3 paths to build the new party

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” Buckminster Fuller

If I was asked about my all-time favourite quotes, this one would certainly make the list. I keep returning to it over the decades of my professional life, and if I get stuck, it is often because I ignored it.?

It is not enough to be a rebel, to be against. It is not enough to argue well. It is not even enough to have a clear vision. To change a political party for the better, it is about building a new model that makes the old model obsolete. In order for people to buy in superficially and short-term, a good case may suffice. But for people to stay on board in the face of setbacks, and develop a deep and resilient trust in the new, you need to be able to viscerally demonstrate its superiority. And this requires embodying it.

In a former blog, I wrote about 3 triggers for party transformation . Each trigger is connected to a different transformation path that poses its own challenges and opportunities.?

Party-in-waiting

In a handover process, where there is a scheduled and structured change in party leadership, the transformation path for the future party leader is to build the party-in-waiting. To that end, they need to assemble the future leadership which embodies the new. This small group of confidants will be not more than 4 or 5 people, in 4 distinct and crucial roles .?

Pursuing this path can be done openly, or in stealth mode. Sometimes it may be wise not to expose the future power brokers too early, sometimes it may be opportune to signal the direction by dropping names, or have them even strategically place their programmatic or organisational ideas in the internal or public discourse.?

One challenge is often that the internal party logic limits or even forbids the future leader to put their own band together. As this ensures that existing power dynamics stay in place, the transformational party leader needs to maximise his or her freedom to pick their own trusted people.?

Party-within-the-party

A takeover is an unfriendly act where the existing leadership gets dethroned and replaced by a new leadership. The transformation path for the future party leader is to build a party-within-a-party. To that end, a regional party or a party wing is transformed into a prototype of the future party as a whole; this also serves as the power base for the political intrapreneurs. At some point, this prototype is superimposed on the existing party. As this process by its very nature undermines the existing elite, it can only be done in stealth mode.?

The challenge therefore is to operate in hiding, while at the same time being out in the open. The resulting ambivalence can only be controlled if the prototype itself can demonstrate its superiority, by achieving better results in critical areas. In the end, nothing succeeds like success.

Presencing the future party

In a makeover triggered top-down by a party leader, the leadership stays in place, while the party around them is being transformed. As this requires lots of political capital to spend, party leaders will often do this early in their term of office.?

This requires presencing the future party despite people staying in place. Theory U provides a helpful framework and process to chart this path. It starts with observing the existing structure, culture and power dynamics; continues with sensing helpful and unhelpful patterns; carries on with letting go of the past party; and by “going through the U”, presences the future party that wants to emerge, by letting come, crystallising and prototyping.

Parts of this path will be pursued in stealth mode, as long as the new is still highly ambiguous and fragile–but the real opportunity here is to involve people of all 7 party spheres in the transformation process. It can be designed as a participative exercise where the process itself is already an embodiment of the new.

None of the three paths is without risk. All hold the promise of real transformation. In the next blog, I will explore one successful example.

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