We are delighted to share an article with you that was just published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review this week. The article, Networking a City, tells the story of the evolution of the Barr Fellows Network, launched by the Barr Foundation, and its impact on the City of Boston.

IISC has been honored to partner with Barr since the inception of the idea and in the building of the network.  The original title of the article when submitted to SSIR – What’s  Love Got to Do With It? – more accurately captured the creative and provocative approach taken to make fundamental and sustainable change in the city and beyond.

You will see that the story speaks for itself with regard to the power that disruption, authentic relationship, ongoing learning, and connection have on a group of social sector leaders.  These are the elements we at IISC believe are essential to developing leaders capable of creating a positive future.

To that future,

Marianne Hughes

They say being a change agent is an inside job.  This summer, we invite you to sharpen your tools and rejuvenate your capacity for leadership through a values-based professional development opportunity in a beautiful retreat setting! Center for Whole Communities (CWC) and Interaction Institute for Social Change (IISC) are collaborating to offer a four-day residential Whole Measures Workshop July 10 – 13, at CWC’s retreat center at beautiful Knoll Farm in Fayston, VT.

Whole Measures is a values-based, community-oriented approach to planning, implementing and evaluating initiatives that foster healthy whole communities. This practical framework strengthens the ability of teams, partnerships, and coalitions to identify shared values and to build their work and evaluation metrics around those values.

From the Whole Measures framework, the Whole Measures Workshop was created. This workshop introduces the process design and practices to lead your organization, community, partners or stakeholders through values-based planning and evaluation. Visit www.measuresofhealth.net to explore the Whole Measures framework.

Through the Whole Measures Workshop, you’ll learn:

• To see and approach your work form a whole systems perspective
• Key concepts and tools for fostering healthy, whole communities.
• Concrete skills for implementing Whole Measures, building off of a foundation of shared values:
• Collaborative process design
• Effective convening techniques
• Stakeholder identification and analysis
• Measuring multiple dimensions of success
• Dialogue process
• Storytelling
• Facilitation
• Inquiry

The cost of the four-day workshop includes wonderful whole-foods meals, served in a rustic and restored barn, and accommodations at Center for Whole Communities.  To register, follow this link, then scroll down to the July 10-13 Whole Measures Workshop.

-Dr. Monica Sharma

There is something about the invitation to health and wholeness and to talking about how to measure it that seems to be a real draw to our Whole Measures workshop, which we offer jointly with the Center for Whole Communities.  I can see it in the eyes of many participants as they walk into the room – “Tell us how!”  And there is a bit of a disruptive experience that occurs when we let people know it is not so formulaic.  One of my favorite quotes comes from my mentor Carol Sanford who has said, “Best practice obliterates essence,” and I think it really applies to what we are talking about here.

The work of measuring what matters in terms of healthy whole communities and organizations begins with the realization that each of these wholes has its unique essence, embodied in the values and deeper sense of meaning and purpose that are alive in those systems.  And so Whole Measures: Transforming Communities by Measuring What Matters Most begins with taking a systemic view to identifying the whole we are working within and the stakeholders that comprise it, and whose participation will be key in naming and fleshing out core values.  From here we engage in exploration of the practices of designing and facilitating processes and conversations that ultimately yield meaningful and qualitative measures of health and wholeness.

As is often the case in our work at both the Interaction Institute for Social Change and the Center for Whole Communities, the journey is as important as the destination. There is nothing pre-determined.  The road to wholeness and measuring what matters goes through inquiry, listening, dialogue, storytelling, emergence and co-creation.

If you would like to join us, an opportunity is most immediately available in San Francisco on May 1-3.  More information is available here.

you can’t be part of the solution.”

– David Peter Stroh

This post is a slightly edited version of something I wrote for the upcoming State of Opportunity convening in Michigan.  My colleague Cynthia Parker and I have been working with the Council of Michigan Foundations staff and membership to design this gathering, the focus of which will be philanthropy’s role in increasing social equity in the state.  We are looking forward to facilitating the proceedings on March 27th. 

