use a 50-person list for squishy problems

A thing to try if you’re looking at a squishy and opaque problem : make a list of the 50 people who have sway in this problem area. If these people took action, or at least shared your view, the problem would probably be solved. Next make a list of how you can “get” or at least “get to” each of those people. Then start getting them.

I’ve seen this work for communications, policy, and fundraising - all areas that can feel mystical, areas where expensive consultants may mystify things further (in their own interest - it’s easier to seek rent from a realm of magic than a teachable curriculum). If you’ve got a messaging problem, if you’re confronting an asphyxiating regulation - distill that problem into 50 human ingredients. (50 is an arbitrarily chosen number - big enough to force you to think beyond the people who work for you and who you already talk to all the time; shouldn’t be so long a list that the problem feels intractable all over again; should be long enough that you don’t need a perfect hit rate to succeed). 

Getting or just getting to your 50 isn’t guaranteed - that probably takes some skill and persistence. But counting votes is a way more legible, trackable strategy than « build a movement » or « raise awareness » or « coordinate structural change » or [takes a stiff drink, rubs back of neck, blows smoke toward the ceiling]. 

-eric