Learnings About Complexity from the Grassroots

• Together is Better

Most would agree that no organization or sector – government, business, or social purpose -  can resolve today’s complex issues and opportunities independently. However, when they come together as a whole or complete community to develop a shared vision and values; their social, economic, and community well-being is enhanced with collaborative, informed decision-making and action.

Catalyzing diverse stakeholders to work collaboratively safeguards against policy, decisions, and funding favouring economic well-being over social and environmental well-being. This is due primarily to the systemic collaboration resulting in trusted relationships, better-informed decisions, and the transformative innovation needed for today’s complex challenges and opportunities.

• It’s Everyone’s, Yet No One’s Responsibility

While we might agree we all must work more collaboratively to ensure community social, environmental, and economic well-being, the reality is that when something is deemed to be everyone’s responsibility, it typically becomes no one’s responsibility. When responsibility is diffused among many, it usually leads to overall inaction. As a result, there is a pressing need for neutral impact catalyst leadership, not only to ‘call the meeting’ but also to coach, support, or, in some cases, fund the leadership, organizational, and community capacity necessary for systemic collaboration and transformative innovation. This leadership provides a sense of reassurance and confidence in the collaborative process.

The Power of Citizen-Led Initiatives

Systemic collaboration must be community-led if the intent is to motivate, mobilize, and maximize stakeholders to find solutions for complex issues and opportunities. Engaging citizens is especially critical because they are the experts in the communities where they live, work and play. Not being aligned with, or hampered by, hierarchies, policies, and red tape, means citizens can, and do, move with impressive agility and speed to get things done, often achieving results that would be difficult for other entities to match.

• Leadership Doesn’t Always Need a Title

Collaborative cultures promote an understanding that everyone has the potential to be a leader - with or without a formal title. It is much more about behaviour than it is about the title. Some of the most impactful leaders we observed in our work were those not always viewed as leaders within bureaucratic settings—for example, young adults, women, artists, retirees, mavericks, etc. The systemic collaboration needed for greater community and global impact requires new and different leadership competencies and should be considered a critical investment.

• There is a Hunger for Community

As a society, we have, and are, paying a high cost for prioritizing economic development and professionalizing silo and sector-based delivery within our communities. This shift has sidelined essential aspects of quality of life in favour of maximizing profits and market efficiency. It has meant the loss of ‘community,’ being connected to others and a sense of belonging. It has resulted in issues related to loneliness and isolation that are often associated with mental health issues, reduced safety and security, fewer opportunities for growth and creativity, and a lack of empowerment through service to others.  Although not always clearly articulated as such, there is an increased hunger for meaning and community in our lives.

• The Glass is Not Half Empty, It’s Half Full

Thriving communities have shifted their focus from their problems or needs to begin by identifying their strengths and assets that can then be leveraged to improve quality of life and address local needs and opportunities. Community assets include the talents and strengths of individuals and groups, organizations and institutions that provide services or support, tangible places or structures, cultural assets that convey the unique identity and heritage of the community, and financial assets. 


• Innovation is More Social Than Independent

Trusted relationships, diverse networks, connections, and ‘we vs me’ thinking are essential because innovation is more social than the result of an individual endeavour. We learned, ‘The weirder the mix, the better the fix.’ The most transformative and more likely to be adopted innovations resulted from social interactions that modified and combined shared context, interests, needs, knowledge, ideas, and experiences rather than a solitary invention.

• Embrace the Messy

Today, solutions are rarely linear. As a result, a willingness to embrace growth that will often be organic is common among those who have successfully achieved transformative change. Knowing the process without having clear solutions at the beginning of an initiative is challenging for many, but not all. Often, the early adopters, innate system-thinkers, and those open to change have more success in the earliest and messiest stages of initiatives. They address complexity by beginning with the Why and emphasizing values and outcomes.

• Bigger May Not Always Be Better

Larger organizations typically have more financial and human resources to dedicate to complexity and innovation and are generally viewed as a more stable and less risky investment. However, smaller organizations are often willing to take more risks, demonstrate more resourcefulness, and can typically develop and implement changes and innovation more quickly. They are also better positioned to leverage trust, credibility, and personal connections. When larger organizations and businesses are viewed as more stable and less risky, there is a tendency and a loss when smaller and newer organizations and their innovative ideas and initiatives are ignored or dismissed. 

• Grassroots and the Grasstops Connect to a Common Vision

Complex systems need involvement from both the grassroots and grasstops in thinking about the future of their community.  Applying strategic foresight helps to see that change comes from both the world and from ourselves and can promote anticipation and readiness for the impact of both expected and unexpected global changes at the local level. Working collaboratively to create a shared vision, values, and outcomes for the future also provides strategies to influence change within our spheres of influence.

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