CONTEXT
GROWTH AREAS
SUCCESSES
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTION
CHALLENGES
FUTURE CONVERSATIONS
The movement towards systems change is growing in both scale and effectiveness
From our work and that of many others, it is clear that the intent to adopt systems approaches is growing, with new sectors seeking to apply these practices both at larger scales (e.g. policy levels) and smaller scales (e.g. at the community level). The field is also maturing. Tools to ensure effectiveness and codify the essential practices are being developed that are lowering the barriers to adoption of these practices. Below are some more specific themes within this overall finding.
Growing support for taking systems approaches in many sectors
Communities of practice have been emerging which offer learning spaces and support for those pioneering new approaches to change. For examples of these approaches and communities, see the Resources page.
““For convening, we offer Discovery Grants — a space for people to bring people together, think through the problem through a systems design approach. ‘What are the systemic behaviors? Where is the openness to change?’ Then come out of that process with a project plan they can shop around to funders. Up to $10,000 to support process, up to $10,000 to support participation in that process. No matching required. Some people just need to convene and know how to move forward. Otherwise, they’re stuck in the process and don’t know how to move forward. So we support Discovery Cohorts, 5-month process to empathize & develop a project plan. We then offer what we call test grants, allow you to test the change you seek.””
Place-based investment allows for systemic thinking
In particular, “place-based” efforts, which are invested in specific communities or regions can work with the many Community Foundations and Family Foundations who care deeply about the future of their regions. These foundations have the capacity, funding, convening power, and will to invest in cross-sectoral issues and are often willing to experiment with change processes to catalyze local and regional change. This is significantly different than funding which is structured under topic areas such as “water” or “maternal health.” Systems change requires touching many dimensions of an issue and frequently does not fit within a topic or domain-specific funding silo.
““The foundation has a strong attachment to that place. They also believe that if you can make a model of what’s possible [here], then it has a certain gravity that it wouldn’t have if it were just somewhere else. Every stakeholder was place-based.””
Great funding relationships are built on a special kind of trust: that which comes from a shared awareness of where we need to be experimental
The best systemic work provides room for flexibility and long-term experimentation. This flexibility is also crucial in the funding relationships that support the work: the best outcomes result when all stakeholders, including funders, conveners, practitioners, and communities, embrace a question-focused process together.
““The key success factor is trust. Our funding from [a foundation] is truly question-driven. We set some expectations and milestones, and there are multiple touch points with the funder, but there’s complete flexibility around the budget. We don’t have to spend it on specific items, so we can see a really great opportunity and test it out. This is all about people and the trust in our relationship.””
The majority of successful systems change funding arrangements arise from close relationships between funders, conveners, and other partners, in which conversations can be patient and nuanced with an equal sense of value held by all parties. These types of relationships tend to lead to a shared awareness of the unique dynamics of the challenge and enable a discussion about where impactful experimentation, exploration, and emergent strategy can best be applied.
““They trust us. Period. They trust [me] and the fiscal sponsor. They have participated in our open meetings so they can see it all. They are equals - people don’t shut down when the funders in the room. We tell them what we will report on vs. the other way around.””
One-on-one, personal connections are crucial for such relationships. Successful partnerships often begin with personal connections between individuals: people who meet serendipitously and hit it off, or who otherwise have deep personal trust, either through shared history or friendship.
““[Our Funder] and I built a friendship over the years. He is a mentor - almost like a grandfather in my life. When we received money from them, we also received patience, flexibility, forgiveness. These kinds of relationships that are willing to endure ups and downs.... This is rare. But they help you be able to communicate the reality of what is happening- when you are creating something - there are ups and downs! In other relationships, I have to only share the good news.” ”
Speaking plainly, telling stories of impact and learning together in real time creates a bridge
Plain language which explains the phases of work and approach as opposed to over-complicated jargon about “systemic change” tends to lead to shared understanding more easily. For example, if you are not sure where the work will lead because you want the strategy to be discovered rather than planned, you can probably still discuss scenarios of where it might lead in order achieve greater clarity.
““We really have a challenge to be understood. We don’t want to simplify it down to ‘we build businesses’ because that sounds like Y combinator. I think we tend to overwhelm people with information. Our differentiation is in the details - We could be misunderstood for XPrize. We build towards ‘global prosperity’ so we are now an ‘impact incubator’ Lots of jargon in our work. ‘Need finding’ is a part of our work which simply means identifying needs. Compared to the technicality of saying ‘ethnographic design research’ this is a pretty simple clear way of describing what we do.””
““We decided not to talk about systems change and instead say market development. We say: we start with the issue and solving the issue is our goal. Building a company is secondary. We would build multiple companies if we need to. There is no silver bullet - we say this - we need various solutions. This is very logical for people. We only work on issues which affect more than 100 million people. We need behavior change, policy, and companies. And then it clicks, without saying the word systems - that we need to work on many pieces at once. Policy, market education, financing, and start-ups.””
Shared experience is a more powerful teacher than putting something in writing; it’s really effective when funders, conveners, and system players can operate side by side to learn together.
Organizations across the board are experimenting with promising new practices for evaluation & learning together which measure holistic outcomes providing evidence for the value of a systemic approach. It’s true that full attribution may be very hard, and change processes can be extremely complex, but there are tools and practices that can be used to measure impact. They may need to be adapted in every context, but we don’t have to start from scratch.
““What are the right kinds of question to ask? What makes a question a fundamental assumption challenging question? One of the biggest ROI is learning - learning is the biggest ROI... learning about how someone is navigating, or how much context matters, or portability of a given solution.””