON INFLUENCING 2 KEY GROUPS: ADVERSARY AND DECISION MAKERS:
Besides your Adversary, there is another key group you will want to
focus your efforts on influencing: the Decision Makers.
Decision Makers are those people who make decisions that may effect
the outcome of the issue. They may be regulatory agencies, government bodies,
(town boards, county legislatures, state agencies, federal agencies, etc.), or
they may be members of the public (as in a referendum, proposition on the
ballet, or an election). Occasionally your Adversary is also the Decision
Maker. Use your influence in your community to make both your Adversary
and/or the Decision Makers aware of your concerns.
Even if the public is not directly involved in the decision, public
opinion has a strong influence on many decisions, especially on decisions
involving elected officials.

ARE YOUR ADVERSARY AND/OR THE DECISION MAKERS TAKING YOU SERIOUSLY?
In a Role Playing Session, Role Play your Adversary. How would you
view your group if you were them? Based on their recent actions and position
and your knowledge of them, decide if they are taking your group seriously.
Are they really aware of the strengths of your position and your base of
support in the community to have your concerns addressed? Are they aware of
the support you have outside of your group? Often you will discover that
there are aspects of your strength that your Adversary may not be fully aware
of. Do the same Role Playing for any Decision Makers.

NEED FOR A SHOW OF STRENGTH:
As you begin to get ready for the Resolution Phase, you may need to
look for ways of making your Adversary and/or the Decision Makers more aware
of your strengths as a group.
For example, if your Role Playing has revealed that your Adversary
(and/or the Decision Makers) are not taking you seriously then you may decide
to look towards an action or a position to make them aware of the fact that
your group's concerns must be addressed. Sometimes this may call for a some-
what strong move to `get their attention' (see Confrontation). Other times it
may only require looking for ways to gently remind them of your strengths.
It may be that a Show Of Strength is called for. Perhaps what is
needed is an overwhelming turn out at a public hearing to show that many
people are concerned with your issue, or it may be that all that is needed is
a series of letters to the Editor of the local paper from respected community
members to show that you have a broad base of support outside your group.

FOCUS ATTENTION ON THE STRENGTH OF YOUR POSITION AND YOUR BASE OF SUPPORT:
Making your Adversary and/or the Decision Makers aware of your
position on the issue is an important part of the process. Often, even more
important is making them aware of your base of support for having your
concerns addressed.
All decisions are influenced to some degree by public opinion and
often your concerns are taken more seriously when they have a broad base of
support or support by key elements of the community.

PRESENTING YOUR POSITION: THE PUBLIC CASE:
There are 2 aspects to the presentation of your concerns. First, and
often most important, is the case you present to the public. You are
presenting your concerns to `the court of public opinion' by appealing to
standards of reason and fairness. You are asking people to put themselves in
your shoes and answer the questions: `Do you have legitimate concerns and are
they being addressed? and `Are you being treated fairly?'.
Often the court of public opinion can render a judgement that can have
more impact than a legal case.

PRESENTING YOUR POSITION: THE LEGAL CASE:
There may be legal aspects of your issue. Legal cases can involve
either regulatory agencies or the courts. Do you have a legal case? Is there
compliance with relevant regulations? If you think you have good grounds for
raising legal aspects of the case then you could consider seeking limited low
cost legal advice.
You may decide to raise the legal issues as part of your case to the
public. Unless your legal case is overwhelming you are often better off using
it indirectly rather than as a primary effort. Raising legal issues can often
be used to support your main Strategy of raising concerns and developing a
broad base of support to influence your Adversary and/or the Decision Makers.

