Points of reference in DDC’s work towards impact

In this series of articles, we try to demonstrate how we understand and work with large and complex problems, wicked problems. The problems highlight paradoxes in our social construction and articulate the necessity of fundamentally changing the way our systems are designed and operate if we are to succeed in creating long-term and sustainable impacts for people, society, and, ultimately, our planet.

We keep coming back to three important realizations in our work: 1) that we will never succeed in solving the problems completely, 2) that they are deeply rooted in and cut across existing administrations and systems, and 3) that they are amorphous and change expression, character and form as we influence them.

These three realizations guide our change work in DDC to:

• Mobilize for change – because no stakeholder can solve the problems themselves
• Build capacity in the existing systems – so that the systems can be changed and, in some cases, closed down
• To set direction based on the knowledge and learning we acquire through our work – so that we together iterate and co-design even more effective expressions of the solutions as we become smarter.

In the first article, How to Turn Wicked Problems Into Ambitious Opportunities, the concept of the material of systems was introduced, inspired by Jennie Winhall and Charles Leadbeater from System Shift’s green paper on systems innovation.

The concept highlights how the composition of a system’s material, consisting of its purpose, power, relationships, and resources, defines the system and maintains its functionality. Simultaneously, changes in this composition are what bring about systems change.

The second article highlighted how we work with scenarios and alternative futures as a method to uncover blind spots and become aware of our own hypotheses and assumptions in order to spot new opportunities. The third article presented our perspectives on what it takes to initiate, launch, and drive missions.

In the final article in this series, we explore what it means to work portfolio-based and how each intervention in the portfolio contributes to fulfilling the common mission. We will discuss how changing the purpose of systems will allow us to reframe the problems we are facing and open up new possibilities.

The example from Scotland is very interesting in this context because there are obvious overlaps between the strategies, approaches, and methods presented throughout the series of articles and what unfolded in Glasgow.

Over a 10-year period, the Violent Reduction Unit in Scotland, led by Karyn McCluskey, succeeded in changing the material composition of the Scottish police force. As a result, the unit prevented the premature death of many young men.

Just as Swedish politicians are currently investing in more surveillance and harsher penalties, authorities in Glasgow tried to address the problems in a similar way without significant effect. The traditional solutions had been depleted.

The sum of the portfolio creates the impact

It can be difficult to see that systems are changing when they are in the midst of change. It’s always easier in retrospect. The accounts from Glasgow suggest that many ideas, new initiatives, and collaborations arose more or less by coincidence. That the process was emergent and chaotic. Fifteen years later, it is clear that the positive changes cannot be solely attributed to Karyn but are the result of the sum of various initiatives, partial solutions, and people who made it possible for young men to choose a different path in life.

In other words, the sum of initiatives in the portfolio.

Although the approach and process may not have been planned from the beginning, not originally intended as a portfolio approach, but emerged along the way and were influenced by the people involved, we see it as a prime example of what it means to work portfolio-based and the impact it can bring about.

What truly enabled new responses to emerge as part of a portfolio was a shift in the system’s fundamental purpose. Where the traditional system viewed gang crime, violence, and murder as crimes to be punished, McCluskey insisted on viewing the problems in a different light – as an epidemic. The objective of stopping the violence and the killings remained unchanged, but the shift in the way problems were perceived significantly changed the system’s purpose, its logics, and what responses and solutions which were considered legitimate.

A new effort that emerged in the portfolio was that veterinarians treating injured animals could inform social authorities if there was suspicion that the injury was due to violence or neglect. Simply because it could be an indicator of violence in the home. An indicator that was suspected and later proven to have a strong influence on whether boys themselves would commit violence later in life.

And professions that previously worked to solve gang crime in the traditional ways got completely new functions. For example, police officers who used to spend most of their time solving and proving crime were given another function due to the shift in the system’s purpose – namely, to prevent crime through building relationships with young men in the gang environment and by insisting on inviting dialogue and cooperation.

Remember to turn on the light

In Denmark, wicked problems are hot stuff. It’s a good thing. It is necessary to see the major societal challenges, wicked problems in a different light and to give us a language so we can insist that they require collaboration across the board.

At the same time, there are voices that state that precisely this shared ownership makes decision-makers passive and paralyzed. Some believe that a narrative is spreading: “If the problems don’t live within my domain, I can’t do anything anyway.”

It is true that wicked problems are neither easy nor quick to solve. And changing systems will inevitably meet both systemic and human resistance. For obvious reasons, very few have the courage and desire to tell other people to change the approach they feel they are good at and have been practicing for the past 30 years.

Even fewer have the courage to relinquish the power that needs to be relinquished so that new relationships can be established, completely new organizations can gain influence, and new resources can flow – for the systems to ultimately change.

In our work, we meet passionate individuals who make a difference for people in vulnerable positions every day and succeed in hacking the systems that, according to them, are broken. They talk about how they experience decision-makers being passive and appear to be lagging behind the development and innovation that sprouts in many places locally. 

These stories make us all easily tempted to point the finger at the government, making them responsible. But the issue is significantly more complex than that.

Firstly, it is as good as impossible to scale zealots – at least as long as the announcement of the act on cloning and genetic modification of animals, etc., is applicable – and secondly, the frameworks, arenas, and contexts in which passionate individuals operate are rarely comparable.

Therefore, we also believe that both zealots and national politicians have essential roles to play in creating long-term and sustainable change. Where the narrative for change arises from the problem, the people, organizations, and companies show another possible path for dealing with them.

Politicians have an essential role to play in supporting the work and creating the space for change. At DDC, we believe that mission work – the common narrative – can bring together all stakeholders and thus both drive change top-down and bottom-up.

In recent years in Denmark, we have seen examples of how some foundations, including Bikubenfonden, have fundamentally changed their purpose. They have become impact-driven. This means that they are concerned with the overall change for people in particular situations rather than focusing on the change that is created for individuals through activities or events.

Most recently, through our partnership with KS Kommunesektorens interesseorganisasjon PRI – Partnership for Radical Innovation in Norway, we have experienced that the work of redefining the system’s material, exploring alternative futures and establishing a common direction and mission has contributed to two Norwegian foundations fundamentally changing their way of understanding and investing in impact.

In article three of the Wicked Series, we described the Mission Manager’s role and responsibility to succeed with the mission’s long-term objectives and not with the individual interests of companies or organizations. We sincerely believe there is a need for this new type of leader who, like Karyn McCluskey, can create connections and collect and distribute experience and knowledge across the portfolio. A leader who can and will insist on the concrete change of purpose and thus also works to change the way we understand and measure change.

Last but not least, we believe that it is central that new cooperation models are established in our political system, which enables long-term investment – beyond an election period of four years. The mission-driven approach is like running – not just a marathon, but an ultra race. It calls for constant adaptation to pace, terrain, and weather changes. It is the long, cool move and the persistence that is absolutely decisive.

It is neither easy nor cost-free, but the question is, can we afford not to?

These four articles are our attempt to shed light on how we work to create positive changes – from identifying systemic problems and developing scenarios and a common mission to establishing a portfolio and learning mechanism.

In our belief, working to create positive change requires that we insist that the future is bright for our children, our society, and our planet.

The article is available in Danish here.