Ecocycle Planning
You can eliminate or mitigate common bottlenecks that stifle performance by sifting your group’s portfolio of activities, identifying which elements are starving for resources and which ones are rigid and hampering progress.
The Ecocycle makes it possible to sift, prioritize, and plan actions with everyone involved in the activities at the same time, as opposed to the conventional way of doing it behind closed doors with a small group of people. Additionally, the Ecocycle helps everyone see the forest AND the trees—they see where their activities fit in the larger context with others.
Ecocycle Planning invites leaders to focus also on creative destruction and renewal in addition to typical themes regarding growth or efficiency. The Ecocycle makes it possible to spur agility, resilience, and sustained performance by including all four phases of development in the planning process.
LS Principle #8, Invite Creative Destruction to Enable Innovation.
Goal
Analyze the full portfolio of activities and relationships to identify obstacles and opportunities for progress
Materials
Instructions
Five Structural Elements – Min Specs
1. Structuring Invitation
“Just like living organisms, we go through different phases of development in our activities and relationships. Today, we’re going to sort our portfolio of key activities and/or relationships into four phases and identify the roles we take in each phase. This will help us find bottlenecks and uncover opportunities to move forward.”
2. Space and Materials
- An open wall with an Ecocycle Template
- Copies of the template for each F2F participant
- and sticky notes [digital versions].
- Groups of four chairs.
3. Participation Distribution
- Roles include host [tech host] and participants.
- There is no minimum group size.
- Everyone involved in the work from all levels and functions is invited and has an equal opportunity to contribute.
4. Groups Are Configuration
- 1-2-4-All
- Small groups for action steps
5. Steps and Time Allocation
Intro: Share the structuring invitation and introduce the phases of the Ecocycle and actions in each.- Actions that accelerate growth during the Birth phase
- Actions that extend life or increase efficiency during the Maturity phase
- Actions that recycle obsolete items during the Creative Destruction phase
- Actions that connect creative people and prepare the ground for birth during the Renewal phase (5 min.)
- For a meeting, ask “Are we still figuring out how to work together effectively?” (Birth); “Do we have a good rhythm and are we working efficiently?” (Maturity); “Is it time to rethink the purpose of this meeting or how we run it?” (Creative Destruction); “Are we brainstorming new, collaborative ways to improve it?” (Renewal).
- For a major relationship, ask “Are we beginning to build trust?” (Birth); “Is it a strong, reliable partnership?” (Maturity); “Do we need to renegotiate terms or even consider alternatives?” (Creative Destruction); “Are we exploring new ways to collaborate and innovate?” (Renewal).
Individual Ecocycle Mapping: Participants list major activities, projects, and initiatives from the group’s portfolio that take up their time and place sticky notes for them on their own Ecocycles. (10 min.) Compare Ecocycles: Participants form groups of two to three [breakouts] to compare their Ecocycles and discuss differences in item placement. (10 min.) Whole-Group Ecocycle Mapping: Everyone returns to plenary. One person from each group adds their sticky notes to the shared Ecocycle. (15 min.) Group Reflection and Analysis: The whole group reflects on the shared Ecocycle. Ask “Which portfolio items did we agree and disagree on? What can we learn about how we’re managing our portfolio of activities/relationships? What are the implications for moving these portfolio items forward?” (15 min.) Identify Traps: The group identifies activities in traps. Between Maturity and Creative Destruction is the Rigidity Trap, holding on to old ways even if they’re not working. Between Renewal and Birth is the Scarcity Trap, not investing enough in new ideas. Ask “What items in the Rigidity Trap do we need to let go of? What promising ideas in the Scarcity Trap should we invest more in? What other opportunities do we see?” (15 min.) Action Steps in Small Groups: Participants form small groups of four [breakouts]. They name a first-step action for moving or ending each trapped activity and add it to the shared Ecocycle, using a specific sticky note color for actions. (10 min.) Next Steps and Closing: Everyone returns to plenary. Decide as a group how often to revisit the Ecocycle. A few people share takeaways. (5 min.) Taking It Online
This structure works online with no major adjustments. It works best on a large screen, as manipulating virtual sticky notes can be difficult on a phone or tablet.
WHY? Purposes
- Set priorities
- Balance a portfolio of strategies
- Identify waste and opportunities to free up resources
- Bring and hear all perspectives at once
- Create resilience and absorb disruptions by reorganizing programs together
- To reveal the whole picture, the forest AND the trees
Tips and Traps
- Focus on either activities or relationships to start. Relationships can include internal and external stakeholders.
- Emphasize that placements in the Ecocycle should represent the group’s current situation, not where you want to be.
- Don’t discourage disagreements; they can lead to insights.
- Don’t do your first Ecocycle Planning session with your group’s entire portfolio of market strategies. Start with a simpler program, something tangible with shared experience.
- Remind participants that all phases of the Ecocycle must be parts of a healthy organization
- Be very clear on the domain or type of activities being considered—check activities to be sure they are on a similar scale and domain
- Include views from inside and outside the organization or function (diverse participants and clients can help)
- Preparations and explicit criteria for each quadrant may help or interfere
- Don’t hesitate to do a second round
Riffs and Variations
- Adjust the language used to describe each phase based on context. For example, a health group may understand renewal, whereas a business group may prefer reorganization.
- Have one person tell the story of their work by walking through the Ecocycle.
- Ask participants to make a list of all their important relationships with internal and external customers/suppliers (in addition to their activities) and to place them on the Ecocycle. Ask them to evaluate the relationships with the same questions used for the activities and to include them in the last four steps of the Ecocycle planning process. Highly recommended!
- Use with virtual groups by inviting participants to place their Ecocycle assessments with a dot on the whiteboard, then chat in pairs and with the whole group about the pattern that emerges. Before you enter into full-group placements, use silence and paired chat (1-2-All) to build understanding. You will need to agree on a short common list of activities or relationships to help simplify mapping. Number or letter each item and invite placements one by one. Sift and sort answers with a whiteboard and a person playing a “synthesizer” role. Don’t worry about perfection in the first rounds. Virtual sessions can deepen or complement face-to-face exchanges.
Examples
- For a service portfolio review with an information technology department
- For nursing executives and academics transforming their approach to education (evaluating the history as well as proposed change initiatives)
- For planning changes in an individual’s personal life, sifting through activities and shaping next steps
- For accelerating performance of an executive team in the midst of integrating a newly acquired company (sifting through a mixture of two product lines and research opportunities)
Optional String
Use a different LS for developing each of the key phases of the Ecocycle. Use Panarchy, What, So What, Now What? to spur action in Maturity. Revisit values with Principles Walk-Around to help manage portfolio activities and relationships. Creative Destruction (TRIZ) can help to deepen the Creative Destruction quadrant
Attachments
- Ecocyle Planning Resources (Slides).pptx
- Ecocycle Planning.PNG
- Ecocyle Planning cover.PNG
Background
Attribution: Adapted by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless from professor Brenda Zimmerman (see www.change-ability.ca) and ecologists (see http://www.resalliance.org).
Source: Liberating Structures