The quote above comes from a systems thinking expert with whom we’ve partnered in our collaborative change work here at the IISC.  We’ve found it to be a powerful way of introducing the idea that the complex systems (education, health care) that many of us are trying to change to yield better and more equitable opportunities and outcomes are not “out there.”  Rather, to rift on the old Pogo saying, when we have truly seen systems, we understand that they are us!  In a general sense, a system is a set of interrelated elements that make a unified whole.  With respect to what we will be thinking and talking about during the State of Opportunity convening, systems are comprised of the different arrangements and ways that we work together –in communities, neighborhoods, families, private institutions and public organizations; via policy/program formulation and implementation, etc. – all in support of the P-20 continuum.

Systems thinking as a framework can be very useful in helping us to better understand the production of social inequities.  It does this by steering clear of personalized and overly simplified linear blame of individual people, groups, or institutions for what is undesirable.  Instead it looks at the interactions within and between different elements that yield inequities.  A systems perspective suggests that it is the organization and relationship between a system’s parts as much as the components themselves that shape system behavior and outcomes.  It also appreciates how these dynamics exist or persist across time such that present day circumstances represent an historical accumulation of causes.

For example, research on racial inequities from this perspective shows that interlocking systems of disadvantage disproportionately shape and constrain the choices and life chances of people of color. Flipping this, there are interlocking systems of advantage that disproportionally favor white people and result in unearned privilege. This includes, as noted by Menendian and Watt, the relationships between racially and economically isolated neighborhoods, employment, health, crime and violence, educational outcomes, and a host of other factors.  Failure to look at inequities in this way may result in thinking and actions that do nothing to change, or perhaps even perpetuate or exacerbate, the very conditions we say we are trying to change.

A first step in adopting a systemic lens is to become curious, to look at presenting problems from numerous and inter-related perspectives.  This means “getting the system in the room,” conferring with and convening diverse stakeholders to hear and share stories and consider what these reveal.  A related step is to think about how our own (individual, organizational) mindsets and tendencies may get in the way of effectively seeing and addressing systemic challenges.

So here is the invitation: to dance with the complexity while humbly and enthusiastically sharing what we know, listening to and learning from one another, and leaving each interaction wiser, more curious, and bolder than when we began.

On the cusp of the Martin Luther King Jr. day of remembrance and celebration, IISC is gearing up to lead a webinar on the day after the Monday holiday focused on a very relevant topic – collective leadership. Much is being made of the Occupy Movement and its potential for showing us a new way to lead (we would call it leader-full, not leader-less). Prior to this important civic groundswell, many have been looking at how to create the conditions for emergent and collaborative leadership to move us in more just and life-affirming directions.  Given the complexity of the issues we face and the diversity of perspectives in our various systems, it has been recognized that we cannot rely on individual, expert, or command-and-control leadership to move us forward. We must unleash more robust and adaptive collective intelligence. If this conversation interests you, come join Gibran Rivera and me as we explore stories of and practices for creating the conditions to unleash leader-full momentum that embodies and leads to the social change we seek. More information about this free opportunity can be found here.

I have written a few times in this space (see “Right from the Start” and “The System is Us”) about our work with the Graustein Memorial Fund and stakeholders from around Connecticut to re-conceptualize and change the early childhood development system in the state so that all families and children are thriving. We are currently in the midst of a visioning process, whereby members of the System Design Team are engaging various constituents in conversations about what it would look like if the system were truly providing equitable and excellent support and opportunities to all children, regardless of race, ability, and income. In addition, we are asking what foundational beliefs, or values, would under-gird such a reality brought to life.  This phase kicked off with a series of interviews with participants in the Memorial Fund’s annual Stone Soup Conference. This included parents, child care providers, elected officials, advocates of all kinds, and the keynote speaker – Ralph Smith. Check out the series above, along with others posted on the Right from the Start site. There is an emerging picture forming here, that speaks to the power of collective visioning.  What do you see?

