Operationalizing Towards the Horizon
Can Responsive Change Infrastructure Bridge Past, Present & Future?
Introduction
Administration of governmental, non-governmental, community, and tribal organizations and institutions happens everyday across the lands that are called the United States. In some of these places and spaces there is attention to sacred, beautiful, self-organized, and aspirational governance ways. Kuleana is a Hawaiian word that invokes the kind of responsibility and stewardship for land, people, water, and place that centers interdependence and wholeness.
At this time in 2024, most folks experience a governance, organizational, and institutional matrix composed of an American nation-state with networks of federal, tribal, and state agencies along with foundations, institutions, and community organizations. Many of these entities control massive resources and infrastructure that fundamentally impact the well-being and potential thriving of communities. Some of these entities may be small and less resourced in conventional ways but are wealthy in their understanding of the daily realities and experiences of the people they are working with or beside.
Whether large or small, there are distinctions to be understood in how each of these entities operate. Some seem to habitually uphold structures and programs that are disconnected from any sense of kuleana, thriving, or wholeness. Others seem to be trying to find ways to ‘’re-wire’’ and respond to changing conditions and communities with a sense of shared purpose and meaningful effort. Meaningful effort and intention is essential AND there are still many moments where powerful visions and ascribed values are being met with subpar operations, execution structures, and capacities. In other words, clarity of purpose and the will to work differently is not the same thing as growing and maturing work efforts that are healthy in culture and effective.
So, what does it look like to cultivate kuleana and live into the operational practices and commitments that might flow from accepting sacred responsibility? What does it look like to animate more sacred, creative, and effective practices within the organizational and institutional bodies of the present, even as we imagine and break the habits of maintaining that very infrastructure for the sake of it?
Dynamic Change Infrastructure
For the sake of clarity, let’s call the collection of organizations, agencies, networks, and institutions interested in, actively pursuing, or having a vital role in a thriving interdependent future as ‘’Dynamic Change Infrastructure.’’ A working definition of Dynamic Change Infrastructure would be about those entities (foundations, agencies, departments, organizations, networks, and movements) who are informed by the past, are rooted in relationships, and who would seek to situate their present-day work into generational change with a full humanity commitment.
As a bridge to many bridges, how might the phenomenon of collective acceleration assist any given entity that is part of the Dynamic Change Infrastructure to meet its operational potential, even if part of that journey is the growing practice of developing more flexible and nimble organizations and institutions that have to re-fashion and re-wire themselves far more frequently than is currently practiced?
This seems like an essential question that is hard to answer in part because present-day ‘’change’’ infrastructure inconsistently delivers actual change, struggles to address the levels of pain and brokenness that is often felt in communities, and because there is a real level of organizational dis-ease and dysfunction that makes it difficult or uncomfortable to address. The litany of organizations and efforts that have missions and causes have come to be seen more like ineffective band-aids than any kind of creative, strategic, and effective approach. There are mountains of books and articles that examine how this came to be – and one can decide how much negative intent to assign.
Regardless of how we got to here, how do we get from here to what is next?
If a core strategy and understanding is to cultivate an emerging horizon of thriving, what does it look like to begin to operationalize towards that bigger horizon?
A bridge to a bridge to a bridge
In a time of unraveling and loosening knots in service of a bigger horizon, now is as good a time as any to try to further unravel and fully imagine ways we can realize the full potential of non-profit, community, and governmental organizations and institutions. These are some of our essential questions:
What if the current “dynamic change infrastructure” could evolve to be healthy, functional and operationally excellent?
What if we could describe what it looks like to practice good leadership at this time on the clock of the world?
Can leadership and effective teams and work culture be cultivated and how?
What stories of leadership, learning, limitations, and breakthroughs could help unlock imaginations and increased effectiveness?
What could we learn from the horizon – about the ways we need to pivot/release/invest in certain qualities or aspects of non-profit organization, community, and government effectiveness?
How do we avoid reinforcing habits and structures that need to evolve or collapse?
There’s plenty of attention on the patterns, habits, and diagnosis of what’s wrong, but what does it actually look like to re-set, pivot, and evolve toward meaningful and effective organizational structures in service of purpose?
Once generational strategies become sharper and more vivid, what is the ‘’getting messy’’ part of living into these strategies look like?
What We’ve Got
Within a core group working on these questions, we have experience, learning, and research that we could imagine sharing through a given platform (more on that below). We have brainstormed the following potential topics and areas:
Shop Talk: sharing key tools and bright spot practices; looking at the limits of theory and analysis; and where to prioritize/begin when the rubber hits the road
A Gaze Towards the Horizon: looking at the weather, terrain, horizons; the roles needed; kuleana - governance - democracy and tensions within; tipping points (bridge to many bridges); lineages, teachers, paradigms; and collective acceleration vs collective impact (Norma’s teachings in the hyper-applied domain of the containers)
System Sense-making: how to identify, make sense of, learn the rhythms of the systems that we operate within
Leadership: the art, practice, and delusions of organizational and institutional leadership; the role of mentorship, the vital role of teams (and the value of teams of 3 – generals on the left and right)
Organizational Foundations: non-attachments and commitments and what these mean to others and ourselves; principles & practices – the embodiment and actualization of values; equity as everyday praxis and the pros/cons of DEI; making a clean cut and decision making
Organizational Visioning, Strategy and Action Planning: “Everything You Learned about Bumper Sticker Visions & Missions and Five-Year Planning is Wrong!”; Making and growing the skill of assessment; When you're starting up and you need to plan and be effective before you have time to plan; Operational planning
Core Personnel and Revolutionizing HR: Building a staff (recruiting, hiring, onboarding); Pay equity; Navigating bad fits and misalignments; Reimagining Human Resources
Relational Strategists and Relational Strategy: Creating a new role to build culture, communication, feedback, and slack in a system
Learning & Growing: Learning with the work; ad-hoc learning as an organization; supporting personal learning and professional/leadership development
Conscious Communications: Systems and cultures of communication; navigating “breakdowns’ and addressing tension/conflict
Productivity & Project Management: Smaller arcs and sprints; time maps; email; support staff; bigger arcs and ending well
External Personnel: Meaningful contracting; loving accountability & allies
Financial stewardship: What it looks like to keep promises and care for financial resources as they are developed, secured, and spent towards purpose.
Evaluation, alignment & accountability: Their differences, similarities; Outcome mapping as tool and practice
Resetting and Rewiring: When and how to pivot or even begin anew as your effectiveness changes what is needed and you need to release no longer useful parts of your effort or infrastructure.
What is Still Unclear?
Is this proposed direction a good idea? Will we reinforce the very dynamic we are trying to solve for?
If there is possibility, what are essential practices and questions to hold while moving forward with planning?
What are the right vessels and/or platforms for this work? One of or a combination of:
A series of articles, essays, chapters (or a book)
A workshop, training series or longer form fellowship-type opportunity
A network of practitioners
Media offerings (e.g. podcast, YouTube, website)
Partnering with existing orgs and leadership infrastructure
What is an elegant offering that both makes impact, answers essential questions, generates funding resources, and does not lead to burnout/overextension?
