(5) Ecosystem Awareness

Ecosystem: Your powerful ecosystem

Let's face it - so far we have worked through some serious content. If you have considered your biases, delved deep into the nature of a problem and conjured up a vision you believe in - you might be feeling a bit heavy. "I thought this was supposed to be lean?". Fair enough. But, don't give up on the process - this is where we pivot from thinking about your perception of the problems and possibilities to how this can be achieved in the context of others' work.

Impact work cannot be effective or sustainable in isolation. There is no single change that will improve conditions on an issue immediately. You can find leverage points which shift a system, but even then you need to do this through being aware of everyone else who is aiming to push or pull a system in a certain direction. It is very common for new organisations or teams to be filled with excitement about the changes their app or program will have directly, on it's own. It is even encouraged for founders to tell stories about how their single initiative will make a dent on big issues. This is unsustainable. That initial spark is unique - thank you for lighting it - and it will also add to the fire of hope and effort that other organisations are putting in. Have humility and get alongside the existing ecosystem of actors.

It isn’t easy to collaborate with other organisations and people, even when you’re working towards the same goals; be aware of the tensions that can arise and start by learning about the others in the space. You will notice that some organisations have a huge self-interest in keeping their mailing list and donor base growing and pleasing their board or funders. Try not to let that get in the way of learning what they have tried, what they are doing now, or what they think works. Acting in partnership with large existing organisations can be difficult if they have a lot of administrative systems, so don't dive into that if it's not the right time - focus first on learning and creating a relationship. Your first task is to be aware of other actors, not run a coalition campaign together. You want to build your awareness of the ecosystem so you can find your place in it.

Exercise

Phone call & mapping assignment

This activity is centred around having meetings or phone calls with people who are working in the same space as you on a similar set of issues. Everyone from political groups, non-profit groups, church groups and even local community individuals that are highly connected are relevant. Don't just map people based on the names of organisations on websites - go and learn from them. Take a lot of notes. Create a summary of your notes after the conversation.

Finding the people:

• When you look at the vision you've drafted, which parts of it could be done by others?

• Do some research; what are other organisations already doing towards that vision?

• How might you speak to some institutions that have very different strategies, like businesses, foundations, and high-school initiatives?

• Learn from them directly: Find a time to talk to them on the phone or in person (divide and conquer in a team).

• Prepare a short list of powerful questions - why do you do this work, what has been the most successful thing you've done, what is your strategy for the next 3-5 years going to be, what do you think no one else is doing?

Get together and map it out:

• Who is doing what?

• Where are the clusters of shared approaches?

• What is no one doing?

• What themes are there across "What's working"?

• What can we learn from that?

Re-think your current strategy or assumptions with this information:

• What milestones won't be reached without new interventions?

• Therefore, what milestones should we put in our spotlight?

• Which audiences or groups in society are best served by other actors than yourself? (e.g. high school students by high school teachers) Therefore, who should we not work with?

• Where could we pair up with others to combine efforts? (This question is useful if you have existing programs or if you're starting from scratch. Half baked programs that you're still iterating on but have the funding to try are harder to collaborate on).