Are you ready, really ready?
The noun coalition comes from the Latin word coalitiō, meaning to grow together.
At Unstitution, we take this original meaning to heart. We use the term coalition in the widest context. Bringing people together from across any and all divides — sectors, disciplines, cultures, genders, generations, and the varied strata of society — all citizens — is the lifeblood of our collaborative commons work and big hairy collective mission to reboot society’s operating system… This mission is bigger than all of us and needs many more with gifts differing actively engaged.
We’ve observed the term being used in ways that are not really true to the spirit and intent of coalition work. For example, forming coalitions with the primary purpose of lobbying, fighting or opposing others often reinforces competitive polarizing win-lose dynamics.
These kinds of initiatives, reflecting a forceful push strategy and propagating everywhere are potentially impactful and necessary under some circumstances, some of the time. However, even the best of intentions all too often fall short. Pervasive domination-oppression patterns recur and cling…manifesting in many forms…
Pushing harder invariably leads to countervailing push back — with the opposing force(s) doubling down on their efforts to strengthen or recoup their influence or power base.
There are many ways to get started with a coalition that is inclusive and set up to embrace a deeper coalitiō — living learning labs where we live into regenerative ways of working and being, aligned with mission critical initiatives and ventures.
(Co-)Catalyzing gets the heart started.
Coalition readiness is the preliminary early phase with many iterative and variable elements that prepare and help set the stage toward evolutionary navigation.
Catalyzing generally feels more like herding cats, in the beginning. Often, the people who will be involved have operated independently of one another. In many cases they have never even met.
It’s an understatement to suggest that the readiness work is usually an uneasy balancing act that demands supreme patience, compassion, tenacious determination and necessary willingness to confront and wrestle with some tough truths.
There are many long beginnings and layers of readiness work involved…
If real readiness isn’t achieved, meaningful work rarely gains sustainable progress. Many cases and much (painful) learning acquired over the years and ongoing help us discern ways to move forward.
Healthy movement forward is rarely about pushing forward.
There are also indicators that tell us when it doesn’t make sense to keep trying…
A coalition isn’t really a living lab coalition until it begins its work in earnest. At the front end, attending to underlying human system factors is a high priority. It sets the tone. It legitimizes the need as an ongoing normative operating principle…establishing from the fragile outset that not only is it okay to share and work through the tough stuff…it’s essential to make meaningful, sustainable progress that will gain strength, grow roots and momentum.
Coalition building work helps to set things up well. Beginning with a high level strategy, together we collaboratively undertake preliminary needs assessment — discerning a potential overarching purpose, identifying and defining barriers, challenges and opportunities and considering some key roles, capabilities and perspectives.
Some of the critical early questions to explore as this iterative process gets underway, include:
🔮 Who — people, organizations, roles — need to be involved from the start?
🔮 What enabling conditions — hard and soft — will help to set things up wisely and well?
🔮 What potential methodologies can be considered?
🔮 What preliminary resources are required?
While many other questions and needs will surface and warrant mindful attention, at the very early scoping stage, more often than not…less is more.
The work of a coalition as it gets underway, is to bring diverse people together, the usual and the unusual suspects, establish common ground and mission critical purpose and work co-creatively through challenging issues that will potentially lead to life-affirming pathways and innovative breakthroughs. It’s vitally important not to go too far without all the key stakeholders (careholders) actively and meaningfully engaged at the earliest stages.
And really working through challenging issues and dilemmas is, in itself, real work. Too often this important work is underestimated or side-stepped as people (understandably) dive into technical content and topic areas that reflect their own interests and expertise.
At the start, catalyzing and convening is more about holding open the space between — enabling people to come together to shape and do their work as a commons initiative or coalition. As people increasingly appreciate (trans)contextual perspectives and lived experience, they can overcome key barriers and begin, in earnest, to learn from one another. Co-discovering how to truly collaborate and co-create, widening the lens by honouring and incorporating diverse perspectives — means accepting the inherent tension of holding difficult conversations, hanging in, building commitment and finding and uncovering the common[s] ground.
We delve a bit further into the work of binding coalitions here. To learn more about some overarching coalition themes and initiatives please click here.
There are many and varied potential opportunities to co-catalyze, convene and support collaborative communities, initiatives and coalitions with Unstitutionists, Coalitionists and Activationists, as we’ve provisionally defined some of the roles involved in our commons work, from the space between.
Evolutionary Navigation outlines some helpful groundwork and guide posts to prepare and scope things out in adaptable ways that align with each coalition’s particular focus, needs and circumstances.
*This article was lightly updated January 2024, reflecting additional perspectives and ongoing action research, as we continue to observe, listen, assimilate, curate and adapt — a learning journey for us all.
Unstitution was birthed as a collective creative commons and nested ecosystem. We (co-)catalyze collaborative communities, initiatives and coalitions where people from across sectors, disciplines, cultures, generations and walks-of-life work together on mission critical issues. From readiness through to regenerative progress — moving beyond polarization — is how we roll. The links embedded throughout this article are a warm invitation to go a bit deeper, at any time. For more insights reflecting our ongoing journey, our suite of Unstitution articles are published on Medium. They portray a small sample of the ways we are adapting and contributing among ever-expanding commons-based communities and initiatives inspired and fuelled by citizens — perhaps better described as denizens — anywhere in the world — living into the principles and spirit that govern our collaborative work.
You can follow Unstitution and engage with us on LinkedIn. Many of our posts and perspectives also pop up under hashtags #messyhumanness and #wisdomwithteeth.
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