[Lnc-business] LNC Goal for the 2014-16 LNC term

Mon Sep 15 15:38:07 EDT 2014

Colleagues,

As we are discussing goals, I see a glaring failure among libertarian
groups, whether political, social, or otherwise. We are not setting
strategic goals, period. Full stop.

This is something that I shared during my tenure as the Executive Director
in Georgia. I've edited a few things to make it pertinent to our
discussions here.

It's my belief that the Libertarian Party needs a *VISION* for our
existence. In my opinion, that vision should be optimistic. We have yet to
define what we are doing, and why we are doing it.

We also need a *PLAN* to attain that optimistic vision. That plan should be
strategic and broad,  yet focused enough to achieve that vision.

To supplement that plan we need *GOALS* that are aligned with the
S.M.A.R.T. goal philosophy ( http://topachievement.com/smart.html ), so
that there is no question about their focus, achievement (or lack thereof),
and position on the path to success.

These goals should have action plans that assign *TASKS* designed to
achieve them. They should be assigned to individuals or roles within our
organization with defined timelines for completion with actionable
consequences for failure.

I believe once we've defined these items, we will be on a path TOWARD
success, and I believe that we can then move to focus on the standards by
which we  operate.

As I believe we have discussed, it is my belief that the LNC should be
working toward defining the "*big picture*" for our organization, our
members, and our progress. All of which can be accomplished via the items
I've outlined above.

During my tenure as Executive Director in Georgia, I saw the body float in
between "fires" in need of extinguishing without any true, singular vision
or even general direction goals. This makes accountability impossible. It
also makes misunderstandings about roles, responsibilities, and actions
much easier to bubble up. We've seen them turn into "fires," burning those
who are genuinely loyal to our Party's success.

For me personally, it made the position stressful and tenuous at times,
while being reassured that things are "going well." Often, I felt as though
I was rowing a boat in a fog without a map or GPS and no idea if the people
in that boat are rowing in the same direction, or if they even have paddles
or are in the boat with me.

I share these sentiments to provide you with some feedback that I feel is
important to our success and a continued relationship working for liberty.

Thanks for taking a bit of time to read this, and I look forward to your
response.

Brett C. Bittner

brett at brettbittner.com
404.492.6524

"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty
than those attending too small a degree of it." -- Thomas Jefferson

On Sun, Sep 14, 2014 at 9:53 PM, Scott L. <scott73 at earthlink.net> wrote:

>
>
> From the minutes of the Nov 2010 LNC Session:
>
>
>
> “the main motion became that the LNC adopt the following goals for the
> 2010-2012 LNC term:
>
>
>
>
>
> 1. Membership: 20,000 sustaining members by April 15, 2012
>
>
>
> 2. Organization: Operational affiliates in 48 states (out of 51 “states”).
> Defined as...
>
>
>
> a. Runs at least 2 candidates for non-partisan or partisan office every 2
> year election cycle
>
>
>
> b. Has a REAL web site (not a Meetup Group or Blog) that is updated with
> news or
>
> meeting info at least once per month
>
>
>
> c. Has a Chair or Contact Person who responds to most inquires within 2
> business days
>
>
>
> d. Place candidates on the ballot and attempt to maintain ballot access.
>
>
>
> e. The affiliate will provide the latest copy of their bylaws and
> constitution to the national
>
> office or post the same on their state website.
>
>
>
> 3. Fundraising: $1,400,000 gross revenue for calendar year 2011.
>
>
>
> 4. Training : Several seminars around the country in 2011 to include
> training on winnable and party-building campaigns, and training that
> teaches affiliate development
>
>
>
> 5. Political:
>
>
>
> a. 200 U.S. House of Representative candidates in 2012
>
>
>
> b. 200 elected Libertarians by Apr 15, 2012 (for the purpose of this goal,
> Inspectors and Judges of Elections in Pennsylvania only count as 1/3 of
> an elected Libertarian)
>
>
>
> c. 30 state ballot access by Apr 15, 2012 (that means actually certified
> by the SOS or equivalent), which puts us in position for 45 or more state
> ballot access by Election
>
> Day 2012”
>
>
>
> HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
>
>
>
>
>
> Somehow I ended up moving the motion above, but most of the original
> wording was suggested by Dr. Lark.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Now, here is my handy-dandy ballot access chart:
>
>
>
>
>
> Number of states where the LP had ballot access
>
>
>
> Dec 2000      25
>
>
>
> Dec 2004      26
>
>
>
> Dec 2008      27
>
>
>
> Dec 2012      31
>
>
>
>
>
> As you can see, this chart shows how well the LP retained ballot access
> after each of the last 4 presidential elections.
>
>
>
> The noticeable bump after the Johnson campaign was not because Gov.
> Johnson himself did well enough to retain ballot access in a bunch of
> states, but more likely because his coattails were able to boost a few more
> statewide candidates past the ballot access retention threshold.
>
>
>
>
>
> I will let other LNC members come up with scorecards that detail how well
> that LNC did with respect to the above goals.
>
>
>
>
>
> Here is the problem – after being in existence for 42 years, we are
> *STILL* a $1,000,000 per year organization, with fewer than 15,000
> dues-paying members.  Yet, we keep coming up with long lists of goals, but
> no realistic way to accomplish them.
>
>
>
>
>
> So – the BHAG:
>
>
>
> From Wikipedia:
>
>
>
> A *Big Hairy Audacious Goal* (BHAG) is a strategic
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_planning> business statement
> similar to a vision statement
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vision_statement> which is created to focus
> an organization on a single medium-long term organization-wide goal which
> is audacious, likely to be externally questionable, but not internally
> regarded as impossible.
>
>
>
>
>
> I would like to suggest that we *partially* put aside our unofficial
> Mission Statement, and have just one BHAG
>
> for the next 2 ¼ years.
>
>
>
> Yes – I really mean it.  One goal.
>
>
>
> *40 in 16*
>
>
>
> That means the goal of this LNC would be to provide our affiliates with 40
> state ballot access on December 1, 2016.
>
>
>
> If we accomplish that, and we can at least maintain that number in the
> 2018 mid-term election, that means we would go into the 2020 Presidential
> year with only 10 states where we would need to petition. That would be a
> huge psychological boost to our members, and it might attract some
> presidential candidates who don’t want to gamble on the LP achieving 50
> state ballot access for them in Nov 2020 if we go into January 2020 with
> only 31 state ballot access.
>
>
>
> The neat thing is – this goal is achievable.  I have some ideas on how to
> accomplish this goal without gigantic amounts of money, but before I
> divulge that part, I would like to see some feedback from the rest of the
> LNC regarding this idea.
>
>
>
>     Scott Lieberman
>
>
>
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>
>
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