Create stronger systems through collaboration

To make any progress tackling society’s toughest challenges, you have to think in systems. You can’t tackle obesity unless you address underlying health determinants — access to fresh, nutritious food; access to safe recreational options; medical and nutritional information; support and encouragement; among many others.

If you only pick one point on a system, you’re blind to the myriad variables that effect the issue. You may as well be playing whack-a-mole.

Tell someone who is at risk for obesity to eat healthier foods, for example, while ignoring the individual’s stress levels, medical issues, habits, or lifestyle is futile.

The best nonprofit leaders actively consider these other factors and create a network of stakeholders and initiatives to create success.

For example, the Greater Boston Food Bank today is hosting its first of three events gathering leading experts on hunger. Getting the right people in the room and engaging them in what they are calling the Hunger to Health Collaboratory is the launch of a leadership role the organization and its network will take to make more dramatic change.

Systems thinking enables leaders' quests to address the root causes of the social or environmental missions their organizations address.

Have you identified all the levers of the system at the heart of your mission? Are you doing all you can to address root causes, either through your own programs or through collaborators? Whom can you convene to make sure your ecosystem is operating effectively in its quest for change?

Collaboration is an increasingly important activity in our modern world. The best collaborations begin with getting the right people together.