Plouffe, David. The Audacity to Win. New York: Viking, 2009.
I’m pretty crazy about this book – it’s a real-life thriller. Displayed on my bookshelf since 2009, I finally picked it up in December 2011. The book is an absolute page-turner; I think I finished it in 2-3 days.
Written by David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager and the architect of the grassroots movement that brought Obama’s presidential victory, the book walks you through the life of the campaign right from the beginning, before Obama even decided to run for president. It’s a neat, hopeful, from-underdog-to-victory type of story. I love how the book conveys the world-changing experiences of those in the eye of the storm, and my favorite parts in the book are the moments when it dawned on those involved that they were in the middle of something great and unprecedented.
It is enlightening to see how that greatness is composed of a mixture of many mundane day-to-day tasks and fewer on the spotlight events. Plouffe is quite honest and sometimes brutal in his appraisals of competing campaigns, as well as of his own team and candidate. But all throughout, the multitudinous volunteers in his campaign have his highest regard and praise.
For those who haven’t read the book and have some extra time, an idea that would be fun to try is to watch the YouTube videos alongside with the key moments, speeches, and debates referred to in the book. It would be a way to relive those moments and to try to understand what the campaign team was going through in real time. I did it for just a handful of events, such as Obama’s “A More Perfect Union” speech, and although I probably would not go through the book again, I would highly recommend trying this video plus book combo since Obama is such a good orator.
This book is an absolute must-read for leaders and those interested in grassroots movements. Here are two of the most important lessons I gained from the book.
Use of technology – In this day and age, any effective grassroots movement needs to engage the creative use of technology to mobilize its members. Aside from dispensing information, the Obama campaign website is also a tool for anyone who wants to help volunteer for the campaign. It has a personalized section where one can find resources and video trainings on how to hold events, organize local communities, to reach out to neighbors, etc. The campaign headquarters for each important state track down every street whose doors have been knocked. The key idea is to empower the individual, no matter who or where they are, to do something. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small contribution. The morale boost after accomplishing any task will feed to the next round of contributions, creating a wave of excitement.
Face-to-face interaction – There is nothing that can replace the synergy of a team that works in the same place physically. The face-to-face interaction, the ability to brainstorm and bounce back ideas right then and there, is fundamental to any successful teamwork. This personal interaction is also very effective in winning the population. Yes, technology is important, but it doesn’t replace the people. Rather, it should enable more effective personal interactions.
In this election year, I’m curious about how their campaign strategies will change. The grassroots movement will have to adopt new methods simply because the situation is different now compared to 2008. And that’s not a bad thing at all. After all, change is necessary in a movement.
JE
