The Design Tribe: Restructuring the Way We Work to Drive Impactful Change

Movements are born from a need for change, anyone with the capacity to think critically can arrive to that conclusion. But what if what truly needs to be reconsidered when solving a problem is not the why, or why not, but the how? How do you create a movement that focuses on changing the process of bringing about change?

This is the question that The Value Web and its collaborators tried to answer at their Solution Design Tribe event held for Miami’s Social Venture Partners.

It was 8:30 am on a Saturday. While everyone else slept in, resting from a long week of work, there was a group of people gathered at the Center for Social Change in Miami, Florida, for whom Saturday meant another opportunity to make the world a better place. As we drifted into our seats, we were to be on our feet five minutes later for the first round of activities. It was clear that there was no time to waste. At least not if you were taking on the difficult task of figuring out how, exactly, to start a movement.

There was a “let’s get to work” and “help us figure it out” mentality that created a place where vulnerability and trust intertwined with equal distribution of power.

There was no long introduction where you sat and listened to someone tell you how things ought to be. There was a “let’s get to work” and “help us figure it out” mentality that created a place where vulnerability and trust intertwined with equal distribution of power.

The fact that a collaborative environment could be formed beyond any divisions or gaps that might exist, was proof enough that there was something being done here to which the rest of the world had not yet caught on. Each group included women and men of different ages and ethnicities, chatting, respectfully disagreeing when necessary, and more importantly listening to each other’s ideas. They were unified by their purpose at that moment to find a solution to the ongoing funding problem, which plagued South Florida’s nonprofit sector. If left unaddressed the community would face those consequences.

They were unified by their purpose at that moment to find a solution to the ongoing funding problem, which plagued South Florida’s nonprofit sector.

SVP is a global network of local partners which engages people and organizations in a different kind of philanthropy model for social ventures. SVP encourages its partners to invest not only money, but time and expertise into nonprofits. Of course, this implies that partners have to be willing to change the way in which they interact with nonprofits, and because they are so used to giving in a certain way, it’s not as easy as it seems. Nonprofits typically receive grants to fund programs which are tied to outcomes (though not always). These grants do not cover administrative costs, or overhead — and so nonprofits are asked to do more with limited capacity (staff). SVP will give money to nonprofits and work with them so they are successful in achieving the outcomes — the money can be used in any manner (cover administrative costs, hire staff, etc). Further, SVP provides strategic guidance/assistance in ‘weak’ areas — such as program management, finance, fundraising, marketing.

The objective for the day was to decide how to launch SVP model in Miami, and how to educate stakeholders on the benefits/risks. How to launch a venture philanthropy model in Miami-Dade, educate key stakeholders on the benefits, opportunities and risks of creating a VP model for social ventures, and illuminate and elevate solution design with The Value Web Design Tribe.

By regrouping and finding a common thread between what each team or person had come up with not only were they arriving at a solution in a more complete, dynamic way, but they were grounding those threads to find the roots that would allow them to execute their ideas in an aligned, sustainable way.

At the DesignTribe, collaborators were presented with different questions related to the issue at hand to which they had to answer either separately or in teams, and all of which had to be presented eventually to the entire group for a full on brainstorm. The questions ranged from “How did it (SVP) become such a known and well-respected thing?” to “In terms of those we didn’t attract, what didn’t they get?” By regrouping and finding a common thread between what each team or person had come up with not only were they arriving at a solution in a more complete, dynamic way, but they were grounding those threads to find the roots that would allow them to execute their ideas in an aligned, sustainable way.

Just like doing without purpose generates half of the positive outcome that we desire, so does giving without purpose.

Ultimately, the vision that was being proposed for SVP was the “vision” that was being carried out in that room by TVW: transform the way in which we identify problems and find solutions; transform the way people think about systems in order to take it to the next level; transform the ways in which we invest in the non-profit/social enterprise sectors, recognize a gap in the way companies and people are giving. “The way” or method of giving to social causes is no longer fruitful when it comes to the issues our global organizations are having to address. We need to reconsider and refocus our way of seeing how these systems of change work. At Saturday’s engagement, this was recognized. Just like doing without purpose generates half of the positive outcome that we desire, so does giving without purpose.

Transform the way in which we identify problems and find solutions; transform the way people think about systems in order to take it to the next level; transform the ways in which we invest in the non-profit/social enterprise sectors, recognize a gap in the way companies and people are giving.

