Chapter 2The AskingCities Method (MAX)

A system that aspires to become a global, transformative and replicable movement needs more than just good practices: it needs a stable direction and ambition, a formulation that does not change when local conditions change, and that is capable of sustaining the identity of the model even when it expands to territories with completely different cultures, institutions and dynamics.

In AskingCities that direction and ambition is expressed through a single objective:

"To achieve a successful transfer of AskingBristol to other cities/regions".

It may seem like just a strategy phrase, but it's the structural pillar that holds the entire AskingCities system together, which allows the model to be both robust and exportable. The method we present here is not a wish, but a piece of architecture.

2.1Why AskingCities Needs a Method#

Fast-growing social movements often face a paradox: the more they expand, the more difficult it is to maintain a coherent identity. Each city has its urgencies, its actors, its rhythms, its institutions, its languages. MAX solves this problem before it appears, as it acts as a compass (all decisions must be able to be justified in relation to it), filter (it allows us to distinguish which activities are AskingCities and which are not), structural invariant (something that remains stable even when everything else changes), and cohesion mechanism (it is the meeting point for institutions, citizens, universities, companies and third sector actors).

Without something like MAX, AskingCities would become a "model of models," susceptible to extreme and divergent interpretations; with MAX, on the other hand, AskingCities becomes a coherent system, even when its application is flexible and tailored to each city.

A well-formulated method defines a future, a "state of the world" that we want to exist when the job is done. In AskingCities, that future state is that AskingBristol can successfully transfer to new territories.

This involves several things:

1. That AskingCities is an exportable model; it must be able to operate, in addition to Bristol, in Valencia, Oslo, Lisbon, Marseille or any other city with different social conditions.

2. That transfer is a competition in itself, not a side effect; It is a central objective that forces the model to be clear, documented, teachable and adaptable.

3. That success is measured in systemic terms: A transfer is successful when a city activates the AskingCities

4. An operating system in terms of roles, culture, narratives, connections, and strategies.

5. That the model must be understandable by any actor: if a city does not understand AskingCities, it cannot transfer it. MAX forces the model to be explicit, not implicit.

If AskingCities didn't have a transfer-oriented method, its design would be radically different. It could have become a local project, optimised for Bristol and difficult to extrapolate. But the presence of MAX forces us to apply four fundamental design principles:

Structuring: Everything must be able to be broken down into clear elements: strategies, actions, options. Otherwise, the transfer would be infeasible.

Prioritization: Not all parts of the model have the same weight. MAX forces us to distinguish which elements are essential (core) and which are adaptive (flex).

Documentability: What cannot be explained, cannot be transferred. MAX pushes us to write, record, systematize.

Translatability: The model must be able to be told in different languages, cultures and institutions without losing its essence.

2.2The method as a narrative foundation#

An AskingCity¹ needs a narrative, but not just any narrative: it needs a common narrative. When several cities are integrated into a network, natural questions arise: What do we share? What does AskingCities do to us? What doesn't change, even if the contexts change? How do we know if we are doing it right?

MAX is the answer to all those questions. It's the identity phrase that all of AskingCity can pronounce: "We're helping to make AskingCities a replicable model." This creates a sense of belonging, external legitimacy, and internal intelligibility. Without it, AskingValencia could move to one side, AskingBarcelona to another, AskingGenève to a third, and the AskingCities network would end up being an incoherent archipelago. MAX acts as a conceptual signature that unites them all.

2.3The method as an evaluation tool#

Evaluating a social movement is complex, because most of the impact is relational, qualitative and distributed. But AskingCities has an advantage: MAX not only orients, but also allows you to measure.

To know if a city is progressing well, its evolution can be compared with the central aspiration of the system. This allows us to formulate evaluative questions such as:

• Is the city building the conditions for the transfer?

• Are the adopted strategies consistent with the model?

• Can you explain how it works to another city?

• Is it generating quick wins²?

• Could another AskingCity then be supported by this city?

These questions measure systemic maturity, which is what really matters in AskingCities (more than a set of numerical values).

2.4The method as a guarantor of simplicity#

One of the biggest threats to social innovation projects is unnecessary complexity. When a project grows, it tends to become bureaucratized, to multiply processes and to be over-engineered. What starts out as a light practice, based on human relationships and intuitive decisions, can end up trapped in approval circuits, lengthy documents, and layers of coordination that don't add value.

Complexity often appears silently: an extra meeting "for security", an added form "just in case", a new procedure "for the record". Little by little, the system loses the freshness of the beginning, becomes heavier, reduces its response speed and shifts the focus from the impact to internal management. The power of the equipment is consumed in maintaining the mechanism, not in activating connections.

That's exactly why AskingCities insists on simplicity as a structural principle: it's a shield against organizational entropy and a way to protect the most valuable part of the model—its ability to turn needs and capabilities into real encounters without anything getting in the way

A model that must be transferred cannot afford complexity. If the model were convoluted, opaque, difficult to execute and explain, its transfer would be infeasible. MAX forces us to simplify; to simplify forces us to clarify; to clarify forces us to think; and thinking forces us to be coherent. In this sense, it is not passive, but acts as an internal regulator of the AskingCities system.

2.5The method as a contract between cities#

When two AskingCities collaborate – for example, AskingBristol helping AskingValencia – the method fulfils one last key function: it defines a conceptual contract between the two since both parties know that they share a common purpose, speak the same language, operate with the same hierarchy, can exchange learning without conceptual conflicts, and neither is "inventing its own version". This inter-city coherence is what makes AskingCities a movement, not a collection of isolated initiatives.