Transforming how we work to build beloved economies
The research behind Beloved Economies took place over nearly eight years and involved more than one hundred contributors, including organizational leaders, practitioners, researchers, and evaluators.
Co-authors Jess Rimington and Joanna Levitt Cea began the research in 2015 as visiting scholars at Stanford University, exploring how enterprises across the U.S. were working in ways that departed from business as usual to embrace power-sharing. As the research evolved, they invited organizational leaders into a co-learning community—a group of over sixty that shared experiences, insights, and analysis to inform and shape the research.
Through interviews, case studies, and collaborative learning, the research identified and refined a set of seven core practices that connect to stand-out success and innovation through sharing power. Over forty individuals contributed as research associates, evaluators, reviewers, interviewers, expert interviewees, and more. The findings were validated through independent evaluation, published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, and later expanded through collaboration with Biomimicry for Social Innovation to explore connections between the practices and patterns in nature.
This multi-year inquiry offered longitudinal analysis of practices that support “breakout innovation” —and how such practices can create ripple effects within and beyond the enterprises, including affecting broader economic systems over time.
Recognize the pitfalls of person-centric thinking.
Americans tend to view government as a collection of individual leaders, rather than interconnected systems and institutions. This can lead to disillusionment with politics when a change in leaders fails to deliver changes in systems.
Expand visions of what “democracy” means.
Americans tend to conflate democracy with voting. Emphasize the importance of various forms of democratic participation—like showing up to mass demonstrations, calling your representatives, and attending community meetings—along with voting.
Appeal to the ideal of effective representation.
“Good,” “accurate,” “effective” representation is a highly resonant concept that communicators can and should leverage—but it is important to explain the structural roots of problems with representation to help people see the need for change beyond voting out current elected officials.
We are grateful to the philanthropic support, the pro-bono contributions, the generosity of spirit, and profound insight shared by so many people to make this collaborative learning effort possible.