Strategic Doing Institute

Strategic Doing training from UNA's Agile Strategy Lab is crucial for developing agile leadership and collaboration skills. This SHRM-certified program equips participants with tools to form action-oriented collaborations and drive measurable outcomes. It provides a proven framework for addressing complex challenges, fostering innovation, and unlocking creative solutions through collaborative networks. Sources

???Why is three the magic number in leadership? From three-act storytelling to the “rule of three” in communication, patterns of three create clarity, momentum, and impact. Scott Hutcheson's latest Forbes?column, explores?The Shamrock Principle—how structuring ideas in threes can enhance decision-making, persuasion, and team dynamics. Discover how this simple yet powerful principle can elevate your leadership effectiveness in the link below. What’s your favorite example of the power of three in action? Let’s discuss! ??

This was an exciting week for the TIAO team and their CONNECTS platform. Yesterday, they conducted their first Friday talk, which they did independently. We taught the TIAO team how to design and guide these talks. This technique to gather and develop a network came from Ed Morrison's work with Charleston Digital in 2001: Fridays at The Corridor and Case Western Reserve University, where Ed developed the highly successful Tuesdays@REI from 2003-2005. We also introduced TIAO to Jack Ricchiuto, an absolute master at posing the "right question." Jack was the first guest for the TIAO team. TIAO and the Strategic Doing Institute agreed to go our separate ways last November, and yesterday was an important milestone in TIAO's development. Here's how SDI smoothed TIAO's development path. Over the past two years, >>SDI has incubated TIAO by providing SDI's intellectual property to TIAO without charge.? >> SDI also trained the TIAO team in Strategic Doing without charge. >> SDI Fellows conducted courses on CONNECTS to strengthen TIAO, generating thousands of dollars in global visibility for TIAO. >> SDI provided TIAO with substantial financial support. We are pleased to announce that it is time for TIAO to fly independently. After focusing on Brussels for the past two years, SDI is now focusing on strengthening our base Purdue University. This experience working with TIAO has opened our eyes to new opportunities for SDI, which we are pursuing with our Purdue-based SDI team. SDI can be an incubator/accelerator for social enterprises. As we expand at Purdue, we have some exciting initiatives and new partnerships in the pipeline. We will also launch Strategic Doing Talks 2.0. Stay tuned. Here's a the backstory from our colleagues at Purdue... --- STRATEGIC DOING INSTITUTE: A SPIN-OUT FROM PURDUE For over 15 years, Purdue played a crucial role in incubating Strategic Doing, a new approach to the science of collaboration. For truly complex situations and societal challenges, Strategic Doing gives us the tools to bring about transformation in organizations, companies, regional economies, and communities. This innovative framework equips self-directed teams to guide collaborative conversations within open networks, leveraging existing assets to create solutions to "wicked problems" without centralized control. Its adaptability has proven invaluable to address complex challenges by following a validated discipline of simple rules. Maintained by the Strategic Doing Institute, a Purdue spin-off, this open-source methodology continues to expand globally, empowering leaders and organizations to tackle pressing issues. World-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma encapsulates its impact when he described it as "precisely what we need" to foster change in today's fast-moving, unpredictable world.

