Building the Bigger We:
A Better Way in 2021 and beyond
This is a draft for discussion at the Better Way National Gathering on 29th November 2021. You can read the full text below, or download a PDF here.
The stand-out phrase from last year’s Annual Gathering was ‘We need to build the Bigger We’. It's a big ambition. Ultimately it would mean a very different kind of world in which:
Everyone is heard and believed in, given a fair opportunity to thrive, and the ability to influence the things that matter to them.
Every community comes together, looks out for each other, respects difference, and enables everyone to belong.
Society as a whole values and invests in everyone and in every community.
Obviously we have quite a way to go… But there are glimpses of these things happening already. We believe that by learning from and inspiring each other we can create greater momentum for the change we want to see. Individually we can lead the way. And by working together we can make the exceptional commonplace.
So how have we done in 2021?
As a network, we’ve grown. We’ve become bigger and more diverse and members have shared ideas and inspiration in more than 50 meetings. We’ve expanded from 680 to 880 people, and our twitter followers have grown from 1,660 to 1,850. Our Time for a Change publication which set out our Better Way model, was warmly received and circulated widely, not least on twitter. More people from across the country, and from many different backgrounds and organisations, are joining us, and our understanding of how to improve services, build community and create a fairer society has deepened as a consequence.
In the wider world, we’ve heard inspiring stories from our members about how a Better Way approach can change how things are done, especially at local level. As the pandemic has shown, mountains can be moved when there is a common purpose and when there are strong relationships within communities and across organisations.
But we’ve also heard that divisions in society have deepened during the pandemic, and it is becoming harder to challenge injustices. Services are struggling and sometimes failing. Too often, power, which is already in too few hands, is being consolidated, and the voices of those with least power are still not being heard. Faced with this, there is a deep and growing unease about what lies ahead, from global warming to a country and world becoming ever more unequal.
Despite all this, momentum toward a Better Way does seem to be building in many places and in fields of activity, with champions in both the public and voluntary sectors, but this still falls short of the system-wide change, for example in areas like health and social care, which will move us closer to our ultimate vision. Too often, individuals and organisations are pushing a boulder up the hill against the forces that resist new ways of working. Yet we can sense that collectively we will not only achieve our goals faster, we will eventually create an unstoppable force.
As we look to 2022 and beyond, it’s clear there’s much more to do to build the Bigger We.
What we’ve learnt this year
Our Better Way principles seem as relevant as ever.
We've found ourselves returning again and again to our Better Way guiding principles. These came out of deep discussion and debate in the network over several years. While they have been refined more than once, they have stood the test of time. Everyone who responded to our recent survey said they like them (83% saying 'very much').
We’ve also explored a set of behaviours that can help to build the Better Way.
At the beginning of 2021, we set out our Better Way model of change, a set of behaviours that, we believe, can be used to translate our guiding principles into practical action, as summarised here.
Behaviours for building a Better Way
In our survey, 94% of respondents told us they like this model of change. Comments include: ‘incredibly useful’, ‘I use this regularly in my work’, ‘meaningful no matter what sector you are from’, ‘very much about how as well as what.’
Over 2021, we’ve held a series of events – ongoing cells, one off roundtables and regular drop in sessions - to explore more deeply how to put these four behaviours into effect.
Here are some of the insights that have come out of these discussions.
We’ve started to think about three big cross-cutting questions
Over the coming year, alongside continuing work to deepen and share understanding about the four behaviours described above, there are also three cross-cutting questions which have emerged which we’d like to explore further.
1. What kind of leaders should we be?
We’ve started to talk about a new kind of leadership where:
We become leaders not because we hold positions of power, but because we give power to others.
We deploy the four Better Way behaviours to build connection and community beyond our organisations.
We create the conditions for those at the sharp end to take more control.
But how can we counter the existing ‘command and control’ and managerial leadership model and make this new style of leadership more widespread?
2. How can we unlock our humanity and imagination?
We’ve identified that:
Our humanity can build bridges and move us to change.
Collective imagination can make a different future possible.
There are ways to make a different kind of space to listen deeply to each other, share our stories, and tell new ones.
But some people may feel this is a distraction or are uncomfortable with opening up. How can we overcome that hesitancy and mainstream these approaches?
3. How can we remove the roadblocks?
We’ve heard that many people at every level can play a part in driving change by:
Challenging and changing whatever stands in the way, including the deep-seated assumptions that can prevent us from being our best selves.
Calling out inequalities and abuses of power, and making sure everyone can participate on their own terms.
Assuming the best in others and seeing difference, conflict and division as an opportunity to pause, seek to understand, and find a fresh way.
But resistance to change is widespread, whether through culture, systems or practices. So how can we get better at overcoming the resistance and removing the roadblocks?
What Next?
We want to build on what we’ve learnt in 2021 and take our work to an even higher level, adapting and changing as we have all along, in order to build a Bigger We. We’ve heard how much our members value the opportunity in our network to share and inspire each other.
“The Better Way always attracts interesting and impactful people who innovate and make a difference. A great place to make connections and pick up on new ideas.”
When asked whether the network should continue, 89% said that they believed it should and nobody said it should not.
The experience of Covid-19 has shown the potential to do things differently and challenges such as global warming and growing poverty demonstrate that we must. We want to grasp the opportunity to widen the conversation, increase our impact and promote systems change. So, subject to the views of the Gathering, we plan to:
Continue with our existing four cells based on the Better Way model, and support regional or local groups where there is appetite for this.
Set up discussions on the three big cross-cutting questions set out above and also where people tell us they want to work together to tackle common issues and, if there’s an appetite, run a series.
Building on our roundtable in October 2021 on social care, hold further roundtables on major services and systems and seek subsequent opportunities to influence wider change and bring new people into the network.
Continue with discussions without formal agendas including our twice monthly drop-in meetings for new members and existing ones who want to touch base, and also look for other opportunities to deepen relationships between members..
Experiment with different types of meetings – including collective imagination spaces.
As our network grows, so do the opportunities for distributed leadership. We hope to discover even more ways for members to play a part in widening and diversifying the network, strengthening its influence and helping it become a catalyst for wider change. For example, we will:
Publish a book of essays and articles by our members early next year.
Identify thought leaders for new cells.
Encourage members to spread the word and bring new people into the network, including across the UK.
Establish a new role of Better Way ‘connectors’ for this purpose, and some may even establish new cells in their areas.
Create twitter campaigns encouraging our members to take part.
Explore the idea of ‘buddying’ for members who want to more actively support each other.
We will also be investigating new ways to secure the future of the network, including options for longer term funding, putting the network on a more sustainable footing while also maintaining a light touch and responsive way of working.