A presentation at the ROCKWOOL Foundation Interventions Unit's conference "Bryd Mønsteret" on ”Bryd mønstret” on 31 january 2019 by Charles Leadbeater Jennie Winhall

1. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 1
JANUARY 2016
How to change a system…
Charles Leadbeater
charlie@charlesleadbeater.net
Jennie Winhall
jennie@jenniewinhall.net
jwi@rfintervention.dk

2. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 2
What is a system?
How many different kinds of “systems” have
you relied upon in the last 24 hours?

3. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 3
What is a system?
How many different kinds of “systems” have
you relied upon in the last 24 hours?
Money system
Electricity
Water
School
Transport
Heating
Information

4. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 4
What is good about systems?
What features of systems make them so
vital?

5. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 5
What is good about systems?
What features of systems make them so
vital?
Interconnected
Complete
Reliable
Easy to use

10. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 10
What is good about systems?
Container is a product
Containerisation is a system
Systems are much more powerful than products

11. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 11
What is bad about systems?
What features of systems make them
frustrating? Why do they go wrong?

12. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 12
What kind of change do we need?
• Change within a system:
improvement
• Change of a system:
transformation
System A System B
ALT/NOWCC

13. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 13
The systems innovation dilemma
(Ideas + example) x tools + you = a method for system change
Systems change has to be personal: it’s about you as much as its about “the system”
Bad systems are full of good people who want to do a better job
But systems change is unsettling: creates personal dilemmas about identity and role

14. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 14
1. Purpose
Reframing the challenge that the system is addressing,
its mission and so its method
Omformulér den udfordring, som skal adresseres og
dermed systemets mission og metode

15. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 15
1. Purpose

16. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 16
1. Purpose
Patterns for reframing system purpose
• Shift to a more generative frame
e.g. from managing illness to promoting wellness;
from teaching to learning to learn
• Use a new metaphor that suggests new methods
e.g. ‘crime hotspot’ to ‘most successful distributed music festival’
• Follow a new social philosophy
e.g. ‘sharing’ v ‘ownership’

17. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 17
1. Purpose
The dilemma of purpose:
Karyn rethought the purpose of the system because she challenged her own sense of purpose and identity

18. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 18
2. Power
Create structures that change who has power over decisions,
rules, legitimacy, flows of resources or information
Skab nye rammer, der ændrer hvor beslutningskraften ligger –
også over regler og strømme af information eller ressourcer

19. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 19
2. Power
Al Etmanski, Plan Institute
Changing disability in Canada

20. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 20
2. Power
Patterns for changing the distribution of power:
• Disintermediation (cutting out the middle man)
• Democratising professional tools - putting them into the hands of people themselves
• Elevating under-recognised knowledge
• Develop high trust solutions

21. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 21
2. Power
Dilemmas:
Outdated systems are kept in place by cartels of fear of loss
But also danger of power vacuum when systems change

22. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 22
3. Resources
Make new resources from inside and outside the system part of
meeting the challenge - people, money, knowledge, technology
Aktivér nye ressourcer i og udenfor systemet, så de bruges til at
imødegå udfordringen. Det kan være økonomiske ressourcer, men
også mennesker, viden eller teknologi

23. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 23
3. Resources
Mothers 2 Mothers
mitch vesser

24. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 24
3. Resources
Patterns for reconfiguring resource flows:
• Look for untapped resources outside the ‘system’
• Create shared purpose to create new shared resources
• Piggyback on existing infrastructure
• Focus on capabilities v needs - systems that get stronger with
participation, rather than burdened by demand

25. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 25
3. Resources
Dilemma:
What do you do with the resources (people, places, knowledge communities)
that are no longer so relevant?

26. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 26
4. Relationships
Catalyse new, generative relationships between existing and new actors
in the wider ecosystem
Styrk nye, givende relationer mellem eksisterende og nye aktører i det
større økosystem

27. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 27
4. Relationships

28. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 28
4. Relationships
Patterns for reconfiguring relationships:
• New actors
- look for the unusual suspects
• New relationships
- where can these be generative, enabling?
• New roles
- design these to meet the new system purpose

29. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 29
4. Relationships
Dilemma
People establish their identity through relationships
New relationships = new identity.
You can’t change a system without changing relationships within and around it, so that involves you.

30. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 30
Four levers to change a system
Purpose
Reframe the challenge that the system is addressing,
its mission and so its method
Power
Create structures that change who has power over
decisions, rules, legitimacy, flows of resources or
information
Resources
Make new resources from inside and outside the
system part of meeting the challenge - people,
money, knowledge, technology
Relationships
Catalyse new, generative relationships between
existing and new actors in the wider ecosystem
Formål
Omformulér den udfordring, som skal adresseres og
dermed systemets mission og metode
Beslutningskraft
Skab nye rammer, der ændrer hvor beslutningskraften
ligger – også over regler og strømme af information eller
ressourcer
Ressourcer
Aktivér nye ressourcer i og udenfor systemet, så de bruges
til at imødegå udfordringen. Det kan være økonomiske
ressourcer, men også mennesker, viden eller teknologi
Relationer
Styrk nye, givende relationer mellem eksisterende og nye
aktører i det større økosystem
ALT/NOWCC

31. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 31
Charles Leadbeater | DYNAMIC LEARNING
The dynamic of system change
Purpose
RelationshipsPower
Resources
ALT/NOWCC

32. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 32
The dynamic of system change
The myth of disruptive innovation and the reality of public systems change
A simple model

33. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 33
Dominant system in
danger of decline
ALT/NOWCC

34. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 34
Emerging alternatives,
solutions, lifestyles
ALT/NOWCC

35. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 35ALT/NOWCC

36. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 36
Systems change happens
in this in-between space
ALT/NOWCC

37. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 37
Charles Leadbeater | DYNAMIC LEARNING
Not a zero-sum outcome -
many possible outcomes
‘System B’ could be many possible things - The richer
and wider this gap, the more possibilities for change
ALT/NOWCC

41. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 41
Charles Leadbeater | DYNAMIC LEARNING
Purpose
RelationshipsPower
Resources
ALT/NOWCC

42. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 42
Developing
entrepreneurial
alternatives
Innovators inside
the system
Creating a shared
story of what “we”
could be
Systems innovation = mobilising
a breakthrough coalition
Systems innovation a highly dynamic activity
Purpose Resources
Power Relationships
ALT/NOWCC

43. KONFERENCE OM SYSTEM—INNOVATION 43
Making systems change possible