As someone who has long been fascinated and inspired by what we can learn by mimicking nature’s patterns, the field of permaculture feels like one I could study and practice for a life time and never run out of more to learn. Permaculture has various definitions, such as the science of resilience or how to… Read more
Blog
Setting the Table for a Great Meeting
A key part of our work at New Directions is collaborating with our clients to design agendas that lead to great meetings. Developing strategic clarity is the foundation of the fine art of agenda design. Getting to this strategic clarity is an iterative process best done in conversation. As I save and rename an agenda… Read more
Leading with a Network Mindset
Working in a network is different than working in an organization. When we invite people to join a network, we cannot expect people who have spent their entire careers working in organizations to know how to “show up” to work in networked ways. Traditional organizational structures are based on certain way of seeing the world… Read more
An Iterative Approach to Network Design and Development
We have recently had the pleasure of working with the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance (MSGA) as they design a Great Neighborhoods Network. The Alliance’s Great Neighborhoods initiative seeks to build a movement to transform the built environment, creating great places around the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Significant work has been done to create partnerships and goals… Read more
Funders Role in Catalyzing Collaboration in Networks (or Undermining It)
Funders inherently have significant power in a system. The way that they use their funding and positional authority can have huge impact on whether a network works effectively. At the Northern New England Networks community of practice gathering I attended this week, a group of network leaders, funders, and consultants reflected on the question: In… Read more
The Climate Action Conundrum
Years ago, I was in the audience at a conference of investors and environmentalists listening to a panel of presenters talk about what actions they were pursuing on climate. A speaker from NRDC, who worked in their D.C. office and was all too familiar with the political realities, was talking about their strategy of advocating… Read more
Dashboards to Track Progress on Greenhouse Gas Emissions
This week, the State of Massachusetts just launched a new dashboard to track the progress of greenhouse gas emission reductions and related indicators. The Massachusetts Global Warming Solutions Project (GWSP) Network has been working with the state to develop a meaningful set of metrics to enable progress to be evaluated.
Strategic Questioning and the Art of Network Leadership
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
Collaboration Lessons from the Basketball Court
Several mornings I week, I play basketball with a group of women in my town. We have no rules and do not keep score. We just enjoy the exercise and the fun of playing and teamwork. Our core group has been playing multiple times a week for over five years, which is probably more time… Read more
Seeing the System: Visuals of Networks
When people are coming together in a network to work on changing a system, such as local food, they need a picture of the system as a whole and its parts. Pictures are also helpful to map how work gets done in a network – and these images look much more molecular and circular than… Read more