The Adaptive Cycle helps empower with insight to how to best manage a strategy for a social impact project throughout it’s lifecycle. Delivering social impact is rarely a straight line path through an unchanging environment. The reality is that change is a part of our world and is a result of our environment. We are connected to our environment. So as it changes so must our social impact strategy. It’s time to embrace a new perspective. The Adaptive Cycle, is a powerful model that can help you understand and prepare for change and create more effective social impact projects.
Embrace change with a fresh perspective! Discover the benefits of the Adaptive Cycle to avoid failure and transform the way you view progress in your organisation and life.
Table of Contents
Adapting Your Social Impact Strategy To The Future.
When we think of the future, we tend to think of it as a new version of today. Either that or today+ as we surge upward towards take-off trajectory. We plan our projects for this certain view of the future. We use these simple perspectives, to inform most of our key decisions in our social impact projects our organisation and our lives. Unfortunately, this is not the reality that we live in. Science tells us the future is often not how we imagine it.
Our world is locked into ever faster cycles of change and disruption. Leaving the best laid plans hanging precariously in a world for which they were never designed. According to McKinsey the average business on the stock exchange lasts just 18 years. Whilst 86% of big projects fail (Standish) and unexpected risks account for 27% of the total IT project failures.
Introducing the Adaptive Cycle.
The Adaptive Cycle model Holling (1986, 2001) derived from biology, provides a better way of understanding progress and change. It creates a new lens through which to view the change around us and informs how we and our organisations can adapt and thrive.
It suggests that progress is not a straight path, but rather a cyclical process. There are four stages: growth, conservation, release, and reorganisation. These changes are not just part of the organism, but as a result of how the organism interacts with its environment. By embracing the adaptive cycle, organisations and individuals can better strategically prepare for and respond to change in their environment. Meaning that we can recognise how to adapt our approach to build momentum for social impact.
The cycle consists of 4 phases:
Adaptive Cycle: Growth (Exploitation)
In the Growth phase, we are expanding. We have figured out how to create social impact and we just need to expand this quickly. This is an exciting time. The things we are doing are working. The environment is full of space and energy to grow. It is a time of opportunity and resources tend to be abundant. It may not feel that way as we rush to quickly put them to productive use. This is a time of expansion, of experimenting with new ideas and strategies.
The emphasis in this phase is on expansion is a strategy to gain access to more resources to strengthen our continued growth and development. It is a time of building new relationships, trust and confidence. At the same time, this is an energetic environment for our rivals and this stage can often be characterised by fierce competition for resources.
When we are creating a social project this is the ideal time to engage and build partnerships. As well as apply for funding and resources so that we can grow our social project quickly. To help I’ve created a 10 step funding proposal process. A proposal assessment tool to test the strength of the bids and give tips as well as offer 121 coaching and support.
Adaptive Cycle: Conservation
In the Conservation phase, we have an established process of creating social impact and focus on consolidating our gains and protecting what we have built. The environment is often stable and kind in this phase. Never-the-less, it is a safety first world, where we value control and resist change. This stage is characterised by a focus on a strategy of efficiency, stability, and risk management. People in this stage tend to spend most of their time on process and consistency. This can be very helpful in establishing a process of creating social value and working more efficiently.
However, as we spend more time in this stage the negatives start coming to the fore. Getting things ‘wrong’ is seen as a crime. There is only one way and that is the ‘right way’. This is often a time though where innovation and new ideas are stifled. Because the new is seen as both being risky and not as good as what we currently have.
This is a crucial turning point in the model. If change is stifled too much at this stage it makes the next stage of ‘Release’ absolutely inevitable. However, if new opportunities are explored at this stage. Instead, it can instead move into a phase of new growth as newly established ideas replace the old ones, before they decline. (This is why successful companies release new products, just as the old ones are reaching their peak. e.g. the latest iPhone is out before we have finished with the last one!)
Adaptive Cycle: Release (Disintegrate)
In this stage, this is where the existing structures fall apart and disintegrate. Things go wrong. Are current processes of creating social impact have stopped working. As social systems are dynamic we have to try and keep pace with the rate of social change. This is the stage we get into if we haven’t managed to keep up. At this stage things, stop working. We pull the levers of control that worked before and we find that they are no longer attached to anything!
This is often a period of rapid decline. The environment at this stage is often hostile. Chaos and uncertainty can dominate. But it can also be a gentle release. Like the slow extinction of a species over many years. Or it can be a gradual release, like a branch snapping off a tree to keep the rest of it strong and healthy.