Photo by ad551

As 2011 comes to a close, we here at IISC can look back on a year full of multi-stakeholder change work. I think I can speak on behalf of the entire team when I say that it has been our pleasure to contribute our process design, facilitation, and collaborative capacity building skills to a range of differently scaled social change efforts, linking arms with convenors and catalysts in a variety of fields.  These have included (to name a few):

• A global network focused on growing social justice philanthropy
• National initiatives focused on improving child dental health and boosting Black Male Achievement
• State-wide collaborative efforts in Connecticut and Rhode Island focused respectively on creating a more equitable system for early childhood development and community food security
• More localized community development efforts in Boston’s Dudley Street Neighborhood (Boston Promise) and in Springfield, Massachusetts
• A variety of social change leadership development networks at national, state, and local levels

I personally am proud and humbled to be a part of this ambitious and important work, and have reaped many lessons, hints of which have found their way into posts on this blog during the past 361 days.  As a team, we at IISC have also managed to parlay some of our learnings into new and robust training courses that focus on collaborative process design and facilitation skills -  Pathway to Change and Fundamentals of Facilitation for Racial Justice Work.   And we have contributed to a joint publication with Grantmakers for Effective Organizations entitled Do Nothing About Me Without Me: An Action Guide for Engaging Stakeholders. 

I have also been delighted to see the conversation around multi-stakeholder collaboration continue to grow to a more nuanced crescendo this year with important contributions from other colleagues in the field: FSG’s “Collective Impact” article; the Monitor Institute’s robust writings on networks, including Connected Citizens: The Power, Potential and Peril of Networks, Transformer: How to Build a Network to Change a System, and Catalyzing Networks for Social Change: A Funder’s Guide (co-published with GEO).  Surely I am forgetting others (please feel free to add them in the comment section).  And then, of course, there is the #Occupy Movement, which has taken the art of collaboration and networks to a whole new fascinating and important level!  So much to be grateful for this past year, and so much yet to be explored and realized.

Below are some quotes from 2011, that surely forecast continued growth and evolution of collaborative multi-stakeholder work in the year to come (again, please feel free to add others from the past 12 months below).  Enjoy!

“We need not only do things better than we have in the past; we need to link them in smarter and more effective ways.”- David Bornstein (“The Power of Partnerships”)

“Harnessing the power of networks and enabling individual to individual connections can result in impact at a scale and speed unthinkable in recent years.” - Diana Scearce, Monitor Institute (Connected Citizens)

“After [the RE-AMP Network launched], it was absolutely crystal clear no one could win unless we all win.” - Rick Reed (transcript of interview follow-up to Transformer)

“The first step is to identify a few credible leaders who can serve as convenors and who genuinely understand that every community needs a common table.” - Nancy Zimpher, State University of New York (“Collective Impact”)

“My simple premise is that the mission of the 21st century is to build up the positive and reduce the negative forces of interdependence.” – Bill Clinton (quoted in Connected Citizens)

“We need ‘targeted universalism;’ getting everyone on board with universal goals, but not universal strategies for getting there.” - john a. powell, Kirwan Institute (“Systems Thinking and Social Justice”)

“A systems approach that doesn’t bring us into deeper relationship with each other and the entire web of life is not an approach I want any part of.” - Eric Stiens, Kirwan Institute (follow up blog on Systems Thinking Webinar)

“Systemic change ultimately depends on a sustained campaign to increase the capacity and coordination of an entire field.” - John Kania and Mark Kramer, FSG (“Collective Impact”)

“We are the 99%.” - #Occupy

Join Ashley Welch of Interaction Associates Wednesday, December 14, at 1 pm Eastern time, for a timely conversation with her colleague from the Interaction Institute for Social Change, Melinda Weekes. They will discuss Strategies for Designing Social Change, exploring ways leaders in any sector can succeed when leading change. 

Melinda is a senior consultant who works with foundations, NGO’s and community leaders. Recently she has been supporting Occupy Wall Street. As a former lawyer, gospel music theorist and ordained clergy person, Melinda brings a unique perspective to social change.

The following is a post from my friend and colleague Danny Martin, that appeared on his web page on Monday, following our joint workshop at Connecting for Change, a Bioneers Conference.  Tomorrow I will extend this reflection with more details about our session and regenerative leadership practice.

