Constellation model of collaborative social change

This model has been designed to serve a partnership of organisations wishing to collaborate to achieve a desired outcome. It utilises a lightweight governance framework, a stewardship group, action-focused constellations, and third party coordination.

Lightweight Governance Framework

There is no need for a new entity to be formed, in order for the partner organisations to collaborate. Rather the glue is the agreed desired outcome. Partner organisations utilise their existing legal and scal frameworks as and when needed for channeling funds.

The Stewardship Group

The Stewardship group (with its very lightweight governance structure) sets strategic direction, monitors the partnerships overall health, and aligns the constellations with the partnerships purpose.

The Constellations
Two elements are needed to create a constellation: a need or an opportunity, and energetic leadership by one or more partners. Constellations ow from opportunism, not from a rigid strategic plan. This makes it possible to balance the interests and needs of each group within the broader goal of highly productive collaboration. Emphasis is on the role of small, self-organising action teams of partners working together on a particular task or issue. These constellations are outwardly focused on public awareness, events and actions, or the broader policy environment. This rather than on the partnership itself. With the action-focused work residing in the constellations, these clusters become active when a group of partners decides to work on a particular issue. While serious effort still goes into core partnership governance and management, decision-making authority and resources are concentrated in the constellations which drive and dene the partnership. Leadership rotates uidly amongst partners, with each partner having the chance to lead a constellation that matches its prole and skills, participate or even opt out.

Third Party Coordination

The importance of having third party coordination is best understood, by acknowledging that when placing the coordination function within one of the partners, it permanently alters the power dynamic of the group. One partner takes power. The others defer responsibility and lose energy. Ideally, it is housed in an intermediary organisation with experience in guiding the planning process, facilitating meetings, supporting new constellations, fundraising for joint projects, mediating conict, helping information to ow and building the overall capacity of the group to work towards its desired outcome.

Ready to Act?
1) Dene the desired outcome (kaupapa), or reason for being. It needs to be something potential partners will resonate with, and it can evolve and be changed over time. 2) Invite partner organisations to cluster, initially according to their area of interest, and later around specic actions. 3) Invite each cluster to select a representative to be its voice on a Stewardship group. This group is not a distinct entity, and its members can change over time. 4) Act, have fun, celebrate.

--James Samuel edited this summary from the original document. For more information about the Constellation Model, learn more here: http://socialinnovation.ca/constellationmodel james@jamessamuel.co.nz