Methodology outline
Methodology
The Economics of Mutuality methodology consists of 6 iterative steps within an innovative design process that empower a company to align practice and performance with purpose:
1. Use Purpose as Strategy
2. Map the Ecosystem
3. Select Strategic Opportunities
4. Launch Intervention Design and Improvement
5. Set up Purpose and Performance Measures
6. Demonstrate Sustainability and Impact
1. Use Purpose as Strategy
1.1. Identify a Meaningful Challenge
We have all heard lofty corporate purpose statements that are hard to put into practice. But this problem can be addressed by using purpose as strategy.
This begins by further defining and bringing to life the broader corporate purpose at the business unit level and then crafting a statement that identifies a meaningful challenge for your business unit to solve.
Format: Client workshops and external provocations to get you thinking about how to bring an outside-in perspective.
2. Map the Ecosystem
2.1. Understand the Stakeholders
To solve a meaningful challenge you will have to stretch yourself beyond the business-as-usual stakeholders – they may be important to you, but they are likely not the only groups relevant to solving the meaningful challenge you set. You must now generate a deep understanding of the stakeholders material to the purpose. This is the raw material for purpose-led innovation.
Format: In-depth stakeholder profiles, extensive video and photo content and insight reports.
2.2. Conduct Analysis and Discover Insights
You can’t effectively solve a problem you don’t understand. This is about seeing the challenge from those who experience its reality, not simply gathering expert opinion. Now you must use this in-depth qualitative research to generate insights and learning.
Format: Insight generation processes, data analysis, stakeholder profiles and key pain point shortlist.
2.3. Visualize the Ecosystem
The best way to discuss, make sense, and derive meaning from the complexity is through a visual map of the present state of the ecosystem.
Format: Visual map, available online, print and PDF.
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Yassine El Ouarzazi on Ecosystem Orchestration
3. Select Strategic Opportunities
3.1. Identify System Breakdowns
The map has revealed a series of key insights related to the stakeholder pain points, but ecosystems are complex with multiple flows, relationships and players. Collectively, the insights are symptoms that point to systemic breakdowns and root causes; these represent strategic business opportunities that need solving.
Format: Extensive data analysis, sometimes involving complementary quantitative analysis such as surveys to deepen insights. Client workshop to test and feedback systems analysis.
3.2. Write Shortlist of Breakdowns
With multiple potential opportunities in the ecosystem it is important for the organization to prioritize a subset of high-impact breakdowns that the organization can either address directly or partner with others to act on.
Format: Workshop-based decision-making process.
4. Launch Intervention Design and Improvement
4.1. Design Interventions
Once the breakdowns are selected, interventions need to be developed to solve them. Create a series of action plans led by dedicated project teams to set up, manage and deliver either new interventions or amend existing activities that deliver on your purpose. These interventions are agile, test and learn pilots that if proven can then be scaled by the business.
Format: These interventions are carefully co-created, ideally involving other stakeholders in the system.
5. Set up Purpose and Performance Measures
5.1. Set up Measurement System
It is crucial that the appropriate performance measurement system is set up for each intervention. Solving a meaningful challenge requires far more to be measured than money, that’s why we have developed robust non-financial metrics to deliver holistic performance. An effective test-and-learn approach also requires robust data.
5.2. Establish a Baseline
You will need to know how effectively the interventions are performing in relation to the purpose. A baseline must be measured in order to track progress against your purpose, this way you will be able to report on and scale success and also take action to fix failures.
Format: A measurement framework and dashboard using leading (performance) and lagging (purpose) indicators for business performance across multiple forms of capital.
6. Demonstrate Sustainability and Impact
6.1. Create a Mutual P&L
To change management behavior there is no more powerful business tool than the P&L. The Mutual P&L internalizes the organization’s impact in the ecosystem by including the cost of capital created or depleted in a single bottom-line, extending traditional profit to incorporate non-financial capitals.
Format: Your traditional business P&L with line extensions to account for the cost and performance of your purposeful business interventions.
6.2. Measure the Impact
Performance is no longer measured by financial capital alone. Performance for a purposeful business is about the extent to which it is effectively addressing the problems of people and planet profitably.
Format: Impact assessment for each intervention with success rate linked to pre-agreed targets.
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François Laurent on the Mutual P&L
