| At Tamarack,
we believe that solutions to complex problems, such as poverty
and racism, will require engaged communities working together
in new and innovative ways. So, the way we work is equally
as important as what we are working on.
We also recognize that we, and many
of our partners, work like an organization, but think like
a movement. That’s why we have chosen to focus our efforts
on this theme this year, and we invite community members and
organizations to be a part of the learning process.
Thinking Like a Movement is a concept
that calls us to think beyond our organization and its day-to-day
operations to a much larger vision. When we think like an
organization, we use a few levers to move forward. When we
think like a movement, we use far more levers. In fact, we
use as many as we can to move forward.
A positive movement involves the participation
of all members of a community. We’re hoping that, together,
we can advance our understanding of the correlation between
thinking like a movement and acting like an organization.
 Paul
Born works with foundations, all levels of government, local
and national voluntary organizations and businesses to assist
them with their specific community engagement efforts. As
the leader of Tamarack – An Institute of Community Engagement
– Paul has over 20 years of experience and training
in community building, including founding and leading innovative
organizations at the local and national level. Learn more
about Paul here.
 Mark
Cabaj also works closely with organizations, groups and sectors
to assist them with their specific community engagement efforts.
His love for community building work began in human services
with Human Resources Development Canada and Aboriginal groups
in rural Alberta. He has a strong background in urban and
regional planning, with a focus on evaluating the work of
community economic development organizations. Learn more about
Mark here.
Back to top.
When
we began exploring movements for change, our basic thesis
was that: “It is possible to deliberately create movements
for positive change in Canada.”
Through research, reviews of social movement
literature and in talking with Canadian activists, academics
and innovators, we have found that successful movements are
associated with the following characteristics and trends:
- Movements require vision and shared values
- Movements are generally positive
- Movements require leadership
- A movement is collaborative
In exploring movements for change, Tamarack
has hosted a number of inspirational tele-learning events
to highlight the ideas and work of people and organizations
related to our Movements for Change learning theme. To learn
more about or tele-learning seminars, click here
or read a summary of our 2006 tele-learning events here.
Our tele-learning events provide a window
into our current understanding of movements for change, but
our research and learning continues to evolve as we explore
our latest learning theme, Thinking Like a Movement, Acting
Like an Organization.
We’ve come to understand that the way
we face problems today is different from the way we have framed
problems in the past. Instead of breaking larger problems
into simple issues, we have come to understand that many of
the challenges we face are too interconnected and dynamic
to break down into smaller components. As community leaders
acknowledge this shifting approach, we have begun a process
of self-correction in order to start to work together to transcend
boundaries and find interconnected responses to complexities
in our communities.
It takes more than one leader to organize
a movement. In order to build a movement for change, we need
to work in a way that:
- Engages as many people as we can, with a diverse collection
of people and groups.
- Builds purposefulness in order to overcome obstacles.
- Builds momentum to develop smaller successes into wide-scale
achievements.
Back to
top.
Understanding the Problem –
Understanding the kinds of problems that communities are facing
can be as complex as the problems themselves. Overall, Canadians
seem to be living in healthy communities across the county.
The way our society has organized itself has brought about
improvements in health care, sustainable incomes, poverty
and more, but we have not yet been able to reach the next
level by achieving great improvements.
The nature of the issues we are dealing with,
such as crime prevention and poverty, are complex adaptive
problems. They are difficult to frame because they stem from
interrelated root causes and are surrounded by unique, dynamic
and adaptive systems. In other words, no single event can
solve any problem.
Organizing our Work – When
working collaboratively, such as with the Aspen Institute
and Vibrant Communities, we have come to see how, over time,
communities are spontaneously trying to adapt and reorganize
themselves around these complex problems.
When trying to organize intentionally, our
tasks are generally the same: planning, evaluation, research,
development management, etc. But, we must organize in a way
that accommodates the complexity of the issues at hand. Sectors
have been busy experimenting with ways to organize their movements
for change, as seen in the government’s horizontal funding
initiatives. So, we know we are getting better over time in
our effort to address complex adaptive problems.
Dealing with Complexities –
We can have the best mechanisms in place to work collaboratively,
but this is not enough – we need a movement.
