A systems approach to breakthrough impact
Systems. Strategy. Sustainability.
Collaboration has historically been humanity’s superpower for development.
Organisations and institutions are the embodiment of human collaboration. But now these entities must learn new patterns of cooperation in order to address the most pressing problems for humanity and our planet. As we head into a world of heightened uncertainty with more unpredictable surprises to negotiate, learning how to repattern is our pathway to resilience and regeneration.
RePattern catalyses new initiatives and designs innovative business models in service of sustainability.
By bringing together all the relevant stakeholders necessary to make a difference, we co-create new pathways for relationships, contracts and flows of sustainable finance.
With deep roots in sustainable finance and a broad network across a range of economic sectors, RePattern is engaged in the development of authentically sustainable businesses, enterprises and projects around the world.
We integrate systems thinking into strategy processes to nurture regenerative transformation. We help organisations gain a fresh perspective on their networks, systems and processes, enabling them to form new patterns of relationship and commercial contracts in service of sustainable, economically-robust, positive impact.
We help teams leverage their curiosity, passion, and latent talents to surpass their transition targets and uncover tangible opportunities to thrive in the future sustainable economy.
To make lasting changes that drive meaningful and scalable impact, organisations may need to look broader than ‘simple’ initiatives and recognise the roles that they play in an interconnected system of relationships with other stakeholders
A frequent dilemma for companies wanting to act with purpose and create more positive impact is how to resolve the tension between:
the increasingly more interconnected complexity of global challenges, and
demands to ‘be seen to be doing something’ and to disclose plans, actions and improvements within our individual institutions.
Whether it is addressing climate change, biodiversity loss, inequality or health and wellbeing, the pace of progress often falls short of the levels of ambition. All of the good intentions to innovate tend to get deferred due to ‘more urgent’ matters. The ‘Transition’ is trapped by a sense that none of the customers, suppliers or partners feel completely ready and able to change, and are waiting on everyone else.
How do we get sustainability action unstuck?
There’s a future world which is entirely possible.
It is recovered, abundant in nature and thriving; its people are healthier and happier with dramatically less inequality, between and within countries, and fewer conflicts; it’s a world which reduces the magnitude of climatic change and can sensitively manage the consequences for all.
Despite it being a world we might all like, it feels improbable right now because so many of our actions and choices are guided in the opposite direction.
Businesses and organisations around the world want to make genuine progress on sustainability, but it’s an enormous, sometimes overwhelming, challenge; and too often, their efforts don’t help move us collectively in the right direction.
Evidence shows that 98% of sustainability projects carried out by businesses don’t meet their objectives.
And, somewhat ironically, with reporting regulation and disclosure requirements grabbing more of the available attention, the confidence to take on high-ambition strategies is faltering.
Making a real difference can feel like a daunting or overwhelming challenge. After implementing relatively straightforward changes within the sphere of direct control, it’s not uncommon for organisations to get stuck and to suspend sustainability ambition until there’s a better time.
But in a world where we can only reasonably expect accelerated disruptions from every direction, businesses can’t afford to wait for calmer waters. Instead, it’s by joining together in new ways with others navigating the same challenges from a different perspective, that organisations can make fundamental changes leading to effective new shared approaches.
Are we drowning in data? What to do with too many indicators and too few insights.
With more and more measures and metrics being generated, companies risk becoming blinded to the nature of their surrounding context, like fish who can’t see the water they are swimming in.
If the picture just looks too complex, it’s understandable to seek out some simple quick wins.
By concluding that the complexity of changing a system is too hard, organisations might be overlooking the most likely breeding ground for breakthrough initiatives
As organisations change to work with their whole ‘extended ecosystems’, new patterns of relationship can emerge.
These can evolve into new business models, collaborations with more co-benefits, and lead to new flows of sustainable finance.
Repatterning the relational field across your organisation’s ecosystem opens up the possibility for breakthrough innovation and renewal in service of a regenerative future.
