Tension driven fragmentation
It was going well until controversial topics like money came to the table and now there is fragmentation
We’ve collected our key insights and alerts or areas to watch out for that relate to this challenge. There is much more detail inside the Field Guide should you wish to delve deeper.
Alerts
Be aware of these potential pitfalls or challenges related to this.
Centralised sensemaking
In the process of designing governance structures, if sensemaking is too centralised then the system’s capacity to ‘live into’ the intentions are thwarted.
Insufficient team configuration
If your task will involve stewarding the complex collaboration to set governance agreements, legal agreements and organising and learning systems together then not having the skillsets in the team to enable this can inhibit what is possible.
Insufficient capacity, time and resource given to collaborating
It is often significantly underestimated how much time and attention is needed for the organising, governing, learning, operating, practising, embodying and other systems needed in order to do good work collaboratively. When this is not given enough attention the conditions erode over time.
Not inspecting the relational capacity of the system
Beware of going too hard and fast into polarising topics such as money before there is the relational capacity across the group to hold them.
Ignoring group dynamics
Group dynamics are a huge shaping factor in what the group can create together - insufficient attention can create a false economy where the actions we take can’t fulfil their possibility.
Insights
The key insights from this challenge.
Stewarding governance
Stewarding governance and organising for complex collaborations is a craft that requires practice, multiple disciplines and many types of capacities (head, heart, hand, gut)
Stewardship Assumptions
A key challenge for early stewards is developing appropriate ways to understand the live dynamics of the complex system in order to determine what to do next.
A Collaboration Process
We can learn from other contexts to equip ourselves to help work out the steps we might take in stewarding a collaboration process
Stewardship Capabilities
Stewarding governance and organising for complex collaborations is a craft that requires practice, multiple disciplines and many types of capacities (head, heart, hand, gut)
Stewardship Team
We can create stewardship teams with capabilities that enable infrastructure design, process and space holding for complex collaborations
Stewardship Assumptions
A key challenge for early stewards is developing appropriate ways to understand the live dynamics of the complex system in order to determine what to do next.
Stewardship Assumptions
When things go well, contributions amplify in a positive, virtuous cycle. Conversely, when dynamics tip and begin to deteriorate, a rapid, vicious cycle of withdrawal can take hold. A key part of the work is stewarding this balance to prevent the tip into a vicious cycle.
Tools and Examples linked to this Challenge
Here are some tools we used to tackle this problem. They might help you in your own work.
Taking a multi-value view in governance
An example of taking a multi-value view within governance structures.
Test status: once
Asset mapping to reveal and witness multi-value
Asset mapping tool and process to help shift the value deep code in complex collaborations.
Test status: few
Emergent strategy and learning
An overview of the strategy and learning approach taken in a systems change collaboration.
Test status: once
