Good bike & transit advocacy gets easier over time but it might not feel like that. A look at why and what to do about it
The reward for leveling up tends to be bigger battles
Jevons paradox is the idea that increasing the efficiency of producing a resource leads to more demand and thus consumption of it overall. He first observed that phenomenon with coal in the 1800s, and it has been observed across industries and sectors. From the change in cotton consumption after Eli Whitney’s cotton gin to higher speed internet access enabling greater internet consumption. The easier it is to produce and use a thing, the more we tend to use it. I find the same is true in advocacy. The more effective you or your group get at campaigning, the more you will tend to take on.
Advocacy, like any skill, can be improved (that’s what I’m here to help you with!) Improving advocacy can entail any number of things including:
Having a bigger list of supporters which means it is easier to mobilize more people to take an action than before. If you are trying to get 10 people to do something, it is easier to make that happen if you have a list of 1,000 people to ask vs. a list of only 10 people to ask.
Gaining experience organizing a type of action makes it easier to do that type of action again. Holding your first rally & press conference might be hard, but your second one will be a lot easier if you apply lessons from your first one (and hang on to some of the useful gear/props!)
Building trust within your group makes it easier for you to move faster as a group. As you build experience with each other, the amount of triple-checking or slow consensus building you need to do goes down. Still build consensus and double-check, but the more you collaborate with the same people, the more you will get a sense of what works for them and what doesn’t. A common parallel of this for relationships outside of advocacy is how it can be easier to make plans with good friends than with strangers.
Of course, in advocacy, like other skills, experience does not always lead to improvement. As legendary football coach Vince Lombardi says “Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.” The world of advocacy is filled with performance feedback, so personally, I find it easy to hone my craft based on experience. Every campaign I lose, every volunteer that loses interest, every pitch or explainer that falls flat is an invitation to learn, experiment, iterate and improve. Every time I make a new tool or resource, I try to ask myself “how can I build this in a way that will help the next fight too?” Advocacy has countless opportunities for growth and improvement if you look for it.
I recognize that, to put it mildly, approaching one’s advocacy with that mindset is optional. When it comes to the advocates who are dedicated to doing the same thing day in and day out, although I don’t tend to envy their results, I do admire their tenacity and commitment. And even if they are not working on improving their overall advocacy, they are likely honing their ability to do the particular thing they are doing.
As long as you try to learn from your past advocacy and intentionally build tools & relationships to be used again; your advocacy will get easier. Huzzah!
However, in bike and transit advocacy the amount of change we need to win, and that you might want to win, is gigantic. Nearly infinite. That can mean that instead of improved efficiency leading to more free time, it is extremely easy for Jarvons paradox to kick in. The reward you get for being a better advocate is the temptation to take on bigger challenges.
On one hand, that’s great. Our communities and the climate need more skilled transportation advocates taking on bigger challenges. On the other hand, that cycle of improvement and taking on more can cause problems for the advocates themselves. A continuously improving bike advocate taking on progressively harder fights might not be able to feel the truth that they are improving. They are getting better but their life isn’t. Instead of being happier with their greater success, it is too easy for an activist to put more on their plate. Potentially becoming miserable and overwhelmed by the development. Jarvons paradox is a recipe for burnout for advocates as we are all finite beings. Infinite growth does not work in finite space.
However, much like improvement, taking on bigger fights is optional too. We can opt out of Jarvons paradox. A few ways of doing that are:
Find a pace you can sustain. Understand your limits and aim to be under them– not over them.
Intentionally carve out rest and defend your rest. (Full disclosure: I’m terrible at this)
Appreciate yourself and cultivate joy. See how much you have skilled-up and celebrate that. It’s good in its own right, and helps increase the self-awareness needed to better find the pace you can sustain.
Understand that the fight is never truly done. Internalizing that there will always be more to do tomorrow, should help make it easier to slow down and rest.
Win. For my upcoming book on transportation activism, I’m interviewing activists across the country. I ask almost every one of them about burnout, and one did point out that winning is an excellent treatment for burnout. They aren’t wrong!
Need help winning transportation changes in your community? I’m here to help! Whether you want a 1-on-1 training session or a group workshop, let’s talk. Email me at Carter@carterlavin.com to set something up. Here’s a bit about what training sessions are like.
Free upcoming online events
“How to use cargo bikes to improve your life and how to use them to win protected bike lanes.” With special co-host, “Cargo Bike Momma” Maddy Novich! Learn more and register here. **Sponsored by Flanzig and Flanzig, LLP, New York's Leading Bicycle Crash Attorneys.** 4/23/24 @ 5:30pm PT
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Interested in sponsoring the training of an activist working on an issue you’re passionate about? Let’s chat. Carter@carterlavin.com