Engineering Effective Change

The Engineering Effective Change is a workshop for deepening the theory of change within an organisation or a group. Its innovative methodology is derived from the work of Eric Liu.

It is suitable for formal organisations, as well as citizen movements, grass root and informal groups that seek to drive change.

The process is designed to facilitate internal reflection within a group, team or organisation for developing a shared vision, goals and priorities for action. It improves cohesion, mutual understanding and ownership of its objectives. It also helps to tap into and capitalise on collective knowledge of those involved.

The methodology used in the workshop encourages the participants to consider their goals vis-à-vis sources of power and leverages of change around the issue that their organisation or movement wants to influence. Through this, the workshop can support consensus, strategic allocation of resources and prioritisation of action.

In this way, the Engineering Effective Change workshop strengthens organisations, teams, groups and movements. It can be applied for strategic planning, team building, member/staff training, as well as a capacity and consensus-building tool.

In detail

The Engineering Effective Change workshop is based on a series of facilitated activities. It takes the participants through a process of designing the change they wish to see in the world – related to the mission and vision of their organisation, group or movement – and explores the chain of events that needs to occur to attain it.

Part 1: Imagine!

The process starts with “Imagine!” – a series of facilitated group discussions and individual exercises through which participants explain the change they would like to see and why they see it as a priority.

This encourages spontaneity of exchange, openness and sharing of motivations, visions and wishes of various individuals. At the same time, the participants are encouraged and supported to make their visions more detailed and precise.

Part 2: Design!

The second part of the process is called “Design!” It takes the participants through a series of exercises that help them map and analyse the sources of power and power structures they need to influence to instigate the desired change.

The participants are subsequently guided to unravel the change they desire into a process: a transformation that they can lead, facilitate or influence.

Through this participatory process, the workshop reveals priorities for action, enabling improved collective clarity on how to build capacity for action and influence.

The process can be carried out in groups between 5 and 12 people. It is adaptable to the needs and capacity of every type of organisation or movement, from small to large, as its content unravels through active participation of staff or group members, leaders or management.  It requires at minimum a day (or two half-days) to be truly participatory and allow time and space for exchanges between the participants.