The word for the year is… Logistics
“Amateurs talk about strategy, professionals talk about logistics.”
General Omar Bradley
[See also Manuel de Landa War in the Age of Intelligent Machines]
So, what does “logistics” mean in the context of Manchester?
To a minor extent it means physical infrastructure- banners, offices, all that stuff that costs money, sucks up time and energy in maintaining etc.
Mostly, for our purpose it means;
people
their skills and knowledge
their relationships
their time
their enthusiasm/morale (includes direction, focus etc)
Logistics should therefore be aimed at increasing these, ideally all five at the same time.
So
The people we “have” knowing each others’ strengths and desires/intentions better than they currently do, being able to help each other more immediately and practically. How to do this? Three question Thursday videos. Regular meetings?
People who are currently on the “periphery”* aware of how to get involved at the level they’d like to
People currently not involved at all getting involved at the level they’d like
People who WERE involved getting back “involved.”
Their skills and knowledge
What do they already have?
What do they want?
What do “we” think they need?
How do all of these match up?
How do we find out all this?! Doing it via the videos is too slow, too unwieldy. A survey?
Perhaps run “how to” posts on MCFly (how to write a press release, how to be interviewed, how to have a pub discussion etc).
Their relationships
How do we help them to strengthen existing relationships? Form new ones? Repair old ones?
(nb, this is distinct from our relationships with them).
(Regular) public meetings, with all the headaches, costs and exclusivity that can entail? Encourage them to hold their meetings differently? (Dust off the Meetings Charter?) What else?
Time
Everyone’s mad busy. Or perceives themselves to be so…
Do we run “time management” workshops?! Or do videos, or what
Morale
The tricky one. How do people keep their hope alive, when, frankly, the only rational response is to throw up your hands in despair and dance and drink and screw…
Distinguish between morale and hope and unwarranted optimism?
What am I missing?
* Alternatively, you could look at it from their point of view – we are on their periphery!
manchester climate monthly 