Bridgeway Partners Blog

“I believe that this country needs both liberals and conservatives. And we need both traditions at their best and highest expressions, especially now." So writes Van Jones, a highly regarded CNN political contributor, leader of numerous social and justice organizations, and former special adviser to the Obama White House, in his outstanding new book Beyond the Messy Truth. This post reviews Jones' book as it challenges liberals and conservatives alike to be true to their ideals and draw on the best of their traditions to reform the criminal justice system, stem the opioid crisis, and create 21st century jobs. ... read more »

Inspired by Congressman Tim Ryan's book A Mindful Nation, this post identifies and encourages readers to cultivate connections across mindfulness, systems thinking, and public policy-making. It shows the numerous similarities between mindfulness and systems thinking, and it describes the role that both can play in facilitating not only social change but also transforming the fear-based, symptom-focused, blaming behaviors that govern an increasing part of our political discourse. ... read more »

In order to lead systemic change, learn to access levers at the individual, collective or relational, and systems levels. The I/WE/IT framework enables leaders to cultivate a viewpoint of personal responsibility for change, strengthen collaborations, and identify high leverage interventions. ... read more »

Whether you believe that inequity is racially and/or economically driven, the problem undermines the moral as well as social and economic fabrics of our country. This post describes several dynamics and assumptions that lead inequity to persist, and six high leverage interventions leaders can pursue to create greater equity in their communities. ... read more »

How do you encourage people to think systemically when many people see it as too daunting and difficult to apply? This post identifies five obstacles to systems thinking and fourteen corresponding strategies you can use to engage people in the practice and thereby increase system-wide effectiveness in sustainable ways.  ... read more »

Systems complexity requires organizations to define 3 key boundaries: their purpose, supporting goals/metrics/and incentives, and underlying beliefs and assumptions.

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In today’s increasingly turbulent world characterized by seemingly intractable conflicts, it is helpful to learn what motivated Prsident Lincoln and how he helped the U.S. reconcile the deep divisions that erupted in the Civil War. His two primary strengths were maintaining inner stability in the midst of outer turbulence and working constructively with conflict.

 

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