Organizations and communities can be extremely
competent in their ability to organize around movements for
change, but this is not enough to adapt to the inertia and
complexities of local problems. The issue is, “how do
you create courageous leaders who are able to combat the system?”
Leaders and movements for change need to work in sync with
the systems of each problem.
Back to
top.
Canadian Community
Economic Development Network
The Canadian Community Economic Development
Network (CCEDNet) began as a deliberate movement for change
in the early 1990s. Initially, leaders thought that this organization
would emerge as a trade or a professional organization. They
began by asking, “How do you work on an agenda that
will transcend boundaries?”
As a community-based and directed organization,
CCEDNet emerged as an organization that combines social and
economic development to foster the well-being of communities.
Today, CCEDNet can be defined as action by people, locally,
to create economic opportunities and enhance social conditions,
particularly with those who are most disadvantaged.
Over time, CCEDNet really expanded in terms
of its diversity and numbers of participants, which was prompted
by its idea of how communities should envision themselves.
The organization, itself, has graduated to a scale that even
its founding members would not have imagined.
For more information about CCEDNet, click
here.
Opportunities 2000
Opportunities 2000 (OP2000) was founded on
a need to address poverty on a local level. Its leaders began
by asking, “How do we create a local movement for change?”
By building an organization, and engaging and signing up partners
for contributions, Opportunities 2000 embarked on a millennium
program from 1996 to 2000, with the goal to create the lowest
level of poverty in Canada within the Waterloo Region.
Participants and volunteers created a community
rally for change, developing ideas and projects as a vehicle
to bring partners together. But, after two years, OP2000 leaders
realized that they would not achieve their goal until they
began looking at systems change that involved engaging large
systems players.
The goal evolved as OP2000’s participants
grew their capacity to work together and developed a richness
around the organization that eventually initiated Vibrant
Communities.
By engaging large systems players, OP2000
connected with people from all sectors, instead of just voluntary
sectors, and became more deliberate about momentum building.
It was only a matter of time before OP2000 started to grow
and spiral upwards.
Back to
top.
Contradictions are ideas that occur at the
same time but are opposed to one another. For instance, thinking
that a community is a healthy place to raise a child while,
at the same time, there are a number of social issues that
make the community an unhealthy place to live.
Despite their successes, CCEDNet and OP2000
faced a number of contradictions, dilemmas and paradoxes along
the way.
Trust
Trust often becomes a problem when trying
to organize a movement for change. Because trust is best built
in small settings and groups where people can have frequent
interaction, organizations may find it difficult to establish
trust within itself, its community and its partners when trying
to make an impact on a large scale. When trying to establish
trust, organizations must arrange and manage themselves in
a way that fosters confidence and communication.
Building Relationships, Expanding
Networks
Building relationships with people who are
already part of a social reservoir is different from trying
to build relationships with people who are not part a group
or network. Organizations may experience this dilemma when
trying to move across rural and urban communities, as people
tend to work together within similar regions, cultures and
beliefs.
Establishing a Focus
There is difficulty in trying to determine
a focus in movement building. We know we must establish a
shared vision of purpose and try to organize for comprehensive
change but, at the same time, organizations must also take
care of practical issues, such as investment patterns, policy
changes and leadership.
Leadership
As organizations grow, they attract new people,
develop new leadership and appeal to youth. As a result of
such growth, movements often find themselves “outgrowing”
their original, experienced leaders. Is it important to retain
original leadership? Leadership roles tend to evolve within
a movement, and those leaders whose skills began a movement
may no longer be relevant to sustaining and advancing change
over time. It is important to remember that for a movement
to be successful there must be multiple leaders, tactics and
efforts that emerge. A movement is a network.
While there are endless contradictions, dilemmas and paradoxes
that may be faced when trying to think like a movement and
act like an organization, we must remember that such obstacles
are inherent to the package. Challenges are important to movements
for a number of reasons, including building resilience for
its success and future.
Back to
top.
In exploring the importance of thinking like
a movement, the response across Canada addresses important
concerns, questions and discoveries.
Are there things we can learn from past
movements, or are we in an entirely new world?
