September 25, 2023

The ONLY Reason to Write a Manifesto

I analysed over 250 manifestos and realised there is only one reason to write a manifesto.

Do you need to write a manifesto?

You might think you do because your friends or colleagues have created one. Or because Seth Godin’s latest best-selling book is one. (The Song of Significance – A New Manifesto for Teams) Or because the Unabomber became famous because he had one.

But do you need to write a manifesto?

Here’s why YOU need to write a manifesto. And there is only one reason.

8 Types of Manifestos to Write

And this applies whether you want to write:

A Personal Manifesto
For Business
Thought Leadership Manifesto
Election Promises
Art
Social
Brand Manifesto
Design Manifesto

18 Reasons to Write a Manifesto

I’ve collected over 250 manifesto examples over at 1000 Manifestos. When I first analysed all of these examples, I came up with 18 reasons to write a manifesto. But when I looked deeper, I realised they all had one consistent thread.

This is the real reason you need to write a manifesto. Can you spot which one it is?

1	Take ‘it’ to a new level	We all go into cruise mode at some point in time. Do you want an increase in results, performance or rewards?
2	Create the Future	Are in default mode – waiting for the future to happen? Are you ready to make it happen and create the future you want?.
3	Upset the Status Quo	Are you sick of how things are the same day after day? Is it time to shift what’s normal?
4	Be Open and Transparent	Do you want to turn a closed-door environment into an open and transparent one?
5	End What Doesn’t Work	What’s not working? Have you had enough? Is it time to draw a line in the sand and move on?
6	Achieve Fresh Results	Are you ready to switch focus and achieve something new? Something big? Something different?
7	Create Potent Branding	Great brands stand for something. Are you ready to take a stand for yourself, your business, and your brand?
8	To be Bold and Audacious	Are you sick of hiding out and are ready to go after what’s truly important to you? Is it time to take a risk and be bold?
9	Make Change Happen	Are you tired of reacting to change and others imposing their will on you? Are you ready to make a shift?
10	Be Held to Account	It can be fun to live free and easy. But sometimes we need to hold ourselves to account to produce the results we want.
11	Generate Referrals	In business, you can spend a lot of time chasing new clients. Would you prefer for more referrals to come to you?
12	Win with Social Media	Are you following everyone else on social media? Is it time to step up to the plate and lead the way?
13	Be Called Into Action	Are you spending too much time waiting for things to happen? Be called into action instead.
14	Start a Movement	Great brands stand for something. Are you ready to take a stand for yourself, your business, and your brand?
15	Inspire community	Is your team or community distracted and ineffective? Inspire them to align on a single vision.
16	Create Content	Are you wasting your time and effort creating content no one reads? It’s time to stand up and be noticed.
17	Bring Ideas to Life	Are you still going nowhere with your big idea? Or are you ready to bring it to life?
18	Fulfil Your Purpose	Are you struggling to motivate yourself? Perhaps it’s time to create and fulfil your purpose.

Which one is the one reason to write a manifesto?

Did you spot the only reason to write a manifesto?

Which one of these 18 reasons is the one and only reason you must write a manifesto?

And the winner is… To make change happen.

A manifesto is a tool for creating change.

As Greek Philosopher Heraclitus once said, “The only constant in life is change.” In other words, you’re either creating or reacting to change. Which one do you want?

Are you going to go through life reacting to whatever happens? Or are you going to take charge and lead the way?

You need a manifesto because it’s your chance to create the change you want to see – To create the world you want to live in. To become the person or organisation you want to be. This applies to your personal life, as a leader in an organisation, as a thought leader working with clients and more.

All the other 17 reasons are simply a more specific example of making change happen.

Which raises the big question: What specific change do you want to make?