LIMITED USEFULNESS OF A LEGAL CASE:
Many groups are tempted to see the legal route as the solution to all
their problems. This is rarely the case because there are a number of serious
disadvantages in relying too heavily on `going to court':
1) THE ODDS ARE AGAINST YOU WINNING: Only a few grassroots groups
have been able to resolve their issue in the courts.
2) A LEGAL CASE IS OFTEN VERY EXPENSIVE: The cost of taking a case
through the legal process of resolving an issue is often beyond the fund
raising ability of a grassroots organization.
3) FUND RAISING FOR A LEGAL CASE CAN DO SERIOUS DAMAGE TO YOUR GROUP:
People who were willing to spend time and energy in working with others to
resolve your issue can rapidly lose interest after a few unsuccessful
attempts at fund raising for a legal case. The sense of enthusiasm that comes
from knowing that you are having an effect on your issue can disappear when
the power to resolve the issue leaves your group and is placed in the hands of
others (ie: lawyers and judges).
4) YOUR ADVERSARY CAN `TIE YOU UP IN COURT': Rather than resolving
the issue in court, your Adversary may decide to delay and extend the legal
process so that you will run out of money before the issue is ever legally
resolved.

EFFECTIVE USE OF A LEGAL CASE:
A legal case can be used to advantage in certain situations:
1) TO BUY TIME: Often cost effective legal measures can be found to
gain delays or extensions in the process of resolving an issue.
2) TO RAISE THE ISSUE IN THE MEDIA: Cost effective legal moves can be
made to bring attention to the legal aspects of your position without
necessarily resolving the legal case.
3) TO GO TO COURT WITHOUT PAYING THE COSTS: If your legal case looks
very promising and has the potential for setting legal precedents or has the
potential for winning money in damages then some legal organizations may be
interested in taking on your case for no fee or payment only if you win
damages. (Note: check carefully the background and reputation of any
organization you are considering to represent your group.)

PRESENTING YOUR POSITION: COMBINED PUBLIC AND LEGAL CASE:
Often the best presentation of your position is a combination of the
public and legal case. Cost effective legal measures to buy time and
emphasize aspects of your case can be used to strengthen your case before the
public.
In presenting your position to the public remember to avoid obscure
legal and overly technical aspects of the issue and instead emphasize a clear
common sense approach. Often it is most effective to use your legal case to
support your public case in order to put more pressure on your Adversary and
the Decision Makers to address your concerns.

FOR A SHOW OF STRENGTH MOBILIZE YOUR BASE OF SUPPORT IN KEYS AREAS:
Besides presenting your position to influence your Adversary and the
Decision Makers, you will want to increase awareness of your base of support.
For a show of strength, mobilize from keys areas: your group, other groups and
influential people, the Press and public opinion.

KEY AREAS FOR MOBILIZATION:
YOUR GROUP: Get the members of your group active in carrying out your
group's current Strategy. Find people to work on key projects. Build more
support for your group. Let members know know how important it is to be
available when you need to `mobilize the troops' for a Show Of Strength.
OTHER GROUPS AND INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE: Reach out to other groups and
respected members of your community to support your concerns to show that
support for your concerns extends beyond your group. Be especially aware what
groups and individuals may have the most impact on your Adversary and the
Decision Makers.
THE PRESS AND GENERAL PUBLIC: There are few groups in a democratic
society that can ignore public opinion. When you appeal to the public to view
your issue in terms of reason and fairness, many people can identify with your
situation even if not directly involved. Raise your issue in the press. For
example, sending a carefully thought out letter to the editor of your paper
could spark a debate in the letters to the editor column. This could lead to
an editorial on the issue that could lead to more public involvement.

EXAMPLE: MOBILIZATION OF A KEY GROUP:
The low altitude flight group was careful to stress that they were not
`against' the military and that their concerns were the effects of the
flights. Because of this approach, they were able to reach out to other groups
in the community. They were even able to work indirectly (through Links) with
a local Veterans' Group to raise an important issue. Because many Vietnam
Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome had moved to rural areas to avoid
the startle effect of loud sudden noises, the Veterans Group came out publicly
raising concerns that the startle effect of low altitude flights could have
serious effects on Vietnam Veterans in the flight path recovering from this
syndrome.
Having a Veteran's Group raise this issue had much more impact on
the military and the public than raising the issue by the low altitude flight
group.

< SUMMARY 12 > SHOW OF STRENGTH: BALANCE NEEDED:

(C) Cicada Ridge Software

[ Return To Menu For Effective Action ]

** (C) Cicada Ridge Software **

[ Return To Menu For Effective Action ]

(C) Cicada Ridge Software