How can you prevent extreme rigidity in your team?

On my profile page, there’s a paraphrase of feminist icon and writer Emma Goldman (1869) that really resonates with me. Goldman was dancing at a dance party. A young revolutionary took her aside and said, with a very serious expression, that “a true agitator shouldn’t behave that way.” It would harm the movement. 

Goldman was furious and rebuked him, saying that she wouldn’t turn into a nun for the sake of the cause; if that’s what it took for the cause, then she didn’t want it. This moment inspired the famous feminist paraphrase often attributed to her: “If I can’t dance, it’s not my revolution.”

For Goldman, this was more than just a witty remark. She saw all around her how radical movements were stifling themselves with rigid expectations and ideological purity, causing joy, freedom, and change to give way to conformity and moral control.

More than a century later, I still all too often sense the dynamics Goldman described. In all kinds of activist groups and movements, I see the same struggle playing out: Are you radical enough? Or are you, in fact, too radical, thereby scaring off our more pragmatic allies? Even as we set up the new S&L Netherlands office, the question arises of who we would and wouldn’t want to work for—who isn’t radical enough or, conversely, is too radical. That makes sense, given that we’re a mission-driven agency.

In Joyful Militancy , by the founders of Purple Thistle  carla Bergman   and  Nick Montgomery this tension is discussed in detail. To this end, they introduce the concept of “ rigid radicalism ’ (I prefer to translate it as “radical rigidity”). This is a way of thinking in which politics is no longer something you do, but something you have within you. That rigidity leads to a culture in which activists constantly measure and judge one another based on how “pure” their politics are. Anyone who deviates from the “pure” norm is labeled a collaborator or a half-hearted activist. This has a paralyzing effect and creates an atmosphere of constant self-censorship and mistrust.

According to Bergman and Montgomery, social media further amplifies this dynamic. After all, as individuals and organizations, we’re expected to share the right political positions and use the right words all day long—otherwise, there will be an uproar. Emma Goldman already pointed out that movements must not become a mirror image of the system they’re fighting, with their own dogmas and control mechanisms. Goldman strongly opposed the drive toward ideological purity. In “The Hypocrisy of Puritanism,” she said:

How do we break through this tension within mission-driven teams, organizations, and movements? Carla Bergman and Nick Montgomery offer the concept of “joyful militancy” as a solution. They reject the idea that activism must be a heavy and serious burden. Instead, the book proposes a framework in which joy, creativity, and optimism play a central role. By placing these elements at the heart of a movement, the movement can become more inclusive and appealing to a wider audience. In the long term, this form of joyful activism can also be better for the well-being of activists, as it encourages self-care and strengthens solidarity within a movement.

However, this does require teams to make a conscious choice to support each other’s growth rather than punish each other for mistakes.

In Silicon Valley’s tech startups, people often repeated the mantra: “Fail fast, fail often.” By this, they meant that innovation and progress stem from daring to make mistakes and then learning from them quickly. And although I think we can safely say that Big Tech, unfortunately, turned out to be better at daring to make mistakes than at learning from them, this concept may still be helpful here. Because instead of punishing mistakes, radical movements and organizations can create a culture that encourages experimentation and learning. A safe culture, free from fear of punishment. Criticism, self-reflection, and the ability to have a fundamental discussion about your ideas remain important, but these must be used within a team as tools for growth, not as weapons.

A practical tip for organizations and teams: facilitate regular feedback sessions where mistakes and missteps can be discussed openly without fear of social punishment, and normalize making and admitting to mistakes or doubts. As a leader, create space within your teams for pilot projects, small experiments, and iterative improvements. Embrace joy and celebrate successes—as a movement, we still forget to do this far too often.  
 

And don't be afraid to put on your dancing shoes: sometimes the only answer is to dance on the volcano.

*The anecdote from Emma Goldman’s autobiography is almost never shared in its entirety, so I’ve translated it and included it here in full:  

” At the dance parties, I was one of the most tireless and cheerful. One evening, a cousin of [fellow revolutionary] Sasha—a young boy—took me aside. With a serious expression, as if he were about to announce the death of a dear comrade, he whispered to me that it was inappropriate for an agitator to dance. Certainly not with such reckless abandon. It was unworthy of someone who was on his way to becoming a figurehead in the anarchist movement. My frivolity would only harm the Good Cause. I was furious at the boy’s shameless interference. I told him to mind his own business. I was sick of the Good Cause constantly being thrown in my face. I did not believe that a Cause that stood for a magnificent ideal—for anarchism, for liberation, and for freedom from conventions and prejudices—would demand the denial of life and joy. I insisted that our Cause could not expect me to become a nun and that the movement would not be turned into a convent. If that’s what it meant, I didn’t want it. ”