Peer-learning as a strategy for systems change
By: Rachel Sinha
Tags: Program, Systems Change, Systems Leadership, Systems Thinking, Course

Supporting a group who share practice to learn together

‘Peer-learning for systems change’, Tatiana Fraser and I at The Systems Sanctuary, are all about it.

In this two part Series, we will share why this overlooked idea to bring together leaders to learn is a brilliant strategy for systems change.

First up, we share a personal story of how we got into this in the first place four years ago and why peer learning is valuable for those who are steeped in practice.

Done well, peer-learning facilitates the connection of diverse systems actors, by sharing key challenges and patterns in a system and learning in real time about impacts.

This approach to systems change emerges a collective intelligence across an ecosystem from which new collaborations and interventions emerge, to create the conditions for systems change.

The value of diving into practice with others who ‘get it’

The Systems Sanctuary was created because we needed it, and it didn’t exist at the time.

When I was leading a system change project myself, the most valuable moments of learning were simply finding one person at a conference, and sitting down in a corner getting into practice.

In these conversations we would cover ground quickly — the real nuts and bolts of what it was like to try to launch and stick with a systemic change initiative over time. The challenges of influencing change from within, managing the workload as it increases exponentially, fundraising when you can’t find the words to describe what it is you’re doing.

I felt validated, heard and slightly heady with love and understanding as I left those conversations. Someone understood my work, someone was cheering me on, someone had good ideas that I could immediately apply to my own work. I felt like I had a new friend, an ally and confidant who had my back.

The only problem was that they always seemed to live on the other side of the world.

Launching our first peer-learning program

Tatiana and I were both collecting people who ‘got it’ on our own, in parallel, for a few years when we met. Tim Draimin, then of SiG in Canada introduced us in 2016, by inviting me to a small retreat of people exploring systems change on Bowen Island off Vancouver.

We kept in touch and two weeks after I had baby number three, Tatiana emailed me and said “It’s now or never. We need an international community of practice around systems change, let’s just do it.”

Our foundational culture

The Sanctuary and our flagship program In the Thick of It were devised between feedings and cuddles and walks in Golden Gate park in San Francisco with my newborn baby. It began that way, with home and work mixed intrinsically.

The background chaos and the ability to still care deeply about the work I was doing, were meshed together in our culture and invited others to show up like that too. We had toddlers on peer input sessions and husbands in underpants walk past, along with plenty of tears.

In the Thick of It was always niche and it was always small. You had to be at least two years into leading your systems change work.

We interviewed people to check they were all in the same boat. We called it ‘In the Thick of it’ because that’s how it felt to be that stage of systems change work.

You know something is working, but you have so many unfinished threads that sometimes it’s completely overwhelming. You feel isolated because there’s always a good measure of naysayers around and making decisions is confusing.

We wanted systems leaders to join us. We wanted to create space for people to bring that energy or being so hands on you couldn’t see the wood for the trees, and transform it together into clear next steps.

A virtual program, ahead of its time

We launched virtually because I was in San Francisco and Tatiana was in Montreal. The model created through necessity, became our structure in contrast to the workshops and workshops and more workshops, that were the standing operating procedure for our field of practice — a structure that left women with newborn babies firmly out of the work.

It was a refreshing change from the narrative that you had to be there for it to count and people made it work across many timezones.

These were our peeps and their friends. Bringing together our networks was electric.

Process

What’s been important for groups who are steeped in practice, is really allowing them space to speak.

Systems leaders who arrive with the energy of overwhelm need a light process that allows them to make sense together.

We have always used the Peer Input Process as the backbone of our circles and created a standard ritual each session, so that everyone knows what to expect.

In recent years we have built in a brief meditation before we begin, because people who arrive often are in their heads and we want to create the conditions for slowing down and deep listening.

We keep our groups small so everyone can contribute and don’t feel like they have to fight to be heard, and we encourage them at the start to leave any shiny professionalism at the door. We want to have real conversations in these spaces, about the genuine challenges at work and often at home, faced by people courageously leading systemic change work.

We transcribe the calls, facilitate sense-making, and share the learning back to the Cohort, building in a structured way of learning together across time and people speak between calls to make sense of what they’re hearing, in the gaps.

Can’t you just do this yourself?

The people we work with are often skilled facilitators. But they are almost always stretched beyond the pale for time. They have questions like: How do I do it well? How much work does it involve? Do I have capacity to hold this over the long term? How will it work in practice? How do I create a space that can hold difference?

Today we host peer-learning programs and we also partner with people who want to create them around a niche topic like ‘women leading around climate and nature in Canada’. We also train people how to do it themselves.

You can find out how we support and partner with people who want to create or participate in peer-learning for systems change here.

Impact

The groups themselves were transformed by the process. As participants said:

“I felt really validated and supported by a group of smart empathic people who really listened and reflected back, and valued me, without trying to fix but providing those invaluable perspectives.” “I got so much from listening deeply to my peers during the generative discussion component of my Peer Input Session. I’ve been able to action resonant aspects of what I heard immediately and reflect more deeply on perspectives that I hadn’t considered. The buddy catch up has also been great for building new relationships.” “I really enjoyed the process, it has unlocked something that was stuck in my brain and I can now see how I can act and move forward on my challenge. I didn’t really understand exactly how it could be valuable at the beginning of the course but now I do!”

Spin-offs

What’s been cool about The Sanctuary for four years, is that we’ve seen spin offs emerge from our Alumni. There have been too many to list, but a few we loved to see included:

Marcus Jenal’s Systemic Insight Circle

Save the Children in London and Inspiring Communities In Nova Scotia meeting to share frameworks and models

Charlene Gagnon who leads the TESS partnership on Human Trafficking, has launched an internal peer learning program for her partners.

Our Australia/ New Zealand group still connects. As Seanna Davidson said in a recent call with us “ We are still getting together. We have a WhatsApp group that continues to be a bright space for us. It’s organic, it comes and goes, but it had a real grounding place for us. It was established as a result of our cohort. It’s been a special space for us.”

How can I learn how to?

We have just launched a new ‘Build your own peer learning program. How to create excellent virtual peer learning programs for systems change with step by step training — from our 4 years experience. There are EarlyBird before Sept 15 https://tinyurl.com/7pnt2tyf

We also offer two bespoke services:

We partner with you to create intimate, inspiring and well structured peer-learning Cohorts that build trust and generate new ideas.

We teach your team how to create one yourselves, with a one day training course for you and your core team.

Other courses we’re launching this Fall:

Masterclass in systems practice

Small Cohorts, 7 months, international group

Basic theory through to key frameworks & mapping tools

EarlyBird before Sept 10

tinyurl.com/hfc7dyye

In the Thick of it — For Systems Leaders 2 years into their work

Dive directly into practice with others who get it

Small cohorts, 7 months

EarlyBird before Sept 10

tinyurl.com/8mjp46h7

Keen to launch or participate in peer-learning? Get in touch rachel@systemsanctuary.com