Constellating Change

Part of our work at the School of System Change is to continuously sense and respond to what learning needs we are observing in the field. What we are increasingly seeing is folks noticing a disconnect between what ambitious system change initiatives plan to do and what they actually do - the gap between the “what” and “how”.

In spring 2023 we are launching a new programme called “Constellating Change” which focuses on how we organise for change within our systems change collaborations and initiatives. The purpose is to get into the nitty gritty of the systemic structural and cultural governance elements that often inhibit initiatives to move from planning to implementation.

Our aspiration is to bridge the void for system change practitioners between what we intend to do in the world and how we internally organise to get stuff done effectively, inclusively and systemically.

Constellating Change sets off with the intention to support teams in their practical application and learning of how to organise for change. It will include seasonal intensives, inspiration sessions with contributors from the field and ongoing sessions with the cohort to harvest learnings and design action inquiry experiments suitable for your context.

We recognise that two years might be too long a commitment for now - so we are looking to start off in 2023 with an initial cohort and after the first year, ascertain if, where and how this community needs more customised support going forward into year two.

In 2023, we will offer

• Two intensives over the course of 3 to 4 days, likely remotely although we might look to convene in person. In these sessions we will have contributors that will bring their frameworks, approaches and methods to help the teams apply them to their initiatives.
• 1:1 team coaching calls with project teams on a regular basis, addressing challenges and questions that are emerging in the application of concepts and methods.
• Peer-learning between 5 to 8 collaborators and critically amongst the cohort–sharing experiences and support.
• Resources to systemic approaches and practical tools–the programme will curate across multiple fields and spaces to help participating teams find what is useful to them.

Our aspiration is for participants on this journey to be able to:

• Support working with others - from team to wider stakeholders - what structural and cultural elements we need to tend to.
• Make decisions about how we organise for change, from function, to form and structure.
• Feel more confident navigating tensions that arise in system change collaborations.
• Create experiments to refine and crystalise what ways of working structures, processes and practices that are needed in your context.

Weaving of content

At the School, we are experienced at putting together learning journeys that offer a learning infrastructure that supports action and working through challenges, and reflection to support deeper learning. Below are some areas of content that will be weaved together in this learning journey.

This is a program for up to 8 ambitious teams of 2 to 4 people who at the heart of designing and running collaborative endeavours with the intention for systems shifting outcomes.

It is designed for those who are in the depths of the day to day organising, with a route to input / designing the strategic direction of the work. For those who have clarity about the outcome you’re looking to create but are feeling less clarity about the route to get there.

This is a place for all types of initiatives of many shapes, forms and stages. You might be…

• A funder or organisation initiated collaboration or a self initiated group of individuals come together to do something.
• You might be a sector or industry alliance or collaboration or alliance or have a thematic
• At different stages of the journey - just forming, 2-3 years in or deep into the journey

You are likely to have buckets of commitment, resources and people to make it happen and are humble enough to know you don’t have all of the answers, tools, skills and perspectives you need to get you there.

This support of a year - which we think will have the possibility of continuing into two years - would initially cost £15k per each team. We will allow some design by those involved to ensure it really meets the needs of the cohort.

We understand that financial barriers may be a limiting factor in your participation and we are open to conversation about how we might find a way to make your participation possible.

Get in touch

Info Session

Interested and want to find out more? Sign up to our open house event on the 20th January to hear from the hosting team. We will share some of our learnings and experiences as well as some tips on how to bring joy and life to the everyday and mundane things that make collaboration work.

Sign up

Read more

Want to understand more about what the new learning journey might look like?

Download the brochure

Our aspiration is to bridge the gap with systems change practitioners between what we intend to do in the world externally and how we organise to do it internally. For more information, check out our recent article on Constellating change: Exploring patterns of organising.