In Ganz’s Why David Sometimes Wins, I appreciated the distinction he makes between effective strategies and leadership. He points out that success is usually attributed to the intelligence or charisma of a leader, although in reality, the praise should be placed on the efficacy of the strategies these leaders devise. I found this to be particularly informative because of the weight that is sometimes overbearingly placed on leadership/face of campaigns as the measure of success. Strategy is key in ensuring that opportunities that present themselves are used for long term and more profound changes and for “reshaping” the environment, as Ganz puts it.
In creating effective strategies, Ganz also stresses the importance of thinking creatively. It is in this section of Heuristic Processes that the concept of organizing became more familiar to me. When I think of community organizing, I think of people in a community coming together to tackle a major issue directly affecting them and taking the initiative to call attention to the issue or try and solve it. As such, I completely agree with Ganz that “innovative thinking is facilitated by encounters with diverse points of view” (221). I find community organizing to be a potentially effective form of community engagement because people from diverse backgrounds and views are brought together by a common desire to solve a problem and this multiplicity leads to more creativity and also just more potential solutions. Ganz does point out that a team needs to learn how to effectively harness and promote this diversity. The creation of relationships is also important due to the need for creating strong networks and foundations. Because of the importance of the group involved in creating the strategy, it makes me wonder what the fairest process is to ensure that the diversity that exists in the community is adequately represented by those in the leadership roles, who I’m sure also have their own agendas and opinions that they want to push forward.
