Foodsteps interdisciplinary ways of working

As a mission-led start-up working in innovative ways, one would expect that things are a little different at team Foodsteps, however having spent the past three months with their team I realised that something many businesses and research institutions thrive for seems to be at the core of the success here. The team puts a great deal of effort into interdisciplinary work and building bridges between different knowledge domains.

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This makes sense when you look at some of their key business principles:

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●????? We’re planet first

●????? We want change at scale

●????? We can all make better choices

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None of the above can be achieved with one worldview or one knowledge base alone; they all require connected thinking and system analysis because they are what systems thinkers call ‘wicked’ challenges. There is a further Foodsteps business principle, one which was excluded above because it isn’t a ‘wicked problem’ but a way of working for Foodsteps: We are led by science. This principle implies that bridging knowledge domains within a science sphere is a key foundation of how the team works because science builds and applies knowledge based on rigorous investigations of the social and natural world.

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Interdisciplinary is especially important because Foodsteps has different focus areas within their team:

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-??????? Data

-??????? Science

-??????? Impact & Customer Success & Growth

-??????? Product

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These work through slightly different schools of thought and naturally use different methodologies so finding means to collaborate meaningfully on projects requires practices which allow time for collective sense-making.

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These practices and what they achieve will be described a bit later in this article, but for now back to ‘wicked problems’, as these need a bit more exploration. Such problems don’t have simple solutions, they have interconnected parts which should be understood in their entirety meaning solutions are ambiguous, calling for multiple pathways of response and constant monitoring of the change achieved. So being ‘led by science’ can only support solving ‘wicked problems’ if multiple strands of knowledge are applied. The challenge Foodsteps wants to address to make food a solution to the climate crisis won’t be solved with purely technical, social or environmental solutions; however, applying all of them in the right measure has the potential for that.

What is interdisciplinary work?

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So, what do we mean by interdisciplinary? Within academia, it means combining different disciplines of sciences to synthesise knowledge and findings in new ways resulting in the integration of knowledge and a shift in the discourse on that topic. Often resulting in solutions to problems through these newfound perspectives.

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A common reference point for the importance of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary work is a book based on an old Indian parable: The Elephant in the Dark, by Idris Shah. It tells the story of blind men encountering an elephant for the first time in their lives and trying to make sense of the animal by exploring the different parts of the elephant's body. Their descriptions of the animal are vastly different, subjective but all true, something which interdisciplinary work tries to acknowledge and lean into by bringing these subjective experiences together like a puzzle. Yet how we make sense of the world is not only driven by how we see but also the context in which we sense the world. So, there are many more dimensions which are meaningful to explore to understand as Peng Wu eloquently explains in his ‘Unlearning the Elephant’ piece.

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There has been an increase in demand for research institutions to train the next generation of researchers on interdisciplinary thinking, methods and practices. Often people claim that academic training in the recent past did not encourage and support researchers to connect different scientific disciplines. However, it is worth noting this discourse has been going on for a couple of centuries. More importantly, the distinction of different research disciplines namely sciences and humanities only came about in the 18th and 19th centuries. At this time the separation of sciences and humanities was brought about by different methodological approaches. Natural sciences bring about new knowledge through experimentation, prediction and deduction, whereas humanities evolve theories through observation and induction.

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The discourse around the science divisions is closely linked to the philosophical Demarcation problem in science that is what do we class as science and why? Something this article will not discuss but exploring the change in discourse around science throughout history from early Greek references to most recent debates highlights that there has been an ongoing tension in distinguishing different fields of knowledge production or unifying them. So interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary work can be seen as a path to unify different fields of knowledge. The need to unify them has been a theme since early records of human knowledge.

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Today, interdisciplinarity is often linked to connecting knowledge from different disciplines and fostering innovation. Currently, it appears to be framed as somewhat superior to working within one field of science. However, there is only some empirical evidence that this is indeed the case and more research is needed to add to claims that interdisciplinary has advantages to discipline-specific work. Nevertheless, some world-changing discoveries feature interdisciplinarity and might have even only been possible because the ‘inventor’/scientist took inspiration and knowledge from other disciplines and applied it in a previously unknown context. The introduction of the smallpox vaccination for example was interdisciplinary in nature, thus suggesting some benefits for innovation and potential entrepreneurship.

