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The Art of Scaling Deep
November 1, 2023 @ 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Description
This webinar offers an introduction to the concept of Scaling Deep as it relates to social innovation. We will be unpacking the work of The Systems Sanctuary and Ashoka Canada on the topic, which explores how Scaling Deep – a deep personal and cultural transformation to create lasting and sustainable change – can help you achieve enduring impact alongside other scaling strategies like scaling up and scaling out.
A quick overview of the Scaling Deep Research: Why and What
The world calls us to shift our mindsets and values from outdated ways of being and doing rooted in dominance, hierarchy and harmful systems, towards new ways rooted in relationship, collaboration and innovation.
The prevailing concept of social innovation’s scale has been fixated on “scaling up” and “scaling out,” heavily influenced by the business world’s ideals of growth, individualism, competition, and quantifiable outcomes.
In doing so, it overlooks the importance of slow, steady, and contextually rooted work in deepening relationships and healing. We call this “Scaling Deep” and is understood as the deep personal and broad cultural transformational work that is required to create durable systems change. Our view is there much more to learn, question and understand about how it contributes to change.
In 2022, The Systems Sanctuary and Ashoka Canada collaborated to inquire into the practices of Scaling Deep in the context of systems change, changemaking and social entrepreneurship.
Our research sheds light on the significance of Scaling Deep as a complementary approach to achieving enduring impact alongside other scaling strategies. We found Scaling Deep involves deep personal and cultural transformation to create lasting and sustainable change. It delves into inner work, community connections, and narrative exploration, demanding time, introspection, and personal growth while challenging biases and assumptions. Rooting in context, it recognizes and works with power dynamics. These practices were seen as preparing the conditions necessary for change. In this way, Scaling Deep informs strategies to scale up and out.
In our experience as leaders of long-term systemic change initiatives, innovative leaders and initiatives who are bringing the critical perspective required to actually shift harmful systems, are often under-resourced and under valued. They can be working in ways that are resonant with scaling deep practices but are not recognized by traditional power and decision makers. We heard over and over again how this work is hard and not valued, despite its crucial role in driving transformative change. As a consequence, activities focused on “Scaling Deep” are hidden away from the spotlight and our ambition is to change that.