In a complex world of interconnected social and environmental challenges, it is increasingly clear that no one organization can solve these alone. A new focus on “collective leadership” is emerging where people collaborate and align their work across organizations and traditional boundaries for greater impact. In this context, we need skills to engage the diversity… Read more
Tag: Emergence
Collective Impact: Emerging Issues and Challenges from the Field
Last week, the Leadership Learning Community sponsored a beautifully-facilitated gathering in Boston to celebrate the launch of its new publication Leadership & Collective Impact. The room of about 25 people included network weavers, organizational consultants, funders, writers, community organizers – all working in some way to advance collective impact and network approaches to social change…. Read more
Imaginal Cells: A Model from Nature for Transforming Systems
The transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly provides a compelling metaphor for those working to re-imagine and transform organizations and larger systems to be thriving, restorative, and sustainable. This metaphor illustrates how connecting networks of those working for change is the next step to bring about a larger transformation. Elisabet Sahtouris, an evolutionary biologist… Read more
Taking the Time to Realize the Full Value of Networks
What I appreciate about my work is that I get to team with various consultants on various projects in various sectors. We, and our clients, are all in an evolving conversation and experiment about how to work in networked ways to create social change. Whether the context is energy efficiency, local food, transportation, or education,… Read more
Insights on Strategic Questioning
When you teach you learn. I recently taught a workshop on Strategic Questioning at the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government, as part of a Leadership Survival Skills workshop series for New England alumni. For background, Strategic Questioning is a technique of asking open questions that inspire movement and new insights/ideas. Strategic questions are… Read more