The METHODS

Finding and Including Today’s Best Methods:  The methodologies and approaches included in the forthcoming Collaborative Change Library and App are rich and varied. They included organizationally, community, and individually focused practices for collaborative change as well those with almost universal application. Some of the foundational and familiar staples include Open Space technology, Future Search, Appreciative Inquiry, Whole Scale Change, and World Café, but also the Collaborative Arts with Drum Café, Graphic Facilitation, and Playback Theatre. Some of the more recent approaches include Applied Improvisation, Liberating Structures, Impact Collaborative, and Fuel Box.

We are currently reviewing over 200 methods at various stages for potential publication. The criteria are as follows:

• Meets definition of collaborative change:

  Collaborative change is the purposeful experience of sharing among two or more people in order to achieve mutually desired outcomes.

• Has published documentation.

• Is developing a community of practice.

The living community of knowledge will curate and engage around the approaches: discuss them, rate them, find them, develop mastery with them - practice - blend - innovate, support each other, and expand our own awareness of all that is available and possible.

While some methods are rooted in organization development, others bring rich traditions from community development, total quality, social science, system dynamics, public participation, the wisdom of indigenous cultures and studies of intelligence, creativity, and the arts. The implications for changing people, organizations, and communities are profound, as these practices from different fields have influence each other and contribute to a rich and growing practice field.