Sprint 3 - Mapping the Strategy

Sprint Objective – To develop a strategy map identifying key ecosystem actors, their objectives, and the assets and abilities that need to be leveraged or enabled to respond to the big question.

We are gaining clarity towards the big question. We have a better view of where we want to go, the friction we will face along the way and the tensions that may arise within us while staying the course. As our big question is audacious, we have come to the realisation that we can’t solve it alone. We need to identify and enable diverse actors to act towards a shared goal. This journey begins with identifying who these actors are and what they care about or their objectives. As orchestrators of exponential change, our aim is to engage all the ecosystem actors to act effectively in interdependent and interconnected ways.

To do so, we will develop a strategy map. It is a tool to appreciate the ecosystem we wish to work with, as well as, an artefact to align diverse actors. These actors may be implementers of change, enablers of implementers or co-creators of contextual and diverse solutions, or may assume any or all of these roles based on their objectives and abilities. Typically, a strategy map has the following four layers:

• For whom: These are the participants we wish to benefit. For example, if our big question is to improve the livelihoods of small-holder farmers, our ‘For’ will be these farmers themselves. We could use different studies (such as ethnography, persona mapping, empathy building immersion and so on) to develop a deep understanding of what these participants care about.

• With whom: These are the ecosystem actors (across communities, civil society, government and markets) along with whom we wish to respond to the objectives of the participants. For example, to benefit small-holder farmers, we may need to work with communities, Farmer Producer Organisations and cooperatives, Self Help Groups, relevant government departments and more.

• Leveraging what: These are assets of other ecosystem actors (besides us) that can be leveraged to co-create diverse and contextual solutions. These assets could be (but are not limited to) knowledge, data, technology tools and capabilities. For example, market access, regenerative agriculture practices, agri-tech platforms, microfinance instruments, research data and more.

• Enabled by what: These are assets and infrastructure that we can extend to support the ecosystem actors, reduce friction (such as cost and complexity of coordination or effort required to diffuse new knowledge etc.) and make it easier for everyone to work together. For example building an effective AI-based decision support system open for all small-holder farmers.

While mapping our strategy, it can be tempting to include every possible actor – major or minor, pivotal or peripheral – but mapping all their interactions subsequently would be overwhelming and ineffective. The utility of a strategy map lies in its simplicity that can mobilise layers and ripples of actions across the ecosystem. We must be mindful of mapping actors that are salient to the big question, have the potential to create exponential change and can strengthen the ecosystem over the course of the implementation. Other actors can be introduced into the strategy map as the journey progresses over time.

Reimagining Education Leadership

To better appreciate the sprint journey, we are following the story of how ShikshaLokam has been developing 4.5 million education system leaders in India. For this sprint, we will illustrate the way in which their strategy map was developed and refined.

ShikshaLokam had begun the quest towards enabling 4.5 million leaders to drive micro-improvements across 1.5 million schools in India. A problem so large, they knew, needed many to come together and solve. At the same time, they knew leadership development wasn’t a priority for civil society and did not have dedicated resourcing. They wondered if reframing leadership as the ability of school leaders to drive continuous micro-improvements could be a way to align different actors.

First, they identified the key actors and their motivations. For the participants, the team conducted an ethnographic study – a persona mapping exercise – to understand their lived realities, cares and concerns. For the other actors, ShikshaLokam banked on their own experiences, conducted interviews and focus group discussions. Then they mapped the resources / assets that were already available (such as education incubators and India’s national education platform, DIKSHA) and could be leveraged. Alongside, they took stock of the assets that existed within ShikshaLokam that, if shared, could enable other actors to do what they do best. Through this process emerged their strategy map:

As the ShikshaLokam team identified and mapped the diverse ecosystem actors they need to innovate and work with, they began clarifying what these actors may want from and give to one another and how ShikshaLokam could enable these value exchanges… More in the next sprint!

Now to Prepare for Our Sprint Together… Please reflect on these questions from your perspective.

• Who are the key ecosystem actors salient to the big question you are answering?

• What do these ecosystem actors care about in context of the big question?

• What assets of the ecosystem can be leveraged to respond to the big question?