Strategic CaseMaking in a World That Won’t Stand Still

More than 20 years ago, as South Africa was making a hard pivot from decades of brutal apartheid, Bishop Desmond Tutu—a formidable spiritual change leader —cautioned his followers with these words: "Don't raise your voice. Improve your argument." He spoke these words during an address at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg on November 23, 2004.

No, he wasn’t asking people to bow their heads in acquiescence to the status quo, nor was he diminishing the power of ordinary people to lift their voices, as South Africa transitioned to a functioning democracy. He was reminding them—and us—that a significant part of any successful social change strategy must focus on HOW we make the case for the just world we know is possible.

In many ways, his simple but profound statement has been the foundation of the work I started at TheCaseMade and the driving force behind the work of my incredible team. We can organize, boycott, protest, and yell—all of those tactics are necessary and well-deserved parts of our playbook. But if we can’t articulate what comes next in the clearest and most compelling terms, our efforts at resistance will be wildly underpowered.

And here’s the thing: That vision for what’s next cannot be static. It must be shaped and reshaped in real time as the world shifts. This is the essence of adaptive leadership, a concept I extensively discuss in my book Case Made.

Standing in this moment, with the ground moving beneath our feet, we need ALL of the adaptive leaders we can get! The public conversation is shifting rapidly, policies are being rewritten (for better or worse), and the levers of power are being pulled in ways that directly impact the work we do to improve the communities in which we live. The opportunity to demonstrate adaptive leadership—to show up with a stronger, smarter case for support that advances justice—is perhaps more urgent now than at any time I can ever remember.

Adaptive Leaders Know When They Need to Switch Gears

For years, we’ve been asking people to embrace a narrative of abundance—to talk about what’s possible when we invest in communities rather than what’s lacking. And let’s be clear: abundance is still the right energy. But the world is shifting at an unprecedented pace, and if we want our messages to resonate, we have to adapt, refine, and meet this moment with a new level of strategic casemaking.

The systems around us are in flux. Public infrastructure is being dismantled. Policies we once thought were untouchable are now under attack. The economic landscape is evolving faster than most people can track. And in the midst of all this, people are looking for something solid to hold onto—something that makes sense in this new reality.

Yet, we'll lose the moment if we hold onto that narrative alone without allowing the realities of what is happening around us to shape our conversations.

So here’s the pivot: Don’t lose the momentum around abundance, but frame it in a way that meets people where they are and in a moment that doesn’t feel so abundant to most.

Leaning Into Our Abundance Means Making Smart Investments in a Time of Uncertainty

In a moment where public trust in government and institutions is low, and budgets are being cut under the guise of “fiscal responsibility,” talking about limitless resources isn’t going to cut it.

Here’s the pivot: "If we make short-sighted decisions today that do not honor the future we intend to create, we are only shifting our burdens from one hand to the other, and from our generation to our children’s. That’s not smart. And in this moment, we need to make forward-thinking, smart decisions about our future together. Not out of fear but out of the abundance that is ours.”

In other words, instead of leading with a broad call for abundance, we need to bake it into the case for smart investments—ones that deliver results today for a stronger future tomorrow.

And how do we know what policies or programs are “smart”?

💡 Smart investments in public health initiatives prevent crises before they start—saving lives and saving money.
💡 Smart investments in education ensure our workforce is ready for the future economy, not stuck in the limitations of the past.

💡 Smart investments in strong public infrastructure connect people to the vital conditions for thriving and the resources for well-being.

💡 Smart investments in housing create stable, affordable communities that generate long-term economic benefits for everyone - starting with those who need it most - our unhoused neighbors.

Making smart investments in our future isn’t unrealistic or about dreaming big—we are way past that. This is about adapting to the moment and making a case too strong to ignore.

And, in the spirit of Desmund Tutu, let me say this: You don't need to yell at people if you know how to navigate the dominant narratives that constrain their support for change, AND you fundamentally understand how to connect to their aspirations for a better future.

What Strategic CaseMaking Demands of Us Right Now

Strategic casemaking isn’t just about what we say—it’s about how we make the case for change in a nation that is in deep flux - with a democracy fighting for its soul and mourning institutions that no longer serve their purpose. If we’re not adapting to this environment, we’re losing ground. Full stop.

So, what does that mean for us as adaptive leaders and strategic casemakers?

🔹 We need to track the shifts in public will happening in real time. If we’re making the same case we made five years ago, we’re missing the mark. We have to watch how the public conversation is shifting—who sees their stake in our success, who is being moved by what, and where opportunities for influence exist.

🔹 We need to understand that our casemaking has to be nimble enough to differentiate the needs of different audiences - and right now, there are many different audiences for us to attend to. What moves one group might not move another - especially during moments of crisis and when things are moving quickly. The moral imperative inspires some people. Others need to see the economic return. And some need to understand how change benefits them personally. We must **be multilingual in our casemaking. That’s why the 10 principles of Strategic CaseMaking work - together, they provide a more fulsome, multi-lingual approach to making the case.

🔹 We need to lean into coalition-building and community organizing. No one organization, no one leader, no one community, and no one sector can carry this work alone. Strategic CaseMaking means aligning with partners who bring new strengths, a new sense of ground truth, new credibility, and new audiences.

🔹 We need to be unafraid to pivot. This moment requires boldness and flexibility. We can’t be so attached to our old ways of making the case that we ignore the reality unfolding before us. We also can't be afraid to propose reimagined ways of structuring new institutions that better meet our needs.

🔹 We need to invest in skill building. It’s not enough to believe in change; we have to equip leaders, organizers, and advocates with the tools to make the case persuasively and powerfully. Training in casemaking, practicing storytelling techniques, and refining arguments through real-world engagement must be part of our movement-building strategy.

Listen, folks - when so many proven solutions emerge from communities around the country, we don't need to fill the airways with empty rhetoric or lofty ideals that don’t translate into action. Let's give people what they want: to understand what’s working, how it works, and how we can scale it!

That’s where we come in. Strategic CaseMakingTM isn’t just about countering bad ideas; it’s about making a stronger case for the solutions that will take us forward.

So, let’s get to it. We may need to yell sometimes, but more than that, we need to refine our arguments, sharpen our strategies, and ensure that the case we’re making today is strong enough to bridge to the future we know is possible.