So much to say this week but it all turns on the same theme of how to access the wisdom we need to move forward together into a more sustainable and just society. In a recent article about what he calls The New Economy Movement, Gar Alperovitz, a Professor of Political Economy in the University of Maryland, says that, instead of feeling confined to the binary paths of reforming the broken economic system or revolting to overthrow it, citizens are opting to create something new that will replace the current economic regime, making the old system obsolete in the process. He calls this third way ‘evolutionary reconstruction.’ In another article I sent you last week from the NY Times, the writer, Michael Kimmelman, spoke of ‘the architecture of consciousness’ and suggested that this is what the Occupy Wall Street movement is about: that the point right now is not to come up with a set of demands which would represent one of the binary paths but to stay with the process until the new consciousness that we need can surface. The encampment, Kimmelman concluded, is the point.

I agree with both writers and want to add what I think is a critical complementary component about how this new consciousness and the evolutionary reconstruction it will bring can be found, formed, and fostered. Last Monday I worked with a number of interfaith – secular as well as religious – leaders at the UN that a group of us had invited to be part of a consortium for an ecological civilization to bring what we are calling ‘a prophetic voice’ to the global conversation on ecological sustainability and justice. We are focused on next year’s 20^th anniversary of the first UN Earth Summit in Rio, Brazil though we see this as simply a step, albeit an important one, in the process. We engaged the group in a process of ‘deep listening’ that would allow us to listen together FOR this prophetic voice in the form of a collective wisdom that might certainly be rooted in ancient traditions and inspired by recent documents like The Earth Charter, but would also be fresh, immediate and relevant to the situation being addressed. In a sense, we too were saying that the purpose at this stage is not another set of principles but a new consciousness, and that the point at this moment is the actual conversation. It was clear from the passion and focus that was palpable in the room that the participants grasped this idea as perhaps already the beginnings of a prophetic voice.

Yesterday I co-lead a workshop at the Bioneers Conference in New Bedford, MA with Curtis Ogden, a wonderful young colleague from the Interaction Institute for Social Change on what we called Belonging and Becoming which engaged almost 100 participants in a similar process that in 90 minutes brought a group of strangers into a sense of connectedness (belonging) that enabled them to surface amazingly creative ways of how we could live together (become) more sustainably and more justly. The focus was systems theory and living systems principles but the context was the movements for change that we are all experiencing. By deep listening to each other’s story/world, we learn how to belong – surface principles of belonging (ecological principles, if you like); by listening deeply to each other’s experience and understanding of these principles which are becoming self-evident truths (think ‘interdependence, biodiversity’, etc.), we discover and build a shared consciousness and a shared understanding of concrete practices.

People came away from the experience feeling that this was something they could do – that all of us could do: listen deeply to each other and listen deeply with each other for the collective wisdom that is there already to show us certainly a new way but also inspire and empower us to live it.

A statement of Margaret Mead captured the spirit:

‘For the human species to evolve, the conversation must deepen’

We deepen the conversation by deepening our listening. It is the way that our species has always discovered how to address the challenges of life: surfaced the consciousness and accessed the wisdom needed for a new situation. It is natural to us, in other words, but perhaps, in a world where individualism has fostered the illusion of separation and control we have forgotten this simple though profoundly important art and need to learn it again.

For the third year in a row, I am looking forward to presenting at the Connecting for Change conference, also known as Bioneers by the Bay, sponsored by the Marion Institute. The community of New Bedford, Massachusetts becomes the host and scenic back-drop to some amazing speakers, well known and not so well known, as well as presentations by an incredible array of people doing important work in our New England region. For more about last year’s proceedings, check out the Marion Institute’s YouTube Channel. And for this year’s program, including keynotes by Sobonfu Some (Dagara wisdom), Ben Hewitt (food systems), Satish Kumar (Resurgence magazine), and Amy Goodman (Democracy Now), check out this link. When I’m not checking out different activities, you will find me presenting a session entitled “Belonging and Becoming: Practices for Regenerative Leadership” with my Interaction Associates’ colleague Michael Reidy and our brother in arms Danny Martin.  Come find us at the Ocean Explorium between 2:00 and 3:30 PM on Saturday, October 22nd, if you are interested in exploring the following: How do we tap into our collective capacity and intelligence to work WITH as opposed to against one another and our environment? How do we move ourselves to a more synergistic level of engagement with our surroundings? And look for my inspired tweets that day!