V-formation

Migratory birds such as geese that fly in a V-formation, rotating in and out of the lead position that bears the brunt of the wind, can travel over 70 percent further than a goose flying solo. It’s an extremely effective way for a flock to work together, share a burden, and offer rest from the most challenging roles without delaying the journey.

Activists can learn a lot from this approach.

“Adopting this metaphor in your movement means ensuring that if some people need to step aside to rest or recover, others stand ready to take their place and continue the fight.

As a model for distributed leadership, the idea of moving in V-formation is about working together to ensure that everyone gets a chance to rest, and that no one is stuck in a difficult role indefinitely. Adopting this metaphor in your movement means making clear that there is space for members to come and go, and ensuring that if some people need to step aside to rest or recover, others stand ready to take their place and continue the fight. Meanwhile, those that do hang back to rest, recover their energy, and prioritize their wellbeing, can serve the movement in different ways, or later on.

Such an approach is particularly important in moments of heightened risk. Following a military coup in Myanmar in February 2021 that usurped power from the elected government, a country-wide civil disobedience movement emerged. Hundreds of thousands of people across states, regions, and sectors engaged in civil disobedience, including mass street protests and ongoing general strikes. Years later, the movement persists.

As the months went by, it became clear that the prospect of success — as with many movements that seek to uproot deeply embedded systems of oppression — was going to be a long-term goal. It is often at this moment of contraction in a movement’s cycle that momentum is lost and members begin to burn out and fall away, unable to sustain the same commitment they previously did. It is also here that a misguided perception that to step aside or take a break means ‘giving up’ can emerge, adversely impacting our collective success.

As the age-old adage goes, “you can't pour from an empty cup.” In movements composed of people from all walks of life, juggling many roles and responsibilities, people must rest when they can no longer give to the movement. That is OK.

Going about ‘business as usual’ is another way to step back but keep the line of fight. CDM students in Myanmar who left government universities and refused to return continued to pursue their education by self-organizing makeshift institutions around a range of topics, to study, learn and pursue qualifications by different means. Thousands of people who had to flee the country to neighboring Thailand, set up businesses such as local food and craft stalls or bookstores, pursuing their livelihood, while also creating community spaces that could double up as meeting hubs for revolutionary thought, nourish newly exiled comrades looking for a sense of home, or raise funds to send back home to the movement.

In the meantime, working on bringing in and integrating new members (see: PRINCIPLE: Make new folks welcome) and creating intentional pathways for supporters to be involved (see: METHODOLOGY: Ladder of engagement) will go a long way in ensuring there are enough people to keep things going.