Image Description: Hand-drawn illustration of two people running along a beach toward the water, arms spread wide, with footprints trailing behind them. The scene is sketched in loose purple lines on a soft pink background, with a cliff on one side and waves on the other. By Alexandra Nikolova via Unsplash.
“Time doesn’t go in a straight line, and we are not in a closed system.” – Tyson Yunkaporta, from Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World
For the past 20 years, the Interaction Institute for Social Change has supported many social change networks to launch and evolve. Over that time, we have consistently encountered certain mindsets that are more open to a network way of working. Those minds tend to be more tolerant and receptive of the reality of uncertainty and change. They understand that things in our world are always in flux and that there are real limits to the human tendency to want to control situations. Those who struggle tend to expect change to happen in a straight line: set a goal, make a plan, execute it step by step. Networks rarely work that way.
Working effectively in networks for social change means leading with flexibility. Given the fluid and complex conditions in which most of us live, it’s impossible for any of us to know exactly what must be done to address a particular “issue,” much less keep what should ideally be a diverse and collectively empowered group moving forward together. That’s why the strongest networks spread out responsibility (the ability to respond and take action). When more people have “the ability to respond,” not just a few people at the top, networks become both more resilient and more influential.
The other thing that an effective network requires is trust between people. The old saying that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” doesn’t come true by shoehorning everyone into one way of acting. Rather, it happens when everyone is “doing what they do best and connecting to the rest” as they aim for a common north star. This may sound chaotic, but it actually mirrors the power of “self-organization” in Nature, of which we are all a part! And what can help manage it is the right amount of coordination, communication, and curation (of information) so there is shared awareness of what the different parts are up to.
Another powerful aspect of networks is what is called “emergence” – innovation and new forms of organizing that result from diverse members interacting with one another without too many constraints. New thinking and insights come from the meeting of different fields, experiences, and perspectives. Creativity often comes through initially expanding options and inviting divergent thinking, which takes us away from the initial impulse to control.
The inconvenient truth is that networks, like Life itself, are…inconvenient. When we work hard to try to control and simplify them into linearity and predictability, we end up taking the vitality and potential out of them. While that may give us a short-term sense of being on top of things, the messiness will find some way of getting to us.
And so why not enjoy the meandering ride?
Curtis Ogden
Much of Curtis’ work with IISC entails consulting with multi-interest-holder networks and complex intra-organizational change efforts to ultimately strengthen and transform food, public health, education, and economic development systems at local, state, regional, and national levels. He has worked with these efforts to launch and evolve through various stages of development.
Original article published HERE
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