Is it R.I.P. for the K.P.I.?

I am frequently asked why I chose to leave Hubbub, a flourishing charity that I created. The main reason was a desire to understand how best to deliver long-term systemic change. Two years later, here are five things that I have discovered since starting Sizzle and through listening to experts such as those at Carnegie UK where I will be joining the board.

Be patient

One of the joys at Hubbub was seeing things happen fast, the opposite is the case when seeking to deliver systemic change where I have been told that operating to anything less than a three-year timeframe is a vanity project.  Personally, this has been a difficult realisation to accept. Where do you see your wins, how can you stay motivated, how do you know if you are delivering change? 

What it has made me do is to think long-term asking whether the project on which I am working will have a positive impact in the distant future. This change of perspective has been significant resulting in Enrich the Earth concentrating more heavily on addressing legislative change and establishing a new value-driven commercial business and less time on developing intensive engagement campaigns with no obvious path to being scalable.

Murky Waters

I have constantly heard that delivering systemic change is like swimming through murky waters and this increasingly resonates with my experience. Enrich the Earth started with a clear ambition but with limited understanding about the complex systems that were hindering this change. These included government incentives for a completely different sector that were distorting the market, the strength of market resistance from businesses seeking to maximise profits from existing resources, the cost of changing business practices and the lack of customer pressure. Unravelling this complicated picture and understanding where best to apply pressure or offer alternatives has been time-consuming and costly.

Uncertainty is certain

How can you effectively measure change when faced with uncertainty? What has become clear is traditional Key Performance Indicators don’t work in this scenario as they provide a straitjacket tied to outcomes that may become irrelevant. 

There are very few instances when pulling one lever will deliver systemic change, instead there will be multiple pathways relying on a variety of actors and actions which need to be woven together. I have been increasingly swayed by the need to measure change by capturing what has been learned and by identifying where incremental improvements are being delivered. Fortunately, this learning approach is one that has been supported by Esmee Fairbairn allowing an honest assessment of what has been achieved.

Collaboration and Power

I intuitively knew that a collaborative approach was required and the Enrich the Earth experiment has reinforced this opinion. There is huge value in openly listening to the opinions of a wide range of stakeholders as it is the only way to get a full picture of the systems within which they operate. What has become increasingly apparent is the need to understand and acknowledge the different power dynamics that exist between these stakeholders. These could include finances; they might be based upon heritage or the ability to influence. Quite often it is these power dynamics that hinder effective collaboration and wider change so understanding and navigating them is crucial.

Churn

One unexpected challenge has been the impact of churn. Building understanding and trust with external stakeholders takes time and can be quickly reversed if contacts leave their roles – an inevitability when working over a long-period of time. This churn slows the speed of projects and requires sustained work to create strong new relationships.

My biggest realisation is that I am now having to work in a completely different way to the one I did at Hubbub. I have come to accept that instant wins are hard to see and that there is no guarantee of delivering the overall ambition making it important to celebrate incremental gains. Despite the level of uncertainty, I am increasing convinced that changing systems is the only way that long-term impact can be delivered. It is this belief that keeps me motivated and helps when things seem to be moving either slowly or backwards!