Strategic thinking is a discipline used in all types of work. In order to build a house, you need a plan. In order to win votes to get elected for a political position, you need a plan. Human rights work is no exception – in order to make change, you need a plan (and hopefully, it’s a good one!).
The Go-To Resource for Human Rights Defenders
At New Tactics in Human Rights, we strive to be the go-to-place for human rights defenders to learn about strategy and tactics. So far, we have:
- Built a collection of over 200 innovative human rights tactics from all over the world. This collection shows how tactics have been used to advance a strategic goal to make an impact.
- Built an online community where thousands of human rights defenders have shared their tactical experience, knowledge and ideas to advance their human rights efforts.
Now is the time for us to build a collection of strategic-thinking resources and tools for human rights defenders to help in the selection and application of successful tactics. We have been working closely with human rights defenders in the Middle East and North Africa region to share a methodology to apply strategy and tactics to human rights work, and we are eager to share with you the tools we’ve been using (coming soon).
We also know that many others have been developing and using tools and resources, some that have been shared online. New Tactics in Human Rights would like to collect and share these resources on our website. We want your help in identifying what you have found to be really useful in your work.
Key Steps in Creating a Strategy
We have identified these key elements that are involved in creating a strategy:
- Identify the problem
- Create a vision
- Map the terrain
- Find your allies
- Choose your target
- Identify goals
- Exploring tactics
- Select your tactics
- Implement your tactics
- Train your team
- Assess the impact
- Self-care and security
(And if you’re interested to see what we’ve found so far, take a look at these resources that relate to the key elements above.)
We asked participants in this online dialogue the following questions. In your own human rights work, and considering the key elements listed above:
- What resources and tools are out there that are being used by human rights defenders to develop strategy and apply tactics?
- What have you used (or borrowed from another discipline) that has worked well?
- What hasn’t worked so well?
- What resources are missing that need to be developed?
Summary of the Discussion
The forum discussion focused on tools and metaphors to help human rights and advocacy groups clarify their strategies and choose effective tactics. Participants emphasized that establishing a clear strategy was crucial before selecting tactics. However, they also acknowledged that tools like the Tactic Star from Beyond the Choir were valuable for groups under time pressure. This tool, along with others from Tactical Tech, Beautiful Trouble, and the Change Agency, provided frameworks for exploring, selecting, and implementing tactics. For example, Action Storming by Training for Change encouraged creativity, while Beautiful Trouble’s resources connected tactics directly to broader strategies. Participants also discussed the importance of evaluating the effectiveness and impact of tactics, with tools such as Critical Path Analysis helping to identify high-impact pressure points.
The discussion also explored journey metaphors to illustrate the relationship between strategy and tactics. Popular examples included the mountain climb, staircase, and other travel-based analogies, which highlighted progress through defined steps toward a shared goal. These metaphors helped differentiate tactics (actions taken) from objectives (desired outcomes) and were adaptable to various contexts. Holly Hammond and others noted that mapping out both campaign and opponent strategies could reveal critical vulnerabilities and alternative paths to success. By combining strategic tools with creative metaphors, groups were better equipped to plan and execute campaigns that aligned with their goals and contexts.
In Conclusion
New Tactics appreciated the opportunity to share ideas and experiences with such a generous, creative and collaborative network of human rights defenders and organizations as we were formulating our methodology. You are sure to see the influences of this conversation throughout our Strategic Effectiveness Method toolkit.
