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Systems Orchestrators create social change symphonies

Social innovators working alone in silos rarely, if ever, catalyse true transformational social change. To create lasting, systemic solutions to global challenges requires bridge-builders to work in interconnected ways to address pressing problems at their root. As we work to support these bridge-builders at C4EC, I am constantly reminded of this piece of age-old wisdom:

If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.

In the last few years, we have seen the tremendous potential of bridge-builders or System Orchestrators. They connect the dots, catalyse partnerships and drive whole ecosystems forward. Working behind the scenes, Systems Orchestrators help orchestrate transformational social change by knitting together key actors, providing resources and technical support, and mobilising collective change efforts. This is the kind of proximate, thoughtful coordination it takes to address root causes and develop systems-level solutions.

At their best, most networked, and most resourced, System Orchestrators literally “conduct” social change symphonies. They understand that complex, large-scale symphonies require many instruments, each playing their unique parts, to come together to create something truly transformational.

They bring an expansive solutions-focused view to bear on a problem and the awareness that no single solution is sufficient in solving our biggest global challenges. System Orchestrators see that scaling a solution is different from solving a problem at scale. They know that their success relies on working outside the spotlight with humility, shifting power through collaboration, bringing those most proximate to the challenges and the solutions into the centre, and redirecting credit for successes.

Farther together 

A couple of years ago, early in my tenure at the Skoll Foundation, Safeena Hussain, founder of Educate Girls, told me that funders far too often create sprints that reward the individual efforts of social innovators.

Funders need to design more relay races, so that we are sharing and passing off to each other, she said.

System Orchestrators still face a significant barrier – funders are hard-wired to evaluate impact based on attribution over contribution. As we grapple with this, it is time to shift our funding and evaluation practices and invite the philanthropic community to join us in increasing support of system orchestrators uniquely placed to create lasting systems-level change.

Transformational social change is a team sport – takes radical collaboration and reaching across boundaries and obstacles to tackle the world’s most complex problems. Incremental, disconnected, or siloed efforts will not transform broken systems. Only together can we build solutions that bring us closer to a sustainable world of peace and prosperity for all.

Learn more about the System Orchestrators who are conducting social change symphonies.