Bringing some simplicity to a complex world.
The world is complex now — right? It probably always has been, but right now if feels more intense.
In a recent Stewardship Circle workshop with Prof Jean Boulton, author of Embracing Complexity we explored these sorts of questions. http://www.embracingcomplexity.com/claremont/scripts/page/home.php
Jean shared how we might need to challenge our traditional world view that organisations in the social sector work like machines. You put inputs into the ‘machine’, and out pops a predictable output and outcomes. Sounds Familiar? It’s the premises for how most of our organisations are structured and it forms the basis for our theories of change.
Instead perhaps we could see organisations as living organisms that change and grow as the environment around them evolves. A bit like how saplings grow towards the sun! This is really important to grasp as it effects our approach to strategic planning, leadership and how we measure our success.
I was recently researching Theories of Change for a Community Building initiative in Gloucester. These sorts of community driven programmes are in many ways some of the hardest to plan and evaluate, because community driven approaches are designed to give space to communities to shape their own activities, at their own pace. Predicting results is not only difficult but also risks the kind of intervention that undermines that control.
Our challenge working in this space is learning to let go of control and place our trust in those who are making change happen — local people. Seeing social change efforts through a complexity lens can help practitioners and funders find a different way of working together.
“Social innovators intend to bring about change, to make a difference, to transform, ……They work in a world that is itself transforming, that is changing the innovator as he or she seeks to change the world. A complexity lens allows us to look at these interactions more closely. Control is replaced by a toleration of ambiguity and the ‘can-do’ mentality of ‘making things happen’ is modified by an attitude that is similarly visionary and responsive to the unpredictable unfolding of events.” (Mathie & Peters 2014).
This might mean commissioning for outcomes isn’t appropriate and we need to reorientate ourselves towards commissioning for learning instead.
We are changing as our environment changes too. If we accept this, we soon realise that nothing stands still, and our mechanistic world view needs to be replaced with an evolutionary one. If it sounds a bit overwhelming, Jean reminded us that the thing that we can control is our self and relationships to each other. That should give us hope that social change is possible when we focus on relationships.
“ …the world doesn’t change one person at a time. It changes when networks of relationships form among people who share a common cause and vision of what’s possible. This is good news for those of us intent on creating a positive future. Rather than worry about critical mass, our work is to foster critical connections. We don’t need to convince large numbers of people to change; instead, we need to connect with kindred spirits. Through these relationships, we will develop the new knowledge, practices, courage and commitment that lead to broad-based change.”
(Margaret Mead)
