Systems Change Approach: Attacking “Cloud Problems”

Systems change is a framework through which when successfully implemented is able to shift the conditions that hold a problem in place. A systems change approach works to target “cloud problems,” which are problems that are constantly evolving, unpredictable, and with challenges that change over time. Strategies that worked in the past might not work in the future for an emergent cloud problem, so a system’s approach is better suited.

There are six interdependent conditions (Policies, Practices, and Resource Flows,Relationships & Connections, and Power Dynamics, and Mental Models) which can be classified by three levels of analysis/change (explicit, semi-explicit, and implicit) that play significant roles in holding a social or environmental problem in place. Shifts in these system conditions are more likely to be sustained when working at all three levels of change.

Map of the System

The framework of systems change is valuable for understanding the entrepreneurial process because social entrepreneurial endeavors often attempt to tackle problems that defy the traditional linear evaluation framework of identifying a “cause and effect.” Thus, the systems change approach is more nuanced and works with intentionality to go beyond efforts to change explicitly, visible conditions, and focuses even more deeply on the implicit or less publicly acknowledged key systems change conditions (mental models), which are responsible for truly unlocking the lasting impact of transformative change. Overall, systems change is important to the study and practice of social entrepreneurship because it considers multiple perspectives, acknowledges that no one sector can address challenges alone, and calls for collaboration to tackle problems in an adaptive way.