Effective systems change depends on “everyday patterns”. Here’s some beautiful graphics to convey that

We talk the language of systems change at Alternative Global - not quite in complicated flow charts, but with an assumption that a project in the world is never a disconnected phenomenon, implicated with other small and large actors all the time. Yet we are always looking out for visuals and metaphors that help us think this way - particularly bringing the challenges of systems change down to a street or community level.

So we were delighted to receive this paper from Australia, titled "Everyday Patterns for Shifting Systems" [PDF], led by Griffith University. They have done some thinking about how to visually render the notion of “everyday patterns” - the kind of daily changes in behaviour and language that can emerge into bigger waves of change.

The image at the top of the blog is the paper’s map of where to see these everyday patterns first. It’s in a public service setting, but we think it would work for any sectors, certainly in civil society. As they explain below:

Many of the models of systems change don’t recognise the power of the every day and of everyone in generating shifts that can start to generate different patterns within, across and in the space in between systems. The models often present systems as static and solid, presented as ‘icebergs’ or thermostats - rather than dynamic and organic, and made up of very tiny interactions.

So whilst patterns are recognised in some models of systems change, the patterns that are referred to are distant to the everyday, and are structural, mega and meta in nature rather than as being reflected in both the big picture and in the very small interactions between people, in the way we organise spaces, and in the fabric of the practices that shape the work of public services.

[Above we portray] the patterns of systems in a more organic form, and the change process as occurring in many spaces across the organism of our systems (and almost fractal in nature, meaning that every pattern is reflected in every part of the system).

We use a metaphor that implies dynamism and communication - that of a tree or ants nest or mycelium (even if the image is one dimensional on this page!). Such metaphors may be more representative than static or frozen representations of systems, but of course human systems are even more dynamic in nature and form - metaphors are merely meant to help us engage with the complexity, not be perfect representations.

Below, they identify “7 key patterns in this work that signal potentials for transformative systems and enable wellbeing”:

These patterns are not recipes or checklists. They are more like prompts that help us to learn, makes sense and meaning and deepen dialogue about what it may take to truly create transformed systems for wellbeing in equitable and just ways.

We share these patterns to foster collective dialogues about how we can shift systems towards wellbeing, where people and places can flourish rather than just survive.

Note on Whānau: the Maori term for ‘extended family’. “The whānau is also a political unit, below the levels of hapū (subtribe) and iwi (tribe or nation), and the word itself has other meanings, i.e. as a verb: to be born or give birth.” (Wikipedia).