In season two of Ecosystems for Change, we’re talking about the slow and complex nature of our work.

For the longest time, I didn’t understand this concept. 

I just knew I was banging my head against the wall. It felt like nothing ever changed and like I was constantly running uphill, trying support entrepreneurs in my community and nobody would see it the way I saw it.

Today, I know that’s because I had no idea how complex adaptive systems really work.

I know “complex adaptive systems” sounds highly conceptual, theoretical or hard to access. That’s probably why I didn’t dive into it until years into being an ecosystem builder.

But that’s exactly why I’m dedicating season two to this topic.

My goal is to break open “complex adaptive systems,” and to talk to practitioners who can help us all understand how we can think and act more in these systems in order to support entrepreneurs and build thriving ecosystems in our communities.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• Defining complex adaptive systems
• The 4 early lessons about thinking and acting in systems
• Why entrepreneurial ecosystems resist orderly hierarchies
• The elements of culture, temperament, and personality that impact how systems interconnect

Learn More About Anika Horn:

• Website: www.socialventurers.com 
• Instagram: SocialVenturers
• Newsletter: Sign up for Impact Curator
• April 14: Burn both ends, register here and tell your friends!

Resources:

• The Startup Community Way: Evolving an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, Brad Feld and Ian Hathaway
• National Center for Economic Gardening
• Dancing with Systems, Donella Meadows
• Thinking in Systems. A Primer. Donella Meadows.
• My conversation with Sharon Chang, Guild of Future Architects
• Center for Social Innovation
• Mars Discovery District