Reflections on a team session using the design web
There are some thinking tools which are absolute essentials in my toolbox. One is Edward de Bono’s 6 Thinking Hats; I use it so often it feels friendly and familiar, just like the screwdriver I inherited from my Grandad which has a well worn wooden handle and has completed decades of DIY tasks.
I have a feeling that Looby Macnamara’s design web is becoming one of those tools that I’ll make use of again and again, and again. It is introduced in Looby’s excellent book People & Permaculture, the second edition of which was recently published. The image below from the book has brief descriptions of each of the 12 anchor points on the web.
Looby explains that the design web is created for people-based designs and:
The web has 12 anchor points, each focusing on a different area to build up a detailed, whole picture of where we want to go and how we are going to get there.
The design web follows a natural pattern.Webs spread the load, catch things, make connections, are strong, light and repairable, and create lots of edge.
[See this short article called use edges and value marginal if you’re not sure what edge effect is in permaculture.]
All parts of the web could be connected with each other, this is a key difference between this and a linear design process.
You can dance in and out of stages without getting stuck waiting for something to feel complete before moving on, knowing you can return when it feels right.
The more steps we make the more connections and resilience our design has.
The design web encourages us to learn through doing.
I used the design web to plan a reflection and planning session with two colleagues I work with supporting the residents leading East Coseley Big Local.
Heeding Looby’s suggestion that the anchor points can be visited in a sequence appropriate for the design, my team started at the reflection anchor point. We noted what is going well and what is challenging for each of us, and what some of the ripples of our actions are.
We then visited the patterns anchor point and reflected individually on our own patterns of thinking, behaving and interacting in relation to our Big Local work. We identified spirals of erosion and what spirals of abundance might look like. These reflections were personal, not shared at this point but acted as a springboard for our design.
We then moved to the ideas anchor point and indivdually noted seeds of ideas we have, along with small, practical ideas and also some creative and adventurous ideas. We also considered helps and limits in relation to the ideas by visiting those anchor points. By integrating our individual ideas a design with some clear action points emerged, and we developed initial thoughts on ways we might build and increase momentum through the year ahead.
The design and plan for the next 12 months which evolved through this two hour session currently points to 5 areas we want to focus on:
- Paying attention to inspiration: one action is to develop an online ideas gallery.
- Paying attention to relationships: creating space for connection between people leading different areas of Big Local activity and introducing rhythms to convening.
- Paying attention to impact and learning: supporting residents to measure change and appreciate and understand the impact of the work they are leading.
- Paying attention to inviting the right people: seeking those doing compelling work to move the work forward (h/t Adrienne Maree Brown’s work on Emergent Strategy)
- Paying attention to inviting co-design (not consultation) in relation to the development of the next Big Local Plan.
We closed the session at the appreciation anchor point, sharing what we appreciate about this team, or how we feel supported at the moment.
Following the team design session, as I was drawing our discussions and individual notes together, I visited the principles anchor point on the design web, by considering which permaculture principles felt helpful in relation to each of the above 5 intentions. A cursory consideration signalled rich and energising explorations could be developed by spending some time as a team at this anchor point.
What felt great about using the design web:
- I had the creative joy of a dance around the web as I planned the session, shuffling a possible order of steps, which I then even considered changing while we were mid-session. It’s such fun using a non-linear tool!
- It was really easy to develop a few simple questions in relation to each anchor point, drawing inspiration from Looby’s book.
- I was able to use the design web to develop a session which met the needs of both a reflective colleague who was hungry for thinking space, and a strongly verbal communicator who thrives on conversation based sessions.
- We did some pretty deep reflection and developed a plan which gave us energy and hope, all in the space of a couple of hours.
- The notes of the session and our emerging plan and design will serve many functions. It is already steering our work and thinking. It gives us a point of focus for our regular catch-up sessions over the next year (we will keep using the design web in these sessions). It will be our team’s contribution to our employer’s business planning process (it also strong synergy with our organisation’s vision and mission). It will help us to be intentional in our work and act in concert with each other.
I’d love to hear what your essential thinking tools are, and whether you have or might play with the design web.
