Living Change: Constellating a supportive ecosystem
Cultivating systems change
In part one of this series, the need for a supportive ecosystem for those who are living change and contributing to systems change, was explored. What if there was a space to offer the support and enabling environment for systems change inquiry and initiatives and for this work to thrive and flourish? This piece starts to dream about practically what the elements of a supportive ecosystem might look like.
These ideas are formed on the assumption that there is a need for:
- Deep community learning
What if… there was a living practice, a place to contribute learning that would support the development of a burgeoning ecosystem of systems changers? - A supportive place to be and be rooted
What if… there was a space, a backbone, an irrigation system that would bring the best of the enabling structures and operational elements to inquiries? A space that provided autonomy of decision making that could provide flexible and modular (or-pick-and choose) support that would be tailored to evolving needs. - Acknowledging and embracing the fluidity of life and work
What if… we really understood systems change as being relational and lifestyle change, and supported that as part of the process?
This come from a personal need and desire amongst peers seeking an ecosystem that allows for the fullest ambitions and potential of systems change to flourish while cultivating health and vitality in the work we do. In the process, reclaiming and intimacy with life and what it means to be alive.
This is also offered whilst also knowing there are many people, communities and organisations for whom they’re making and trying out elements of this already which are a source of much inspiration. How might we join the stars so we are a constellation, that can guide you in the darkness and through the unknown?
I’m offering this to radiate intent, outline the elements, shape and structures that could exist in a truly enabling ecosystem. Choosing to name some elements of the ecosystem as in my experience these are the parts that are too often overlooked, yet vital for those living and creating change. Their existence, while subtle, allows for greater potential and transformation to be unlocked if nurtured.
Elements of a supportive ecosystem
Big, deep questions
The future is set to be tumultuous and full of further surprises that will require us to adapt and change. Being guided by ever-changing inquiry questions, is a way to navigate the uncertainty of the coming decade and core skill for venturing through our lives.
“Human systems grow towards what they persistently ask questions about” — David Cooper
This is talking about deep questions so big that you can’t begin to explore them alone as they’re questioning assumptions that have been held for decades and don’t have simple answers. Questions like this can feel elusive, so need to be identified and named and explored together.
Changemakers need to find the conversation they need to have so we can live our questions and live the change be that in their personal relationships, communities or collaborations they’re part of or in the work they earn a living from.
Community of co-inquirers
This work requires community so as not to feel alone in the practice. It’s tempting to think of learning as a solo activity but really we learn when in relationship. Relationships and community can also be the anchor in flux and change. There are many communities — of interest, place, practice — that could take an inquiry approach as a way to develop and evolve. They can be communities that pre-exist, be within or between people in organisations or be new communities that are formed with the purpose of inquiry, on going or time bound. It can also be a way for friendship groups or committed teams working together to deepen their relationships and understanding of each other.
For communities who are about living the questions and change, it is about having shared intentions around the value of inquiry and a culture that binds and enables those in them to do more than they could alone.
We can never belong to a strategy. We can never belong to a movement, either, thought we can be part of it. We can only belong to a culture.
My Grandmother’s Hands, Resmaa Menakem
Spaces and rhythms for learning together
A collective inquiry works best when there is a healthy starter culture to be nurtured and a supportive and enabling scaffold or structure in place to work with. It is a careful balance — just enough to feel supportive, while neither feeling heavy or overbearing, or too abstract or ephemeral.
Flexible structures that adapt to the ebbs and flows of life and the messy complexity. Needing time and moments to step back and look at the bigger context.
The ideal process of inquiry is seasonal, cyclical or time-bound and brings a balance of reflective and practice moments together. Has spaces to push the edges and to play, experiment and test new ideas, processes and framing. A space to speak difficult truths in a brave and compassionate way that is about staying in relationship. But they also need to be peppered with the things that give us meaning and connection, sensory experiences –be that annual or seasonal retreats, informal meet ups, meals, play, dancing and space for spontaneity — to help us to learn and grow in new ways and disrupt the accepted patterns of relating.
Foundational operating infrastructure
There is a need for enabling operational infrastructure — for initiatives, projects and ideas to grow from. An irrigation system intentionally designed to meet the complexity of the work, rather than confined within the legacy structures of unsystematic ways of working that we’re trying to move away from. There is a need for practical, modular, bespoke support -around finance and accounting systems, legal support, HR, tech and digital skills and other professional services, so not every emergent team or idea has to start from scratch. Start-up ecosystems exist to support early stage ventures with the practice and operations it needs — systems change work requires an equivalent support for the full lifecycle of change.
Living learning resource
Imagine if your insights and learning were contributing to a wide body of practice and insights — a reciprocal bank of experience and resources — that are open and could be drawn on as required. Insights and stories not just shared at the end, but throughout our processes and cycles. Celebrating the things that worked and the things that didn’t — knowing that changing course direction and stories is a great proxy for demonstrating things have changed. This could take many forms: open reflection spaces, a regular social media practice, writing groups, an annual review of lessons and mistakes from practitioners, linked and curated notion pages, a regular podcast or an open practice journal — the possibilities are endless, the key to its success being honesty and collective investment. All of this would contribute to shifting the narrative of what is needed to live and embrace change.
