Strategic Doing

I see Doughnut Economics and Strategic Doing as complementary resources for creating an effective local Regen network. We use it for the Greater Brisbane region.

Doughnut Economics forces us to look at the interlinked nature of the climate crisis. It tells us where we are going. Strategic Doing provides proven methods of working out how we get there, how we create our localised solutions, and how we manage our collaborations. 

Managing complex networks and collaborations is very different to the hierarchical ways to manage projects with aligned teams and partnerships. 

On one hand, a collaboration can be like the proverbial herding of cats with people pulling in many different directions. On the other, it’s the frustration of trying to turn broad agreement and support into effective and ongoing action.

Turning our ideas from talking into action is a constant challenge for change-making projects. We can easily get trapped into preaching to the choir while being ignored by everyone else. 

Strategic Doing provides the proven methods for managing diverse collaborations to tackle complex problems. It is designed to strengthen loose networks where nobody can tell anyone else what to do. 

Strategic Doing helps groups localise and clarify their shared purpose within the parameters of the doughnut by identifying the combined interests and assets of the participants to “do the doable”. 

I draw on Strategic Doing for group projects and collaborations in Shady Lanes and have seen how effective it can be. When you learn to do a Shady Lanes group verge project, you’ll learn many of the practices of Strategic Doing.

Strategic Doing isn’t something you learn once and apply a formula. It’s more like the beginning of a journey where you are always learning and experimenting and innovating.

Find out more: 

• See the page about Strategic Doing and Appreciative Inquiry on Regen Brisbane 
• Read this post about Appreciative Inquiry on the Strategic Doing website
• Join the Strategic Doing Networks for the free weekly Zoom
• Read the book - at a bookshop or library near you
• Read Ed Morrison’s PHD Thesis: Strategic Doing: A Strategy Model for Open Networks
• See how I incorporate Strategic Doing practices with groups on Shady Lanes