SYSTEMS CHANGE • ETHNOGRAPHY • PARTICIPATORY DESIGN
• COMMUNICATIONS & STORYTELLING •
HELPING PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS GROUND THEIR WORK IN THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITIES THEY SERVE
Applied Ethnographic Field Research
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The primary skill of the ethnographer is to see what is hidden in plain sight, and to understand the why of human culture, by rigorously and gently applying curiosity to every aspect of human speech and behavior.
By letting go of preconceptions and preferences, and immersing themselves in context, ethnographers become intimate with the people, spaces and cultures that they study. The power of ethnography is that it ruthlessly rids the research process of bias by allowing the life-world and paradigm of the research subject (rather than the ethnographer) to guide and structure the research itself. The ethnographer is not there to test assumptions and hypotheses, but to enter into someone else's world, and learn to think, see and live as they do. Another part of the ethnographer's task, however, is to know what to look for, what to focus on, and what questions to ask, without projecting his or her own ideas or perspectives onto the research subject. By balancing the general and the specific, and by listening deeply, ethnography enables insight into human behavior, meaning, and motivation. |
PARTICIPATORY DESIGN
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Participatory Design is an inclusive design process in which a diverse team of stakeholders co-designs and iterates creative solutions to a problem. This team could be composed of designers; users of the technology, institution, product or service being designed; those directly impacted by a social challenge; and/or other people with a stake in the process. Participatory Design means people working creatively together to solve problems which are very difficult to solve. The discipline of participatory design is fun, and elicits a number of wonderful capabilities and skills in participants, such as the enthusiastic use of the imagination, unbridled creativity, design and prototyping skills, and the ability to learn from and collaborate with those we may disagree with.
But Participatory Design also means designing in a way that is embedded in community. For this reason it also requires skills in listening and community engagement, and helps build an attitude of humility and service. It means being willing to let go of your ideas in favor of the best idea. In Participatory Design, we create together, and the best idea wins. When we apply this inclusive principle to the re-design of our institutions, social relationships and systems of governance, we find ourselves in a creative, revolutionary moment, and amazing things can happen by—and for—community. |
For more documentation, check out Projects
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Systems Change Practice
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Widespread, systemic social change is not something we can just "do." More and more it seems that social change is something that "comes about" or "emerges" from ecologies of interwoven people, organizations, interests, habits, practices, industries, and relationships. These are living systems. Not just complex systems.
While we can look at our history and culture and see massive progress and advances in many different areas of human life, we can also clearly see that we are living through a post-Orwellian nightmare of interconnected late-industrial catastrophes. Contemporary literature and practice refer to these as "wicked messes." A practice of systemic social change, then, is a practice that brings together people who are part of — or witness to — a particular wicked mess, say gun violence, race inequality, or climate change. It brings the people involved at every level together to investigate the nature of that challenge and to try out some ways to begin to address it. The tools and methods used in this kind of practice are many, including Systems Thinking (see Ludwig von Bertalanffy, Donella Meadows, David Peter Stroh, Gregory Bateson, and the Deep Ecology movement), Ethnography, Design (including participatory design, design thinking, prototyping, human-centered design etc), Theory U (Otto Scharmer), Agile Project Management, Grounded Theory, Social Sculpture (Joseph Beuys, Antanas Mockus); as well as processes and tools like Council, Non-Violent Communication, Deep Democracy, the Work that Reconnects (Joanna Macy) and the Art of Hosting. Even various meditative traditions can be part of the milieu, offering insight, embodiment and leadership training needed to develop the resilience and agency for systemic change. For a bit more on Systemic Social Change Practice, check out the Small Library of Useful Things. |
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COMMUNICATIONS DESIGN & STORYTELLING
A story is more than a narrative about the world or the people in it. A story is an expression of beliefs, culture and world-view that has agency to change the ways that people and institutions relate, behave and see the world.
Storytelling for an organization, institution or project must go beyond documentation and communication. A deeper form of storytelling requires tapping into and expressing the innermost culture - the source and agency of the work at hand - and sharing with the world from that level.
When this happens, storytelling becomes a powerful vehicle for change and an indispensable aspect of the creative strategic process at every level. This kind of communications work is not something that can be outsourced to a single person or department, especially in a collaborative creative environment. All people are storytellers, and when it's recognized that stories live in the culture and people, the telling of stories can become a force that connect the people inside and outside of an organization. It can become a vehicle for collaboration, expression, and alignment that magnetizes interest, and positions people and their work powerfully in the world.
This kind of collaborative storytelling requires and fosters the development of a range of technical, creative and leadership capabilities at the individual and team level. This can make or break the success of a team's efforts.
Storytelling for an organization, institution or project must go beyond documentation and communication. A deeper form of storytelling requires tapping into and expressing the innermost culture - the source and agency of the work at hand - and sharing with the world from that level.
When this happens, storytelling becomes a powerful vehicle for change and an indispensable aspect of the creative strategic process at every level. This kind of communications work is not something that can be outsourced to a single person or department, especially in a collaborative creative environment. All people are storytellers, and when it's recognized that stories live in the culture and people, the telling of stories can become a force that connect the people inside and outside of an organization. It can become a vehicle for collaboration, expression, and alignment that magnetizes interest, and positions people and their work powerfully in the world.
This kind of collaborative storytelling requires and fosters the development of a range of technical, creative and leadership capabilities at the individual and team level. This can make or break the success of a team's efforts.
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