1 Marry Campaign and Structure

27 Social Media Lessons - 1Part 1 of 27 Social Media Lessons from Barack Obama’s Presidential Campaign

The structure of your campaign reflects the values you hold.

Obama wanted ordinary people coming together around a common purpose. Therefore he built a grassroots, bottom-up organization. And, this reflects the nature of the internet. In particular it mirrors how people connect in life. He then built credibility and trust through actions that reinforced his value proposition.
Action : Does your campaign structure match your objective?
Action : Make your New Media team a standalone department, not just an add-on to the communications team. Make your team scalable and agile and design a flexible social media plan.

Derived from Rahaf Harfoush, Yes We Did

More Updates

What Left-Handedness Taught Me About Experience

At the 1980 Olympics, all six finalists in the men’s foil fencing were left-handed. This is surprising given that left-handers make up only about 10%

November 2, 2026
What Moneyball taught me about Experience

I recently rewatched the movie Moneyball. On the surface, it looks like a story about statistics defeating intuition. But when I looked at it through

October 27, 2026
What does Intuition actually feel like? With Maria Di Pietro

Where does intuition actually come from? And what does it feel like when you just know something? After more than 25 years working with people,

October 20, 2026