Chapter 10The "Minimum Viable AskingCities": how to get started without unnecessary complexity

The AskingCities Minimum Viable (MVAC) is the minimum must-have set that allows AskingCities to exist in a new city from the first month. It is the operational core that demonstrates that the system is possible, that generates the first evidence of value and that creates the necessary trust for an AskingCity to begin to recognize itself.

10.1MVAC Essential Components#

For that to happen, a city needs to have six essential elements that act as its foundations:

1. a method (MAX), understood by key actors and used as a compass to avoid drift;

2. a small team of AskAuthors, usually of two or three minimally trained people, capable of internalizing the AskingCities logic regardless of its institutional origin;

3. a dominant start-up strategy: a single one, the one that is most natural for the city according to its culture, its capacities or its context;

4. three core actions executed with clarity and coherence: listening and reformulating needs, identifying initial Givers, and connecting and accompanying a first real interaction;

5. two genuine quick wins that function as living proof of the model;

6. a powerful story ready to be told: the first narrative that will allow the city to understand what AskingCities is beyond the concepts.

The MVAC is especially powerful because it combines speed, lightness, security, teachability and replicability. It can be activated in weeks, preventing the project from dying in its design phase; In addition, it does not require heavy infrastructures and focuses on people, relationships and listening, letting formal structures come later. Likewise, it minimizes risks because it starts with the minimum and allows you to observe, adjust and learn without committing excessive resources. As a dissemination tool, MVAC can be easily taught and replicated in very different cities, which explains the expansive capacity of the model. And something fundamental: it allows you to start without waiting to have everything.

10.2In search of the right strategy#

Choosing the dominant bootstrap strategy is part of MVAC's maturity. Not all cities need to start at the same front door. Territories with a strong university can activate the model through their institutional supply chain; those with a powerful third sector tend to do so from an understanding of their network of Givers; cities that need visibility turn to storytelling; and highly fragmented cities tend to start by creating simplicity. Choosing a single strategy avoids paralysis due to complexity.

Still, bootstrapping has risks that should be avoided. Premature complexity can stifle the system before it takes shape; the overproduction of documentation can divert energy towards the administrative; misaligned expectations can lead to frustration; the confusion between roles can muddy the process; And turning quick wins into marketing pieces can delegitimize the model. The MVAC demands discipline of simplicity because its strength lies precisely in its lightness.

When a city reaches MVAC, AskingCities enters its second phase: the growth and consolidation phase. Stories begin to appear more frequently, AskAuthors develop criteria, institutions feel safer, the available Givers increase and advanced options begin to emerge. The team better understands the internal causality of the model and the city begins to generate an AskingCities identity of its own. That's why the MVAC isn't a pilot: it's the birth of the AskingCity.

10.3Identification of the essential "core actions" for all of AskingCity#

Core actions represent the minimum set of actions that are essential for AskingCities to exist in practice. They are the ones that allow an AskingCity to come to life, generate its first connections, produce meaningful quick wins and tell stories that validate the model. They are the operational skeleton of the system and the common foundation that remains stable regardless of the size of the city, its institutional culture or the maturity of its civic ecosystem.

An action is truly "core" when it simultaneously meets four characteristics. The first is that it is necessary. The second is that it is replicable. The third is that it is teachable. And the fourth is that it is cumulative: each time it is executed, it strengthens the system, improves the team's skills and generates learning that feeds into practice.

10.3.1The three families of Core Actions#

Although each AskingCity adapts its practices to the territory, AskingCities always relies on three large families of core actions that, together, allow the model to exist, work and consolidate. We describe each of them below.

Building the system from its foundations. These are the actions that allow AskingCities to start with clarity: listen in depth to the Askers to understand the real need, reformulate that need in a way that is clear and actionable, identify the first Givers with low barrier to entry, and align the AskAuthors team in a shared language and purpose. Thanks to these initial actions, the city can begin to understand what it is asking for, who can respond and how the first steps should be articulated.

Dynamization of the model once it is up and running. Here are the actions that generate real movement: connecting needs with capabilities, accompanying interactions to ensure a smooth and respectful process, documenting what happens to turn each experience into learning and producing authentic quick wins that show early on that the system makes sense. These actions build the city's confidence in the model, create a collaborative culture and generate the perception of value necessary for AskingCities to grow and thrive.

Providing visibility and consistency to the system. Telling human stories that explain the essence of the model, sharing learnings within the team, eliminating unnecessary obstacles and sustaining a common language are essential activities for AskingCity to be culturally anchored in the territory. Without this narrative and operational coherence, AskingCities fails to become a recognizable and stable practice.

Together, these three families not only describe what AskingCities does, but how a city learns to think and act like AskingCity from its first weeks to maturity.

10.4Core Actions, MVAC, and Activation Sequence#

The activation of core actions follows a natural and progressive sequence: first the needs are listened to and reformulated, then the initial Givers are identified, then the actors are connected and collaboration is accompanied, which in turn allows for the generation of quick wins, documentation of stories, simplification of processes and finally the sharing of learnings. This sequence makes the system move forward organically, gain confidence and avoid errors characteristic of hasty implementations.

In other words, an AskingCity proves that it masters its core actions when it finds Askers without difficulty, identifies Givers quickly, connects actors naturally, generates sustained quick wins, tells stories fluently and turns every interaction into practical learning. These signals, more than any quantitative metrics, indicate that the city is already thinking in terms of strategies and not just tasks.