Image by Duncan Shaffer.

National and state progressive civic groups have more than their hands full challenging Trump’s wrecking of America, but they need to address the ways they are weakening themselves. Here are some of them.

1. They are largely working remotely. Apart from the customary exceptions, not working in person with colleagues takes the life out of an organization. There is no substitute for person-to-person interactions, for that sudden flash of an effective tactic or strategy, or suggestions of a better way of writing or saying something. Also, serendipity thrives in an office filled with enthusiastic colleagues. Working in an office can also encourage less time goofing off on and less time on screens for non-work purposes.

2. While preserving civility and boasting during annual celebratory dinners, try to avoid becoming an internal, mutual admiration society. You need to challenge and nudge one another. None of us is as smart as all of us.

3. Find ways to replace managers or directors of groups or ongoing projects who have stagnated or burned out. Not doing this disables the entire project, subgroup, or group, year after year, not to mention driving out younger, more energetic, imaginative, and bold replacements. Nice people, listlessly hanging on too long, is a very serious problem.

4. Unless there is a self-privileging hierarchy or chronic abuse, try to avoid unionizing inside a nonprofit, fairly run. Even benign unions can freeze a group’s need for instant weekend commitments, staying longer at work, or otherwise having work rules that impede or block the passion for all-out engagement to prevail over the corporate greed hounds, corrupt politicians, or unresponsive bureaucracies. This does not........

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