This morning, I spent some time exploring the lessons I have learned from a collaboration that went off the rails. (These things happen; Amy Edmondson writes eloquently about reframing failure.) Today, I focused on the concept of alignment. Here are some reflections that might be valuable to you, as you manage your collaborations. THE BACKSTORY Years ago, Elizabeth Thelen took a course on Strategic Doing with me. Out of that experience, Elizabeth told me I was missing a key dimension of alignment in collaborations. I have not thought deeply about this concept, until now. Elizabeth was right. I was missing something. REFLECTIONS ON ALIGNMENT Collaboration is a shared creative process of recombinant innovation. Collaboration depends on dynamic alignment. Alignment comes from shared visualizations, what psychologists call "collective perception". Visualization is a repetitive process of imagining a future we would like to see. A visualization describes how life will be different.?What will we be thinking, feeling, and doing that's different? Alignment creates value for the participants involved. Alignment is an organic process that we manage with our conversations. Misalignment creates risk. Partners may be sleeping in the same bed, but dreaming different dreams. To manage risk, check on alignment regularly. People reveal themselves and small acts. Pay attention to weak signals of misalignment. Alignment emerges from multiple deeper conversations. Deeper conversations don't take more time. They take more focus. To grow into alignment, go slowly at first. Alignment is grounded in emotion. Our emotions emerge from how we frame our experience. The alignment we need for productive collaborations is flexible, resilient, and dynamic. Alignments are more valuable if they are durable and resilient. Alignment becomes more enduring through Design/Do learning routines: a stable pattern of interactions focused on collective reflection and shared learning. Conversations, although important, are not enough. Patterns of doing matter more. You can't fix misalignment. You can only grow into alignment. Don't get trapped by your perspective. You know what's in it for you, but what's their "Why"? If you don't deeply know their "Why" the risks of misalignment soars. Assuming someone else sees the world like you do is a mistake. We are all watching our own movie. Optimism, hope, and wishful thinking do not create alignment. Don't believe words. They are easy. Focus on actions. What do people do? That's where they reveal themselves. PAY IT FORWARD If you found something valuable here, someone in your network will also. You can pay it forward by reposting. Networks grow with positive feedback loops: paying it forward. Victor W. Hwang makes this practice a central part of his work developing entrepreneurial ecosystems. Strengthen and grow your network. Pay it forward.

Today's challenges demonstrate "radical entanglement"— our local acts, rippling through global digital and social networks, can have far-reaching and unforeseen impacts. We live in a world where everything interacts with everything else in dynamic flows. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated these dynamics as public health decisions disrupted supply chains. Years ago, Donald Sch?n warned us not to be lulled into the illusion that we live in an era of stability. He argued persuasively that we run into trouble by embracing an illusion of stability in a continuously changing world. He called this illusion of a stable state our "self-deception." He warned that our "drive for stability" blinds us to the change around us. We ignore the warning signals to learn and adapt. NAVIGATING OUR WHITEWATER WORLD John Seely Brown, former Chief Scientist for Xerox PARC and an astute guide to our networked age, introduced the metaphor of a "Whitewater World" to describe our situation. Drawing parallels to whitewater kayaking, Brown argued that success in this environment requires a fundamental shift from industrial-age linear thinking to ecosystemic awareness, continuous adaptation, and practiced navigation (reading the river). Our networked world requires real-time interpretation of chaotic flows, where success depends on reading subtle surface ripples to intuit deeper systemic forces. As Brown spoke to graduates in his 2015 Arizona State University commencement address, “You must skillfully read the currents and disturbances of the context around you, interpreting flows for what they reveal about what lies beneath." Brown echoes Sch?n, who, in 1967, wrote about the importance of moving from an illusion of stability to an embrace of inquiry and discovery. "Discovery demands contact with reality—with the way things are. It demands starting from where, in fact, you are not where you thought you were. It demands attention to what is happening now. It requires priority for the here and now. This is the priority of immediate experience." To anyone who has kayaked in whitewater, these words ring true. If you are not paying attention, if you are not fully present, if you do not see yourself as part of the river, and if you are not reading the river's ecosystem, you can get into trouble very quickly. Every novice kayaker quickly learns the futility of fighting the current. Later, as your skills develop, you learn the beauty of becoming part of the river's flow. IMPLICATIONS FOR LEADERSHIP: LEADING IN AN ECOSYSTEM Sch?n argued convincingly to abandon our prevailing "Big Man" leadership model. Sh?n argued for a new form of leadership, which I'll call "ecosystem leadership." Three dimensions are critical: 1. Fluency in Ecosystems: Reading interdependencies ("the river"). 2. Ethical Agility: Making values-based decisions quickly. 3. Continuous Learning and Adaptation: Adapting organizational routines with continuous learning. Stay tuned for more posts.

