Organisation as living systems‍

Our world is complex, interconnected and living. Our organisations are no different.

An organisation can be seen as a living system of value creation.

As complex living systems, organisations are nested within a wider change ecosystem.
A diagram shows value creation of an organisation for a system it is nested within. This might be shareholder value creation in a profit-oriented company, or different kinds of financial and non-financial value creation for a wide range of stakeholders in social purpose organisations. Impact and capacity for change are created when this system of diverse actors can influence a wider field of shared endeavour.

What is governance?‍

A model/diagram that shows that systemic governance incorporates both the hard and the soft elements. Hard elements include Legal, polices and procedures, boards, new models and more. Soft elements include Identity, leadership, roles and accountability, dealing with conflict and other
Taking “governance” to mean everything that informs how we organise, “organising forms” are the structures that help shape this - from our meeting agendas to our legal entity.
A diagram shows a nested system approach to see the different layers and levels of engagement of organisational system. First level is level of organisation and team members. Second level is network of partners and network members. And third level is system of diverse stakeholder.icon of a girl who is holding a pot with a little plant in it up in the air and is looking at it
Governance is relevant to all stakeholders in a system, not just those holding traditional operational roles.
a vector of a girl with spade holding a triangle red fruit in one hand and spade in the otheran icon of a man in a wheelchair smiling and holding a small fruit

Legal options‍

Where legal options may feel limiting, there is an unlimited potential for us to imagine new ways of organising that are better representative of the futures we are trying to create.
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The report contains a list of options for incorporation in the UK.

Design tensions‍

If the purpose (WHY) of an organisation is to create a particular kind of value for those working within, with and beyond the organisational system, then HOW we enable value to flow and interact, through activities and supporting structures, is fundamental.

Playing with design tensions can help us make informed decisions and think about the implications for governance practice.
pink arrow pointing downwards
Where might be healthy for us?

Emergent

  • Strong purpose and vision
  • Flexibility around action
  • Strong culture of learning

Pre-determined

  • Strong action plan
  • Clear roles and tasks
  • Strong culture of doing(as we’ve always done)
The current Catalyst collective governance model in visual form
icon of 3 carrots growing from the grounda vector of a spade in the ground

Collectivism ‍

Holding in mind that there will always be tension between the dominant paradigm we are operating in and the one we hope to move towards, it can help to remember we are not doing this work alone.
A purple tree that illustrates catalyst roots and fruits model. Initiative circles are the fruits of the tree represented by red strawberries, red hearts and red apples with black tops. On the top of the tree there is a text Collaborative Network circle with hearts with different initiatives within them, on the left there is support and training text with apples/red circles around it that contain different initiatives and on the right there is reuse infrastructure circle with strawberries around it that also contain different initiatives. On the trunk of the tree there is the core text and in the roots there are Funder Ecology, Learning & Impact and Inclusion. There is a girl in wheelchair reaching to one of the fruits of the tree on the right and on the left there is a man with scissors with his palm pointing at the core text.

Collectivism ‍

Holding in mind that there will always be tension between the dominant paradigm we are operating in and the one we hope to move towards, it can help to remember we are not doing this work alone.
icon of 3 carrots growing from the ground
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