Impact Networks, by David Ehrlichman
A helpful primer on Impact Networks.
When I read David Ehrlichman’s book, Impact Networks, I felt a sense of immense gratitude that finally someone had assembled in one place a set of definitions, frameworks and case studies to explain the work of investing in networks for systemic change. This book became a touchstone as Flor and I ventured out from the League of Intrapreneurs to collaborate with and advise other impact networks. A few key elements from David’s book that have helped us in our thinking about networks.
Impact networks come in different flavors. Some networks focus on connections and relationships while others invest in learning and still others look at collective action or movement making. Each type can play a role in driving systemic change, but the impact of a learning network, for example, may be harder to track than a collective action network. And, we’ve found that greater levels of collaboration require greater levels of trust.
Networks are better suited to tackling complex challenges. When the solutions aren’t obvious, networks help to facilitate sense-making across a system by bringing diverse perspectives. Their distributed nature allows more agility, resilience and creativity than command and control structures. The book shares the example of Google’s Food Lab which established a diverse network to bring creative solutions to address critical food system issues.
You can measure the impact. One of the most helpful aspects of the book is the plethora of case studies it shares. One that struck us in particular was the case of Re-Amp: a 20 year-old network of around 200 organizations that focuses on climate change in the midwest US.
Two things struck us about this case: 1. Rather than invest $1-2 million across 10 organizations, the Garfield foundation decided to invest in a network. They saw it as a high leverage form of investment. 2. When the group convened, they asked what they could to together that they couldn't on their own? After much deliberation, they collaborated to prevent 7 coal plans from coming online. This is real, tangible, measurable impact.
David and his team at Converge have generously developed a toolkit and other resources on their website here.
