Experimenting as a Partner

What would be possible if Catalytic Thinking were applied to a thorny community issue? Or to the workings of an entire government department or ministry?

What could be the results if a coalition applied Catalytic Thinking to a project spanning sectors, industries and issues, to effect significant improvement in their region?

These are the sorts of big, hairy, audacious* projects for which Creating the Future is seeking partners.

The goal of these large experiments is simple:
Research and development, to learn what is possible when Catalytic Thinking is writ large – applied to a big issue, a whole region, a rethinking of systems, or other efforts that are often categorized as “messy.” And demonstration to share that learning in real time with the world.

What we seek in partners
In 2012, when our organization was only 6 months old, one of our board’s first discussions was to determine the circumstances that are a fit for us as partners. While the scope of Creating the Future’s mission has been more clearly defined since those early days, the intent of that discussion remains sound:

  • Projects will aim at demonstrating significant change / improvement
  • Projects will demonstrate the power of Catalytic Thinking towards effecting dramatic change.
  • Projects focused on internal organizational change must have a primary focus of external impacts, demonstrating the connection between internal organizational development and external community results.
  • Learnings from projects will be openly shared, preferably in real time unless doing so would be detrimental to the results.

In addition, there are the basics - that projects will align with our values in every way. That they will be truly co-created efforts (vs. contracting with a vendor), where the work itself is a reflection of the our mission to "bring out the best in ourselves and everyone around us."

First Steps
Because everything at Creating the Future is always about the people, the first step in any project is a conversation. From there, we will mutually determine what next steps make sense! To initiate that conversation, send us a note!

* Many thanks to Jim Collins and Jerry Porras for the expression Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal – or BHAG - from their 1994 book, Built to Last.