The myth of big beginnings

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To win your regulatory battle, you need to build movements of authentic citizen voices. Easier said than done, of course. And if you’ve never mobilized voters, the thought can be very daunting. Your mind goes straight to big moments: massive rallies, a sea of people on the legislative lawn with proverbial pitchforks. And it seems impossible to pull off on your own issue.

But if you look closely, you'll find that movements don't start with crowds of people. They start with a handful.

Occupy Wall Street?didn't start in 1,000 cities across 80 countries. Nor did it start on September 17, 2011, when protestors flooded Zuccotti Park. It didn't even start when Adbusters, an anti-consumerist magazine in Vancouver, floated the idea in a July 2011 email. Instead, it began with a?series of small meetings at an artists' collective in lower Manhattan.

Black Lives Matter started as a hashtag created by three activists in 2013. How long did it take to gain global reach? Seven years. This movement didn't arrive fully formed. It took time. And unfortunately, it also took a series of galvanizing and tragic events.

Then there's the?Me Too?movement. The term was first coined by Tarana Burke in 2006—on?MySpace, of all places, and eleven years passed before it exploded in the wake of Hollywood's #MeToo moment in 2017.

The myth of big beginnings obscures the reality of how movements actually work. They don't explode onto the scene. And they certainly don't happen overnight.

Big Change Starts Small

Big movements start small. They start with the right small group.

I once had a client organize a grassroots event and tell me, somewhat embarrassed, that only 15 people showed up.

"That's amazing. Be proud of that number!" I told them. Why? Because it’s not the size of the crowd that builds change—it's the focus and passion of the people in the room and the degree to which they have an affinity for your cause or issue that matters.

Case in point: A few years ago, the provincial government planned to shut down our local maternity wing. A small group of us rallied to stop it. And I do mean, small. Five people. But four of these five people were midwives. And you know who loves midwives? Their clients. It took three of us to organize the entire campaign. What started as a handful of concerned citizens turned into a small crowd of unhappy parents. We didn’t have huge numbers. But our purpose was clear. And that purpose made all the difference: it gave us clarity on the mission and where we had to focus our finite resources.

Specifically, we:

1. Started small—just a few dedicated individuals who cared deeply. My wife, her colleagues, and their clients. We were nimble, agile, aligned, and focused.
2. Built a foundation on shared values—we knew what we stood for, and it kept us focused. We had absolute clarity for the mission.
3. Scaled gradually—we didn't chase size, we focused on the mission. And the “crowds” came once they saw our purpose and aligned with it. We never diluted our message or lost sight of the core values that moved us into action.

And we won. The whole campaign barely lasted a week. And I’m convinced our size made a difference. We were aligned and could move quickly—something small groups are especially good at.

The Lesson?

Movements grow when they're authentic and committed to something bigger than anyone. Whether it's five people or 500, that commitment is contagious.

Don't worry about the crowd size the next time you organize an event or start a movement. Focus on the people who show up. Small groups can have outsized impacts if they're aligned and determined.

Ultimately, big movements don't start with big numbers—they start with a big purpose. That's how you start small and achieve something much bigger. And eventually, it’s how you win.