FAQs
Click on each question to read the answer.
FAQS ABOUT THE DESIGN LENS
Who can make use of the design lens, and what are the terms of use?
The lens is released under a Creative Commons license. This means that anyone can utilise it as long as they adhere to the license. (Read more about the license in How to be in relationship with this work).
In summary, anybody can make use of the design lens (share it, publish it, evolve it, bring it into an organisation) as long as there is no money exchanging hands.
This choice was made to:
Enable the work to be made available to anyone that would like to work towards stewarding more ecological organisations and remove barriers caused by current global financial and social systems and norms that privilege some and disenfranchise others.
Ensure that the core elements of the work aren’t miscommunicated or changed by those that aren’t equipped to act as bridges.
Honour the immense amount of work and care that Anna-Marie has undergone, and still undergoes, to evolve and share this work (work that, so far, has been completely unfunded).
Why aren’t organisational coaches and consultants currently licensed to utilise this design lens in paid work?
It has been Anna-Marie’s experience so far that it’s very easy for people to squeeze this work into new shapes because of the subtle pressures of business or of client’s wanting to fit this work into desired and easily measured outcomes.
For example, this work holds that organisations are living systems and therefore what was true for an organisation yesterday will not be the same today or tomorrow. It’s very easy for a well-intentioned organisation to want to be able to simplify or ‘complete’ the hard work of constantly navigating complexity, or to start out with genuine intentions but end up caring more about the branding benefits.
There is a lot of pressure on coaches and consultants to ‘deliver’ when undertaking work with paying clients, such as packaging work into measurable and short-term outcomes. This is understandable, but doesn’t necessarily serve this work at this point.
This work needs maturing before it’s ready to be licensed to organisational coaches and consultants, so that the core elements of this approach are protected. Supporting organisations to become more ecological is too important and complex, slow and long-term to be miscommunicated.
Where do I start?
If we start with the following as true:
Becoming an ecological organisation is the work of many, many years. (It is, perhaps, multigenerational work that none of us alive will ever see the outcome of.)
Most organisational founders and leaders are navigating an immensity of pressures, worries, tasks, desires, and dreams.
Current systems do not enable ecological organisations.
There are, then, two pathways into working with the design lens that Anna-Marie recommends:
Notice which of the core elements in the design lens really, really excites and energises and fascinates you.
In those elements, consider the closest question of each element, designed to ignite you to reflect deeply on the element itself. Then, notice one or two other questions in that core element that most excite and energise and fascinate you. Start your explorations and experiments by exploring those questions until you have lived those two or three questions for multiple seasons and in many different ways. Run some small experiments within your organisation related to the questions you’re living into and see what the ripples are.
Notice your most painful or urgent or interesting current organisational challenges, actions, or hopes.
Have a look at the design lens and see if there are any core elements that most align with those challenges, actions, or hopes. If there are, consider the closest question of each element, designed to ignite you to reflect deeply on the element itself. Then, notice one or two other questions in that core element that most excite and energise and fascinate you.
Start your explorations and experiments by focusing on exploring those questions until you have lived the questions for multiple seasons and in many different ways. Run some small experiments within your organisation related to the questions you’re living into and see what the ripples are.
Where did the design lens, and the story of ecological organisations, come from?
Anna-Marie has spent the last ten+ years fascinated with organisational design, meaning how organisations design and respond to internal systems and practices, organisational member experience, and how an organisation is behaving in the world and why they’re behaving that way.
To deepen her learning and experience, she trained in Sociocracy, systems thinking, and systemic coaching, worked in a Holacracy-governed organisation, spent two years in Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) focused on social and environmental work, spent a year and a half in a global community (Enspiral) exploring new ways of working, and dived into self-organisation, collaboration, new ways of working, living systems, and systems thinking.
During that time she held various roles, from spearheading new enterprises, being in different paid and volunteer roles, and coaching and consulting, giving her rich insight into the challenges and possibilities throughout organisations.
In late 2022, she left her current role in an organisation developing self-organisation software and felt a bit lost. In even the most explorative and caring projects and organisations, she felt that something was missing in how they were viewing organisations and undertaking their decision making. So, she decided to map out what she cared about and what she saw as being of service to the world when it came to organisational design. She intended this ‘mapping’ to act as a signal to others so that she could do work she cared about.
Her husband, W, shared that he saw something in her mapping that could be of interest to others, and the first version of The Ecological Organisations Framework was born.
FAQS ABOUT FUNDING
How is this work funded?
Currently, Anna-Marie has self-funded all of this work. However, this is unsustainable and she needs funding to continue and deepen this work.
Early stage work like this is at a delicate stage: try and create an income from it before it has matured would likely hurt the work. Plus, this work was created to be of service to the world, and that means releasing it as creative commons.
Over the last two years, Anna-Marie has applied for numerous funding for this work and hasn’t (yet) been successful. Likely, this is due to the wide nature of this work that doesn’t fit most funding criteria. Each funding application takes between a day and a week’s unpaid care and attention, so while Anna-Marie will continue to apply for funding, her capacity to do so is limited.
If you see the usefulness of this work and are capable of offering serious funding, please do reach out to Anna-Marie at annam@somethingbird.com
What would funding enable?
So much! Including:
The curation of a wisdom council to support the maturing of the work and to support Anna-Marie as the source. This council would be formed of specialists in decolonial work, systems thinking, living systems, and more.
Deep, living research of the concept and application of ecological organisations.
The research, design, and publication of free educational resources and guidance in different formats and languages to support organisational founders, leaders, and guides in stewarding more ecological organisations.
A richer website that could act as a network hub**.**
The design and facilitation of a variety of workshops and courses for organisational founders, leaders, and guides, from introductions to immersive deep dives.
The founding of ‘Sea Spray’, an ecological organisations action research node that would facilitate the learning and development of our understanding of ecological organisations, design and share free toolkits and guides for organisational leaders, stewards, and guides, and act as a central, enlivening node in a growing network of practising ecological organisations.
FAQS ABOUT PARTNERSHIPS AND COLLABORATIONS
Does this work have current partnerships?
Ecological organisations doesn’t currently have any official partnerships yet but Anna-Marie would warmly welcome interest from aligned academic institutions, groups, or institutions.
Why is this work not a more collaborative effort?
Anna-Marie always hoped that this work would be a collaborative endeavour, enriching the work with different voices and perspectives.
In early 2024, Anna-Marie set up the patreon-based community Ecological Organisations Constellation, in an attempt to bring the work into that shared gaze while also bringing her a small, regular income. This was an important learning experience, with the biggest learning being that the work was too early to be shared and needed to stay under Anna-Marie’s sole guidance for some time.
However, Anna-Marie is welcoming of any collaborations that would enable her to protect this early stage of the work while also enriching it.
FAQS ABOUT WORKING WITH ANNA-MARIE
Does Anna-Marie undergo client work?
Anna-Marie works with curious, generous, and reflective individuals and organisational founders and leaders, either through co-designed bespoke work or within pre-designed ecological enquiry circles.
To find out more about working with Anna-Marie, head to her website.
Can Anna-Marie come and speak on my podcast, or introduce ecological organisations to my organisation or community?
Yes! Anna-Marie loves to explore all things ecological organisations with new communities. Reach out at annam@somethingbird.com to explore booking Anna-Marie to introduce this work or explore it on a podcast or within an organisation or community. You can read about her pricing philosophy here and is always open to exploring direct reciprocity for those that are most harmed by current norms and systems.
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