The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation Collaboration For Systems Change Darcy Riddell June 16, 2015

“Collaboration is the human face of systems thinking” – The Necessary Revolution, Smith et al., 2010

Our systems are increasing in complexity: Difficult & messy to define & understand Nonlinear Unpredictable Adaptive and changing Slide courtesy of BCHC

Title Calibri Bold 28pt If we are to be innovative about anything in the future, it must be about how we work together. ~ Al Etmanski Slide courtesy of BCHC

Title Calibri Bold 28pt Leadership on Complex Issues Requires collaboration of those who have a stake in the issue and are affected by the issue. Requires working across sectors and disciplines Calls for new skills, capacities and ways of being Adapted from BCHC

Addressing Complex Issues 1. Create the conditions for solutions to emerge. 2. Begin conducting ‘safe to fail’ experiments. 3. Observe and learn to collectively make meaning 4. Take adaptive action…and repeat

Adapted by Mark Cabaj from Mattessich, P.W., Murray-Close, M. & Monsey, B.R. (1992). Collaboration: What makes it work. St. Paul, MN: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation. The “Working Together Continuum” Tamarack Institute for Community Engagement

DISCUSSION: Why collaborate? What are the challenges of collaboration?

Innovation Processes: Explosion of new tools, technologies, methods for collaboration Labs, collective impact, co- production, networks, ecosystems for systems change LABSLABSLABSLABSLA… Buzzwords or pathways to greater impact?

Partnership Brokering Skills Negotiation 2.Facilitation 3.Synthesising information & record keeping 4.Communication & presentation 5.Coaching & capacity building 6.Institution-building 7.Reviewing & revising

Constellation Governance - Tonya Surman, Centre for Social Innovation Co- Production of public services: Designing & delivering services is a partnership between citizens and professionals.Catherine Needham and Sarah CarrCatherine Needham and Sarah Carr Generative Social Networks 2015 PETER PLASTRIK, Stanford Social Innovation Review

Building a coalition of unusual suspects: Six Key Themes About Collaboration Attend to power, diversity and trust Create accessible platforms & reduce dependency Invest in the skill (it’s not a hobby) Resilient, distributed leadership Find, empower and mobilize unusual suspects Collaboration should be scalable and sustainable

Taking a Social Movement Perspective… A sustained focus on power and inclusion

Who are the essential stakeholders in your system? How could you be collaborating more effectively? Legitimacy?Urgency?Power?