What’s the bigger Theory of Change?

Our change ambitions stretch out at different timelines:

• Long Term Impact – technology is beneficial for all
  • It’s ultimately about building society’s underlying capacity to track towards this North Star, as this is a never-ending journey!
• 10 year goal(s) – to reach “nested tipping points” in different sub communities (see below).
  • Research tells us if 25% of a population subscribes to a new paradigm, the rest will eventually come along
• Level 2 Outcomes – people are practicing tech stewardship
• Level 1 Outcomes – people are aware of tech stewardship
• Offerings
  • Individual Practice Support
  • Organizational Change Support
  • Systems Level Change Support

We need to create the “Overstory” that weaves the stories of different sub-communities into a shared movement:

• TS+ Grand Challenges – how tech stewardship can help us tackle our most important challenges
• TS+ Specific Technologies – what are the unique tech stewardship challenges and opportunities associated with specific technologies
• TS+ Sectors – what are the unique tech stewardship challenges and opportunities associated with different sectors
• TS+ Professions – how are leading professions not only adapting to technological change, but also playing their unique roles in shaping it for the benefit of all
• TS+ Geographies – how can we connect and learn from each other as we grow the tech stewardship movement in different geographies and cultures

This will require creating flexible and scalable structures of engagement that allow people to connect their individual stories into the broader movement.

• TS+ Movement – larger space of TS aligned efforts, whether they use TS language or connect directly
• TS+ Platform – infrastructure to support learning and value exchange between TS practitioners.
• TS+ Network – the organizations and individuals who are working behind the scenes to help coordinate and support the movement.
• TS+ Labs – focused groups that work collaboratively, experimentally, and systemically to tip communities.
  • For example, the Engineering Change Lab Canada
• TS+ Cross-Org Initiatives – focused on key leverage points within communities
• TS+ Organizations – exemplars that are committed to embracing TS in their cultures & structures
• TS+ Individuals – who have integrated TS into their identities and are committed to personal practice

Practically speaking, we need to build in stages with the end in mind.  In this early “Phase 1” stage, we can keep things simpler, but we also want to design with the end in mind, creating scalable infrastructure.  Here’s how we see the phases of development:

• Phase 1 – leveraging the ecosystems of initial key players (i.e. Engineering Change Lab Canada and MaRS Discovery District) to focus on a few sub-communities with a light governance model.
• Phase 2 – scaling partnerships (particularly with organizations and initiatives that are cultivating tech stewardship in different sub-communities) while working together to expand support for different sub-communities and evolve our governance model.
• Phase 3 – robust coverage of sub-communities with a fully distributed governance model that supports further engagement with minimal constraints

Please Contact Us if you are interested in working together behind the scenes to inform and drive this Theory of Change.