Editing Introduction to Organizing (section)

== The Organizer’s Journey ==
[[File:The Organizers Journey.png|thumb|A visual representation of the Organizer's Journey]]
The Organizer’s Journey is one way to conceptualize the five leadership practices in action. In the cartoon below, the organizer notices that the houses in a neighbourhood are in disrepair. They begin by approaching members of their community and telling stories about why this matters to them personally and to their community, and that if they work together, they can fix the houses.

Next they use the story of the problem and change they want to make as a foundation for building relationships within their community. Once they have recruited enough people they launch a leadership team and start strategizing.

The team will set a goal and the best strategy, weighing whether to fix the houses themselves, or to pressure their local government to invest in fixing them. Once they have a goal and a strategy, they decide how to structure their team to reach their goal. And finally, they will put their strategy into practice by taking action and mobilizing their people to use their tactics to implement their strategy.

While the Organizer’s Journey makes this all seem linear, it’s not. While it’s always a good idea to start with stories, you never stop telling stories. Likewise, you don’t stop building relationships once you have a strategy. Rather, each of these practices is used iteratively, over and over again until you reach your goal.