Adam Groves And Lucy Dacey from the Children's Society visited Sitra Lab's HERÄÄMÖ breakfast event on 24.10.2019. Systems thinking and systems change might sound like academic jargon but many social innovators apply approaches that are based on these practices, but without all the difficult language. One of the organisations using such an approach is the UK-based The Children’s Society, where systems change work done for the benefit of children and young people is part of the work of almost every employee. The charity organises the Systems Changers programme, which builds the confidence and capabilities of frontline practitioners to transform systems and tackle the complex issues faced by young people today.

1. Designing and
delivering
Systems Change
Adam Groves
Design Lead,
Accelerating Impact
Lucy Dacey
Programme Manager,
Disrupting Exploitation

2. 138
years
old
The Children’s Society – who we are
2
71 frontline
services
780
staff

3. What is systems change?
 What does systems change mean to you?
 Why do you think it’s important? (Why did you
bother to come today!?)
 What examples have you seen of it in your work?
3

4. What does systems change mean to us?
 “Systems changes are changes to the people,
organisations, policies, processes, cultures, beliefs and
environments that make up the system” (Fulfilling Lives)
What does this mean in our work?
 “Different children same problem”
 Making changes that improve the experience of children
in comparable situations in the future.
4

5. Our (inevitable?) journey BACK towards
systems change
‘Multiple
disadvantage’.
Intensifying need.
Rapid social and
economic change.
Whole person
approach.
Multi-agency
working.
● Brilliant practitioners
● Brilliant services
● Siloes
● Culture / Permission

6. What would it look like to take a
systems change approach to
tackling criminal exploitation of
children?
Disrupting Exploitation Programme
Case study
6

7. Designing for systems change
7
Journey into crisis
Pre-crisis Crisis point
“Different children same problem”

8. Designing for systems change
8
Journey into crisis
Pre-crisis Crisis point
Preventative work

9. Designing for systems change
9
Journey into crisis
Pre-crisis Crisis point
Culture
Context
Policy /
Rules
Information
flows
Resource
But what about the rest of the system?

10. Designing for systems change
10
Journey into crisis
Pre-crisis Crisis point
Culture
Context
Policy /
Rules
Information
flows
Resource
Whole systems approach

11. Our (rapid!) design process
11
 Interviews
 Workshops
 Evidence review
---
 Identified gaps
 Identified partners
 Designed roles

12. ‘Social infrastructure’
12
Young people / Professionals
Practitioners
Social infrastructure Coaching
Time
Money
Mandate

13. Our
Disrupting
Exploitation
programme
Staff split their time
between systems
change and one to
one work
Multi-disciplinary
teams in three
cities learning from
each other
Budget and
permission to test
new ideas
Insight from young
people and
practitioners valued
and acted upon
Embedding
ourselves in
systems and
partner locations
Our advisory board
represents the
system we’re trying
to change

14. Information &
intelligence flows
Contextual
Culture, training, tools
Policy and
procedure

15. Case study: a systems change experiment

16. Two core approaches
Empowering our
workforce to be
Systems Changers
(whatever service
they work in)
16
Designing and
delivering frontline
programmes with
an explicit systems
change focus

17. Lessons Learnt
17
 We are part of the system that needs changing
 Recruiting systems changers is hard
 Crisis management has to come first
 There is appetite and interest in this work
 When it works it’s energising

18. Any questions
and ways to
get in touch
Lucy Dacey
National Programme Manager, Disrupting
Exploitation
@lucyhdacey
Lucy.dacey@childrenssociety.org.uk
Adam Groves
Design Lead
@adgro
Adam.groves@childrenssociety.org.uk