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In reality, the way knowledge is created is probably a sliding scale between intradisciplinary (single science focused) and transdisciplinary (multiple sciences interconnected creating entirely new research fields) ways of work. So, knowledge evolution is a bit more like trying to focus a picture by zooming in and out, allowing the different dimensions of a ‘wicked problem’ to become apparent and when testing solutions exploring how it affects these different dimensions.

Practices supporting interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary

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It may sound obvious but it’s those practices and processes which create connection, trust, and space for joint sense-making. When we build empathy and an understanding for others through dialogue, we are also building the capacity to work well together despite or dare I say because of our varying world views.

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That involves aspects such as aligning language and spending time to agree on terminology and boundaries of concepts. Listening to each other's needs, negotiating joint goals and learning how to effectively go into a dialogue.

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A recent report on interdisciplinary working practices lists seven useful solutions for the challenges interdisciplinary work can bring about:

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Enhanced Communication through continuous communication, sharing and exploring within-project learning, and ongoing reflection as a group and individually.

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Improving the understanding of ‘the other’ specifically through creating space and time for dialogue and exchange of ideas and views, to learn about different perspectives and how they can add to each other.

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Time allowance and active facilitation are particularly important at the beginning of a project ensuring ground rules and overarching goals are set together alongside setting definitions and boundaries of key aspects of work.

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Ongoing training* which builds the foundations of research methods, ways of knowing, research traditions, their goals and outcomes.

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New approaches to budgeting and project planning* acknowledging that working in this way is less predictable, and requires different horizons/timelines within projects, thus evaluation of rigour must be project specific, co-created and somewhat iterative.

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Changes to career progression assessing team members' project contributions require broader assessment criteria and should contain reflectivity and iterative insights from a wider number of stakeholders.? Overall assessments should be aligned with the wider mission and goals of the organisation as well as the individual commitments made in the co-creation process.

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New methods to evaluate ‘success’: this requires methods which go beyond measuring financial contribution, ability to deliver on time, and assess the context of quality of work which may include how relationships were built, how assumptions were challenged, opportunities and challenges were dealt with.

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*? Amended from original to suit the context of this article referring to business working practices

Foodsteps’ practices enable interdisciplinary

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Weekly Village Hall mini presentations, team days, being agile in project allocation and support, constantly trialling and evaluating solutions encouraging a culture of curiosity and respect for the different contributions of various team members no matter how senior or junior they may be or which perspective they are sharing.

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Building in contingencies within project plans so if things aren’t going as expected alternative outcomes can be delivered or timelines adjusted.

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Daily ‘stand-ups’ allow everyone to share their priorities for the day and allow negotiation around joint goals bringing the interdependencies of projects to light. Team members are driven by a desire to learn as much as to deliver a project. That means they are willing to take on tasks which might be new to them and learn on the go. A genuine sense of open communication ultimately supports project management as this allows one to explore the unknowns and opportunities.

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Earlier the article listed the different teams at Foodsteps below is an attempt to communicate how the different areas within Foodsteps contribute to seeing and making sense of the interconnecting processes of food becoming the solution to the climate crisis.

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Data Team Role

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Consider the best ways to use the current Foodsteps data repository and evidence for food impact analysis. Highlight data limitations corporate partners need to consider within their planning and implementation of food systems change. Help to record and track the transition of individual organisations and the wider Foodsteps corporate ecosystems towards reducing the impact of food on the climate.

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Product Team Role

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Build the environment for the food impact data and repository and the pathways of access. They consider the user journey of inputting and updating food impact variables (i.e. geographic location, food class, packaging, preparation methods). Track the usability, number and frequency of users as well as explore where there are data gaps and how the data could help other organisations.