As you grow older, you find meaning by looking backward. You see the lessons of your life's path from a new perspective. And there are many, many lessons to share. It's the wisdom of elders. For me, this passage from Thoreau's Walden holds a special place: "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." I read these words when I was 17, and I have carried them with me ever since: "When it comes time to die, I'd hate to discover I hadn't lived." Our purpose in life is to find our path in the woods and walk our path. It is that simple. And that hard. Let me share a bit of mine. THE THIRTY-YEAR JOURNEY OF DEVELOPING STRATEGIC DOING My life's purpose -- it's clear to me now -- was to develop Strategic Doing and change how the world collaborates. Figure out how a random group of people could come together and generate solutions to wickedly complex challenges. How do we do that when conventional hierarchical relationships are not in place? When no one can tell anyone else what to do? It turns out that it's no simple task. And if I had known before I started the difficulties I would encounter, I might have chosen a simpler route. But that was not my path. Looking back, I see that now. Strategic Doing has opened a new doorway to understanding how humans collaborate, how communities form, and how networks create valuable solutions. It is firmly positioned in a new branch of economics: meso-economics, the economics of networks. It's the only evidence-based protocol for collaboration. It is peer-reviewed and scientifically grounded in multiple streams of scholarly research, from behavioral economics to cognitive psychology. My colleague Scott Hutcheson and I led our team at Purdue on this journey. But it wasn't easy. DISAPPOINTMENTS AND TRAUMAS ALONG THE WAY Chances are, if you are like me, you will confront plenty of disappointments and more than a few traumas on your journey. Each disappointment offers a lesson. But only if you have the patience, humility, and persistence to learn.?"Lean into the sharp points of your disappointment," I've told myself repeatedly. Each trauma damages us deeply.?The devastation, shrinking with the years, leaves a scar that never disappears. Yet traumas, too, offer opportunities. They sweep away the fog of daily routine and open the door to gratitude. Like a microscope focused on a drop of lake water, they can reveal the deeper flows of life. They allow us to see our path more clearly. I have shared these thoughts with close friends this week, and you might find some value during your hurried day.

With economic shifts changing priorities, how can nonprofits stay on track? Join us for "When Fundraising Plans Go Off Track: Adapting to a Changing Landscape" and learn how to pivot, engage, and thrive in uncertain times. ?? Date: 28 February ?? Time: 8:45 AM New York | 2:45 PM Brussels ?? Sign up: https://lnkd.in/ebugSAfy #FridayTalk #AgileLeadership #Leadership #Collaboration #StrategicDoing #Innovation #Fundraising #Fundriser #CommunityBuilding #Community #Networking #CONNECTS #DigitalTechnologies

Strategic Doing Institute is hosting Unlock the Power of Creating Deep Conversation to Advance Active Aging. Make sure to attend it on February 27. Creating communities to support active aging requires collaborations across organizations and political jurisdictions. Understanding the power of conversations to link, leverage, and align networks is a craft. A practiced craft. Join us to learn more about how communities can form trusted bonds of support and guidance. At scale.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to anyone who attended our Green Innovation talk in #Brussels! ???? Together with Rapha?l Kergueno from Transparency International EU, we explored crucial topics such as lobby transparency and the EU climate action. We also applied the Right Questions method to spark ideas on how we can drive green innovation in our communities. ?? A special thank you to Full Circle for being such a wonderful host and ensuring everything ran smoothly! ?? We’d also like to extend our gratitude to our candidate fellows, John van der Linden, and Paul Slevin, for their valuable contributions. ?? Paula Budge Joost Visser Hanneke de Visser Michael Fivet Jean Verschure Gaelle Le Gars Raad Ali Shannon Pfohman, PhD Ela Jakubek-Grootjans Shari Hinds #GreenInnovation #Sustainability #EUClimateAction #Transparency #Collaboration #BrusselsRightQuestionsNetwork #Workshop #RightQuestions

We are thrilled to announce that our Right Questions Course is coming back! ? Anyone interested in asking the Right Questions can join the training that is going to start on March 11. Mark your calendars! ?? This is a hands-on, three-part series designed to help you harness the power of new, actionable questions that move people forward together. Unlike assumptions that keep teams spinning in circles, the right questions create clarity, momentum, and real progress. Facilitated by Kim Mitchell & Jack Ricchiuto, experts in building resilient communities and networks, this course is going to improve your problem-solving and collaboration skills. ?? Dates: March 11, 18, 25 ?? Time: 10:00 AM ET ??? Sign up: https://lnkd.in/dFhje6r2 #RightQuestions #StartegicDoging #AgileLeadership #GlobalImpact #Course #CareerDevelopment #PersonalDevelopment #Innovation #Collaboration