There was only one instance when the room seemed to quiet down and the movement was not visible anymore, but it was only because each participant was asked to individually answer certain questions. It was the sweet silence of minds speaking loudly, and one could almost see the ideas jumping around and playing in the air. The silence was quickly overcome by the hustle initiated by Jodi Engelberg, a founding member of TVW and one of Saturday’s designers, and her “boombox”, calling everyone to regroup and rethink.

High levels of productivity created through “design networking” activities that allowed participants to bring up important issues such as: the ecosystem into which SVP is being introduced (specifically Miami), how partners can assimilate with changes, what will be the benefits of this assimilation, and how to create a “contagious” belief in social venture philanthropy.

This new system involves a clear understanding and analysis of the value of ideas (in this case SVP) that can lead to creative approaches to solutions that inspire and activate others to mobilize towards more wholesome philanthropic engagements. Of course, looking at it from Roger’s “Diffusion of Innovation” point of view, the main challenge is uncertainty: will these new processes work? And how will they be beneficial to the organization or person getting involved in the long run? These were challenges that arose and were pinpointed throughout the session.

In the end, the proof that this “something new” works is in the work done in the form of what The Value Web calls “Emergent Design”. High levels of productivity created through “design networking” activities that allowed participants to bring up important issues such as: the ecosystem into which SVP is being introduced (specifically Miami), how partners can assimilate with changes, what will be the benefits of this assimilation, and how to create a “contagious” belief in social venture philanthropy.

By the end of the day the Design Tribe was able to create a compelling narrative about why SVP is needed and the value it intends to deliver, which will activate and inspire stakeholders. They also developed a clear understanding about partners — prioritizing how to attract them, engage, educate them, and retain them. This meant thinking about a movement of SVP ambassadors and champions to include community partners. Finally, by deepening the understanding of what solution design means and sharing the tools and know-hows in Miami, they were able to create clear programming principles and a creative approach to these programs.

The procedure of determining how to change the process is a new method in itself. It’s learning to engage in a different way to reach different solutions. In the case of TVW it works because of certain factors that were constantly at play:

1. They promoted activity: standing or sitting in circles, you could see all participants moving to write down ideas, making gestures with their hands to explain concepts, and hustling to get the task done in time.
2. From the BEACH to the GRAIN: TVW’s focus is on digging a little bit deeper than the rest. For example, going from “Who are the potential partners?” to “What do they need from us (SVP)?” to “How, specifically, do you address them (partners)?”. By creating a process of questioning that takes participants from the general to the specific, TVW goes as far down to the bottom of the root as possible.
3. Incorporate the individual with the collective: Each person had its place, and brought their individual knowledge with them, but anything else that did not aid in the thinking was left at the door. The environment promoted the work of individual minds to form not “group think” but “group genius”.
4. A new INTERactive: Every activity required each person to interact with someone new. Groups were made to constantly change so that new ideas were generated at every step of the way. Throughout the process they were embracing the idea of change as a necessary conduit to innovation, and as a result they were also creating it.
5. Being multi-dynamic: The only way to think disruptively is to listen disruptively, and you can only do that if you are taking into consideration the views of a wide variety of demographics who are willing to put their minds to work collaboratively.

…a collaborative, inclusive environment where a more granular analysis is produced by people with different titles and backgrounds, can help us see the challenge outside and inside our own minds clearly.

We are seeing an increase in the demand for new thinking strategies. The Value Web focuses on how to find new, two-way thinking strategies, to look at the problems we are facing in this day and age. In order to do that, The Value Web believes that we can’t rely solely upon the tools we have today, but rather, we need to think ahead of what is going to be required of us in the future. The SVP Miami session proved that a collaborative, inclusive environment where a more granular analysis is produced by people with different titles and backgrounds, can help us see the challenge outside and inside our own minds clearly.

Many questions sprung up and were addressed last Saturday, and many of these questions still have a long process to go through in being answered. Still one thing is clear: that is that the global social, economic, and ecological landscape is changing rapidly, it won’t adapt to our current way of thinking, so it is our job to find the best ways to adapt our thinking to it.

Click below to see more pictures of the event: https://www.flickr.com/photos/thevalueweb/albums/72157677102995123