Impact Team amp; Customer Success amp; Growth Team Role

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The impact leads learn about the governance and policies of corporate partners as well as their ‘knowledge culture’, how the Foodsteps generated food impact data is being used and presented internally as well as helping them to use the platform to achieve the greatest impact. This helps the Foodsteps team to translate this into meaningful actions and timelines within the business. The customer success leads communicate different strands of work, in various tones of voice, mediums and contexts. They help to build the brand identity consider how well the messages, content and company mission is received by external stakeholders and create opportunities for engagement with other audiences and organisations. Additionally, they support communicating how and why to use the platform and its various features. Lastly, the growth lead reaches out to organisations listing what they need, and want and how Foodsteps could support that as well as helping to engage in a broader food systems dialogue.

Science Team Role

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Explore the changing knowledge landscape of environmental data of food and the food system as well as the political governance landscape and feed this into the conversations of Impact Team with corporate stakeholders to raise awareness of the limitations and opportunities within the legislative pathways.

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Between the different teams they jointly create an understanding of the economics of the work, the required timelines and resources, and the potential paybacks.

Inspiring others to trial Foodsteps’ practices

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There is probably no fast or perfect solution for teams to work interdisciplinary because teams and businesses are in constant flux with new opportunities, threads and changing stakeholders, and that means building a culture and environment which embraces different worldviews, ways of working and knowing must be a consistent and ongoing effort.

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However, there are practices which Foodsteps uses which can help to build and create this.

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Weekly Village Hall Mini presentations

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Once a week the whole team (around 30-33 people) gathers virtually for 30min. The Product Team lead usually facilitates the meeting which consists of 5-minute presentations from each area of the business. The presentations are prepared by team members and each team lead coordinates that suitable content is shared. There is a calendar which rotates amongst the team members, this means in principle each team member will present a subject at least once every two months. The time is kept relatively strictly to ensure bite-sized information on core developments is shared with everyone. This gives those presenting a space to share some of the work they are currently doing, to pose questions to the wider team and to encourage dialogue between the different team members on the presented subject. While the obvious impact is that the team hears about ongoing projects and their progress it also creates an opportunity for joint sense-making and seeing how the different strands of work link together. As each team member is asked to present a couple of times a year, they think actively about how best to communicate aspects of their work to others and those listening would also pick up on some of the personal traits and skills of the presenter.

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Daily ‘stand-ups’

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Each day at Foodsteps starts with ‘stand-ups’ which are at the beginning of the day, facilitated by the different team leads. These are small virtual meetings of up to 10 team members by the different Foodsteps work streams in which each team member shares their key objective of the day. Sometimes when projects are progressed by several people one person may elaborate more on the daily goal for that project and the other person may just add any aspects, they feel are important. Within these calls, there is also a personal check-in which assesses the individual well-being and other non-project related contexts. This is important because even with the best ambitions people have good and not-so-good days, so in this smaller forum there is more of an opportunity to sense out if someone needs support to achieve a project milestone and to troubleshoot before the challenge is so big that it is hard to handle. This can help to build trust amongst the teams and manage timelines jointly.

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Monthly Team Days

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Organised by the operations lead but with input from various team members. The key purpose of the team days is to get the team together away from their projects, and to create space to learn about each other and what matters to individuals. As a team which has created a flexible work environment where many team members work remotely most of the time, it is important to build anchor points which support relationship building. While to traditional thinking human resource managers monthly team days may sound extravagant however if planned well, they can be used to bring the team together to think strategically, work on a shared purpose linked to the corporate social responsibility goals of a business and create the space and capacity to steam forward in their projects thereafter. These breaks from daily duties give space for reflection, allow some distance to the ongoing business needs and can therefore help to get things unstuck and build a shared environment and culture.

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Empowering everyone in the business to share their views and learn new skills

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This is a practice which runs through all the above but is potentially less common in more established businesses which have a workforce which has built careers in specific fields. These businesses often become very hierarchical with less opportunity for junior people to share their views. I would say there is a time and place where someone must have the final decision and experience may make that easier. However, when people start their careers, they often have broader skills and come in with fresh eyes, they are open to trying out things and listening to them can help to explore where a business and its processes have become stuck. Equally creating a culture in which learning, curiosity and trying new things is the norm could help those older employees retain some of that openness to question how things are being done.

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So, taking any or all these practices in this form or amending them to suit your business context could help to bring different teams and work streams in your organisation together allowing for more interdisciplinary approaches in your work.

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