GOING DEEP
TOGETHER
Catalysts’ Circle (CC) is a non-profit organization where consultants work with multi-sector stakeholders using the Connected Community Approach (CCA) to strengthen and build equitable communities. They came to my team and me with the challenge of scaling CCA deeply while protecting its core values and those of the organization.
The Project
Conducted stakeholder meetings and internal and external research using learned tools
By using workshops, interviews, Empathy Mapping, the Business Model Canvas, the Value Orientation Model and more, we were able to understand Catalysts’ Circle’s culture, how they work, and what it means to spread CCA and grow
Using systems thinking, we discovered leverage points and gaps in their organization
10 Types of Innovation & human design allowed us to understand if our solutions would make the biggest impact on their organization & those using CCA
The Process
Once we understood the organization’s culture and landscape and narrowed our initiatives based on the greatest impact, we developed a strategy and report that touched on capacity issues, building community (scaling wide before going deeper), and sustaining and fostering that community
We suggested ways to grow internal capacity sustainably over time, creating more feedback loops through introduction workshops so people understand the value of CCA before using it, and sustaining new CCA adopters through informal gatherings (in-person and digitally) that centre around CCA
We discovered CCA takes time and patience, which is in tension with how other organizations work. So, introducing its benefits widely, before getting deep too quickly, gives people the opportunity to understand its value and impact, which creates trust and relationality in the process
As a side note, my team and I adopted Catalysts’ Circle’s values and culture, and found that working relationally with mutual care resulted in fewer tensions, more productive discussions and ultimately better work
Created with: Hasiya Gariba, Ivan Leung, Kylie Copeland