To survive this phase, we need to let go of old ways of working, processes or products and seek new opportunities for growth. Like someone transitioning swiftly from one job to another. It’s important to say that many don’t make it past this stage. It is the lucky few who return to the renewal phase.
Adaptive Cycle: Renewal (Exploration)
In nature, this are the seeds sprouting after a fire. This is the period of calm after a storm has passed. It is what remains that has survived the decline, renewed, re-energised and ready for the next cycle of growth. This is the common stage for social projects as we try and make good of failed processes and systems that have been in existence.
At this stage we need to find both new strategies and tactics for creating social impact. Test new small scale projects. This stage is characterised by a focus on learning, experimentation, and innovation. When we launch a new idea or meet a new community. It is also a time of delicate recovery as many things will fail. Only the strongest, most fortunate and quickest to adapt will find their way back to the growth stage. This is also the time of uniqueness, when you have the chance to find your own special new place in the world.
Using the The Adaptive Cycle For Strategy
We can make use of the adaptive cycle for strategy by understanding the adaptive process that is unfolding around us. Enabling us to gain real insight into the changes we see. It can help us recognise the stage of our project we are at and the social environment in which we are engaging. However, it is important to note that each stage doesn’t automatically follow the other. Changes in stage can be triggered by the environment not just within the organism but in the wider social system. If we are forewarned we can make choices to change.
Understanding where we are in the cycle can help us to anticipate future challenges and avoid periods of decline and failure. While exploring new opportunities to thrive. If an organisation is to survive and thrive, it must adapt to successful and get ahead of the game.
Social Impact Projects are Fresh Shoots to Adapt the Cycle.
Like fresh shoots finding new ways to the light, social impact projects adapt towards the environment in which we live. They can explore opportunities, test ideas and reinvigorate things that are not working so well to create greater social impact. The projects can be initially small and safe to fail. So that you the new can replace the old with minimal risk and you and your organisation can become the best possible fit for the environment. The worst thing is not to try. Then you are vulnerable to being a hostage of the natural cycles and changes in your environment. By being conscious of the cycles and our environment we can choose to be different.
An Example of Putting the Adaptive Cycle into Action Creating a Strategy for Social Impact.
From my own experience, I experienced the power of the Adaptive Cycle model in action. I was asked to help a nursing team who visited care homes. Providing additional training to staff, with the goal of improving the standards of care and their ability to manage the health of residents. (e.g. stop warning signs of deterioration)
The team was facing challenges and had a significant backlog, They told me that by the time they arrived at the homes, the homes had already improved or were deeply stuck into their period of trouble, which diluted the impact of the team and left them feeling powerless.
To address this, we worked together to create a new plan. Changing the focus of the team, so that they used the latest data to target visits to care homes as soon as they started to decline (e.g. after staff or management changes). Where they felt they could have a much bigger impact. This change allowed the team to have the largest impact on the care homes at the moment of crisis and made their work much more dynamic and responsive.
The change of approach shifted both the intervention team and the care home as they fell into the Release-Disintegration phase. (See chart above) Using targeted timely interventions to flip to the exploration and renewal stage of the Adaptive Cycle. It meant that the care home had a much swifter shallower dip into trouble and were able to move quickly into renewal, thanks to the excellent work of the nurses. Whilst intervening at a different time had little impact. The result of the change was a reduction in emergency hospital admissions from the care homes, which saved over £300,000 per month for local healthcare providers.
This example highlights the importance of embracing the Adaptive Cycle in our organisations and in our personal lives. Recognising the points of change in the cycle and acting swiftly to change strategy. The cycle gives us insights not just in how to act but when to act. (e.g when care homes had new management). By understanding and adapting to the cyclical nature of change, we can better prepare and respond to the changes in our environment, leading to more successful outcomes in our lives and our business.
Conclusion.
The Adaptive Cycle is a useful model for organisations and individuals to gain insight into their social environment. It provides a cyclical perspective on growth, conservation, release, and renewal that can help us create a social impact strategy to prepare for and respond to a changing environment. We have choices and the ability to adapt and survive. Decline in our social impact is not inevitable as long as we learn to shift with the cycles and adapt to our surroundings. By understanding the adaptive cycle, you can anticipate future challenges and explore opportunities to thrive. Creating small social projects can create an evergreen path to renewal, helping you keep pace with an ever changing world.
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