In the last years some research has been done on movement building and organizing. The conclusion of “Hahrie Han (2015): How Organisations Develop Activists” is that successful organisations don’t rely solely on attracting people that are already motivated and skilled but also on actively developing their activists by coaching and mentoring them from the bottom up and moving them up “the activist ladder”. Instead of organizing events the leaders in high engagement organisations “organize organizers”. The activist ladder may contain steps like I = occasional activist, II = typical activist, III = dedicated activist etc. I think a discussion whether we should concentrate on step I, II or III will remain inconclusive due to the high uncertainty of the parameters. It seems way more important to establish a (semi-)formal system, a pyramid of leaders who mainly engage in coaching and mentoring in the effective altruist movement.
In the last years some research has been done on movement building and organizing. The conclusion of “Hahrie Han (2015): How Organisations Develop Activists” is that successful organisations don’t rely solely on attracting people that are already motivated and skilled but also on actively developing their activists by coaching and mentoring them from the bottom up and moving them up “the activist ladder”. Instead of organizing events the leaders in high engagement organisations “organize organizers”. The activist ladder may contain steps like I = occasional activist, II = typical activist, III = dedicated activist etc. I think a discussion whether we should concentrate on step I, II or III will remain inconclusive due to the high uncertainty of the parameters. It seems way more important to establish a (semi-)formal system, a pyramid of leaders who mainly engage in coaching and mentoring in the effective altruist movement.
I like the idea of a pyramid of coaches. EA Action already does something a bit like this, but much more work can be done.