Systems change coaching
Having people to support the often unknown journey with their first-hand experience of running inquiries, the ups and downs, twists and turns, things to watch out and anticipate is invaluable and reassuring when you’re going into less explored spaces. This could take many forms, peer coaching circles, ad hoc support, having a team coach to support complex dynamics, or longer term 1:1 relationships to deepen ongoing practice.
When I’ve had someone to coach me and the work, the release and relief has felt immense. I have come to see this role as critical if you want to be pushing the boundaries of what is possible in systems change and will never again design a multi-year process without factoring in this role.
Systems change coaching is a certain flavour of coaching practice.
Some of the skills being about:
- forming relationships with true mutuality and respect and be learning together,
- being able to support people to traverse across personal, collective, societal dynamics and needs,
- supporting people to strike the right balance of structure and emergence,
- being responsive to live/now challenges and iterating from that,
- supporting people to be thinking three steps ahead and look at the bigger cycle and picture,
- active listening / mirroring, not having an agenda,
- being open to what is going on and not projecting.
Having a Systems Change Coaching Collective, a place to easily access people who can support you or your endeavours could be a game changer, unless you know people, or know where to look it’s not currently something that is easy to find or access, feels like a natural starting point.
Sense making in a dynamic changing context
There is a need to keep making sense of what is changing and moving — in both the external world and environment but also for each of us internally. Understanding the patterns, undercurrents and the direction of travel in the present and what that might mean for the future and having the tools and processes to support that sensemaking which often are hard to grasp and unseen. The news cycle can distract us from seeing the bigger picture, the longer terms and spot the places where our actions could make a difference. But having ways to tap into the collective intelligence and wisdom could support us all to make better choices about where to be rooting our work and design our lives into the mood and the needs for the external context.
Psychological support
Easy access to psychological support for difficult emotions with transformative potential.
I see myself and peers seeking out people, places and spaces to proactively face our mental health challenges, seek therapy, work with grief, confront climate anxieties and seek out trauma and healing practices. This is driven by knowing that working with and through these forces can be a make for effective leaders. Yet each of these fields is enormous and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the vastness of each of these areas not to knowing where to start or stopping the exploration as the cost of each is often beyond the means in hand which can create more barriers to the tough inner work that is needed for us to do more collectively.
Cultivating an ecosystem
I have a personal need to be with and be connected to peers across the world, supporting each other, learning together, weaving ways of being and bringing visibility to the cultures that are emerging from our old systems. There three potential routes to how this ecosystem could manifest:
- Create something from scratch
Setting all of the above elements up from the ground up, bringing a purity of vision and ambion and a blank slate to what is possible. While this might be the most obvious way to start, it doesn’t feel in the spirit of an ‘ecosystem’ to start here. But there are likely elements of this ecosystem that are yet to emerge and need to be nurtured. - Weave and constellate between the ecosystem
Elements of this already exist across the wider change ecosystem — in pockets, organisations, within projects, within communities. But it’s hard to tap into the best of each of these elements without taking a huge amount of time and energy and building new relationships each time. So another route is to weave, signpost, constellate across existing and future parts of the ecosystem — providing easier access points for people and starting places to learn, connect and find support. - Transition existing spaces
Can existing collectives or organisations transition to a more distributed platform approach? Or transition their purpose and role to providing elements of this vision moving beyond solely working those they currently support to intentionally in service of the wider ecosystem. In some sense this could offer a compelling strategy for existing organisations wanting to support and enable systems change. This would take a repatterning of assumptions and mindset to work as and for an ecosystem and get beyond the organisational logic
In reality this vision is likely to need a bit of each of these routes to manifest. Whatever the route, there are a ideas, wishes and aspirations for what some of the next steps might be to bring this to life:
1. Connect and chat with people who are exploring similar ideas,intentions and aspirations or building parts of this already — get in touch if you’d like to explore more
2. Seed fund and invest in the development of parts or all of the ecosystem. Whichever route will require sustained resource and commitment over the long term, starting with seed funding to continue this exploratory development. Many of the enabling parts of the ecosystem could be seen as invisible but necessary work that can be hard to quantify. Who sees the value and is willing to really invest in this type of support and change? Who is interested in supporting the development, potential and nurturing of this?
3.Test elements of an enabling ecosystem with pre-existing communities. One way to bring this to life is to test different elements of this enabling ecosystem — particular inquiry cycles or designing elements into existing communities. This might be with funder cohorts as a way to provide added value across programs, at a local or inter-community level or communities of practice in organisations or sectors
4.Learning from the start up ecosystem and professional services. There is a discrete piece of research to be done — exploring what can we learn from the different models of support that exist already, for example accelerators, incubators, professional service models or operational subscription service and what these things might mean in a system change context.
If any of this resonates,is something you’re exploring or you’d like to explore these ideas more or make them happen, get in touch via louise.j.armstrong@gmail.com or twitter.
