Base Building From ScratchAn Organizing Module
Course overview › Module 3 · The 1:1 — the unit of base building
Module 3 · 35 min · 5 pages

The 1:1 — the unit of base building

~35 min total · Earn: 1:1 Practitioner

Every base in history was built one conversation at a time. This module teaches the 1:1 — what it is, what it isn't, the structure of a good one, the questions that move it, and the discipline of scheduling them. By the end you will run your first three 1:1s and know how to debrief them.

Anatomy of a 45-60 minute 1:1 organizer talks 30% · listens 70% · ends with a concrete next step PHASE 1 · 5 min Story of Self you open with yours then ask theirs a specific moment, not a resume PHASE 2 · 15 min Story of Us who are their people? which constituencies? listen for the second answer PHASE 3 · 20 min Story of Now agitate · listen · ask repeat 2-3 cycles surface the gap, then propose PHASE 4 · 5 min The Ask specific · small · dated yes · no · not yet ambiguity is the failure mode Within 1 hour: debrief the four things — story · constituencies · capacities · next step a 1:1 you don't debrief was wasted Adapted from Marshall Ganz · Industrial Areas Foundation · Midwest Academy
Module 3 overview diagram. The structured flow of a 45-60 minute 1:1, with debrief as the closing discipline.

Pages in this module

  1. 3.1 What a 1:1 is and what it isn't
  2. 3.2 Story of Self, Us, Now
  3. 3.3 Agitate, listen, ask: the engine of a 1:1
  4. 3.4 Open-ended questions you can actually use
  5. 3.5 Scheduling and debriefing your first three