This Is Marketing: You Cant Be Seen Until You Learn to See

Manipulation is the tribe killer
In Rules for Radicals, noted labor organizer Saul Alinsky laid out thirteen
principles that can be used in zero-sum game political settings to discourage
and defeat enemies:
“Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you
have.”
“Never go outside the expertise of your people.”
“Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy.”
“Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.”
“Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.”
“A good tactic is one your people enjoy.”
“A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.”
“Keep the pressure on.”
“The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.”
“The major premise for tactics is the development of operations
that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.”
“If you push a negative hard and deep enough, it will break through
into its counterside.”
“The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.”
“Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.”
Alas, this approach is now often used by both sides on just about any
issue, and it tears away at civil discourse. When you’re so sure you’re right

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that you’re willing to burn things down, it turns out that everyone is
standing in a burning building sooner or later.
What happens if we reverse the rules?
“Put people to work. It’s even more effective than money.”
“Challenge your people to explore, to learn, and to get comfortable
with uncertainty.”
“Find ways to help others on the path find firm footing.”
“Help others write rules that allow them to achieve their goals.”
“Treat the others the way you’d want to be treated.”
“Don’t criticize for fun. Do it when it helps educate, even if it’s not
entertaining.”
“Stick with your tactics long after everyone else is bored with
them. Only stop when they stop working.”
“It’s okay to let the pressure cease now and then. People will pay
attention to you and the change you seek when they are unable to
consistently ignore it.”
“Don’t make threats. Do or don’t do.”
“Build a team with the capacity and the patience to do the work
that needs doing.”
“If you bring your positive ideas to the fore, again and again, you’ll
raise the bar for everyone else.”
“Solve your own problems before you spend a lot of time finding
problems for the others.”
“Celebrate your people, free them to do even more, make it about
the cohort, and invite everyone along. Disagree with institutions,
not with people.”
All thirteen of these principles get to the mission of the marketer. To
engage with people and help them create the change they seek. To

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understand their worldviews and talk and act in ways that align with who
they are and what they want. To connect people to one another in an infinite
game of possibility.