Author Archives: 4QP

A Note to the EL Community from the EL Community Advisory Panel

— Andrea Anderson, Tracy Costigan, Raj Chawla, Tim Larson, Melanie Nowacki In February of 2021, 4QP held a community call on the topic of “What’s Next?” for the Emergent Learning community. In that call, 4QP asked people how they were … Continue reading

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Board Members: Think like smart investors

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. What does it mean to serve in a governance role as a board member in the social sector during tumultuous times? What should you be listening for? Asking for? We worked with … Continue reading

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Redefining what we mean by “Learning Agenda”

Language is so fundamental to how we engage with the world and with each other. We mostly choose the words we use to convey an idea, to coordinate our understanding of a thing, or to connect with other human beings. … Continue reading

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Learning our way through this defining moment

Like many of our colleagues, friends and fellow citizens, we have been dismayed by recent incidents of violence against innocent people that have gone unchecked and not brought to justice yet again. We are heartened by the overwhelming public yet … Continue reading

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What the Times Are Calling For: A Letter to our Community

March 31, 2020 The times we find ourselves in today are unprecedented in ways that go beyond the physical realities of the COVID-19 pandemic. We simply don’t know what’s going to happen next. What we thought was true two weeks … Continue reading

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Complex Adaptive Systems: a definition

As we launch our new sponsored research project, Exploring Emergence in Complex Social Change Initiatives, we realize that the field of work on which it is based might be new to many of our colleagues. While much has been written … Continue reading

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Emergent Strategy, iPhones and Social Impact

I am just back from the 2015 Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) Conference, where Phil Buchanan invited Patti Patrizi and me to bring together — for the first time — our many collective years of thinking and doing work in … Continue reading

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A 4QP talk at Systems Thinking in Action

2013 was a stand-out year for us at 4QP. Our first annual Emergent Learning Community of Practitioners completes their year-long Certification Program later this month. As we predicted, their experiences and perspective have expanded our own understanding and practice of … Continue reading

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Reaching for an Inflection Point

Human beings are incredibly smart and resourceful. Every single day, we use language to construct sentences we’ve never uttered before. Many of us drive heavy machinery at 60 miles per hour for years in rivers of other human beings in … Continue reading

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