Movements for change mean that the journey
is active. There are many types of movements that have already
occurred and that are presently in the making. Today’s
movements are unique. In order to create successful movements
for change, we must create a movement for changing our capacity
to solve complex problems.
How do you stay true to the movement
and the vision?
Maintaining a clear vision of a movement
can be challenging when working multisectorally. At some point,
organizations have to pinpoint the movement they are trying
to create, but this can cause disagreement amongst participants.
There is, however, importance in recognizing an organic movement.
Be intentional about outcomes. Develop a portfolio of quick
wins and long-term processes to communicate your movement
to many stakeholders.
How do politicians play into this idea
of social change?
Do not assume that communities can do everything
that the government can or should do. There is a new strategic
approach that sectors are beginning to realize when working
with the government. Communities can prosper when working
around specific issues, while finding leverage points to address
public issues through policies. In other words, there is power
in turning a private, personal issue into a public strategy
and intervention.
When people feel that they are involved,
changing things for the better and that there is hope, we
begin to feel like a movement. In order to invoke
energy in people, we must focus them on the purpose. This
purpose has become critical in organizational capacity building
and creating successful movements for change.
Back to
top.
Thoughts for
Further Exploration
As we move through the developmental cycle
of a movement or change, we must think like a movement every
day. We must think like a movement in a way that:
- Builds engagement – You’re engaged
when you’re doing something, not just knowing something.
- Builds purposefulness – The change you
want to see will become the way of thinking.
- Builds momentum – The movement grows
through credibility, capacity and capital towards the
kind of communities we want to achieve.
We all know that building the communities
we want requires more than just a set of techniques and procedures,
but the challenges and questions facing our ability to think
like a movement and act like an organization are great.
At Tamarack, we are convinced that this journey,
no matter how challenging, offers great hope to help our communities
grow from good to better to great. This progression happens
when people pay attention to the larger vision and shape their
organization accordingly.
Back to
top.
Links &
Resources from Tamarack
Back to
top.
Additional Links
& Resources
Nine Organizational & Leadership Principles
- "Theory is fine. But what am I supposed to do?"
Good question. That's where this article comes in. Here you
will find summaries of nine specific, action-oriented rules
of thumb for leading in a complex environment. Each principle
is accompanied by insights from some of the leading thinkers
in complexity science. Learn more here.
Seven
Great Ideas for Movement Builders - In an article
that lays the foundation on movement building and social change,
renowned thinker and activist Grace Lee Boggs offers a number
of helpful insights about the differences between radical
organization and movement building. Boggs also outlines seven
core characteristics that exist in all successful movements
for change. Read the article here.
Building
Movement Project - Established by the Ford Foundation
in 1999, this project arranged a series of meetings across
America to explore the link between building movement towards
social change and building social change organizations. The
project resulted in the creation of a new toolkit entitled
Building Movement: Inspiring Activism in the Nonprofit
Community. The toolkit outlines nine “tell-tale”
signs that an organization is working in ways that will allow
movements to form and prosper. Access their website here.
Changing
Concepts of Change - Longtime movement activist
Grace Lee Boggs leads a discussion forum, suggesting that
in order to build movements for radical change, it will be
necessary to shift our thinking to encompass the complexity
of social change. Boggs helps us to understand how, in an
interconnected social system, the size and scale of actions
do not necessarily correspond to their ability to achieve
lasting impact in the larger social system. She urges movement
builders to focus on “the construction of power from
below.” Read their discussion here.
The
Last Stop Sign - In this article, Gary Delgado,
Executive Director of the Applied Research Center, explains
that traditional community organization must be reconceived
in order to proactively address issues of race, class, gender,
corporate concentration and the complexities of a transnational
economy. Delgado argues that movement builders can learn a
lot from the "progressive activism" that drove the
protests against apartheid in South Africa, the women's movement
and the immigrant rights movement. Read the article here.
Margaret
J. Wheatley - Margaret Wheatley is an internationally
renowned educator, author and consultant. Her books
have been credited with establishing a fundamentally new approach
to thinking about organization. Her articles
about leadership, complexity theory, and organizational change
have helped us think about how change happens in natural interconnected
systems. Access Margaret’s website here.
Back to top. |
CLICK
TO DOWNLOAD AUDIO!
