​What's the basic idea?The Ivany report has made visible the challenges and uncertainty that face all Nova Scotians. The silence has been broken and now we all stand on the edge of the cliff. It is up to us to act. The leaders who will help change our      current trajectory will be those who refuse to be victims of circumstance. These change leaders will step forward to take responsibility for the future.

The challenge in the face of uncertainty is to move from feeling overwhelmed and isolated to working together to build a future that is compelling for all involved. It is now imperative to find ways to break down the silos and to connect together all the different people and organisations that are ready to, or are already, acting for change. This will enable us to amplify and accelerate what we are already doing, identify gaps in our efforts and develop new prototype solutions. 

The long term aim is to establish a trustworthy multi-stakeholder group of innovators and change leaders at the heart of the county. This group will develop a portfolio of prototype solutions designed to go beyond dealing with symptoms and get at the root causes of why things are not working. When we face new challenges we will have the depth of relationships, diversity of skills and collective courage to respond.

Based on our first 6 month cycle it has become clear we must make visible the need for change and increase the belief that change is possible. Without a broad understanding of the need, and the thirst for action that it creates, it is unlikely we will able to transform the status quo. The infrastructure we build to support change makers must walk hand in hand with a process of awakening to reality that invigorates our communities and the people who live within them. It is time to build a new narrative of possibility for Lunenburg County within which actions will thrive.

We have been inspired by Clayton Christensen and his model of Disruptive Innovation … check out this video:

Check out Deborah Frieze, author of Walk Out Walk On, introduce the two loops of how systems change: