A Strategy for Bootstrapping Your ABCs 0

Overview 1

In this era of accelerating change, the challenges and opportunities we face are rapidly shifting, becom­ing increas­ing­ly more expansive, complex, and often urgent. So our organi­za­tions and initia­tives are needing to get more adept at rising to the cause and succeed­ing in the midst of such challenges. Doug Engelbart fleshed out a strategic frame­work for shifting trajectory, to become highly evolved, much more capable organi­za­tions of the future sooner, organizing for more brilliant outcomes, while improving how they improve.

Who is this for? See Start Where You Are below. Explore strategy basics through the concept bubbles that follow, and browse the many resources under Learn More below.

Strategy at a Glance 2

Pushing the envelope of what's achievable or knowable involves augmenting key capabilities in your teams, initiatives, organizations and stakeholders – facilitating the evolution out on a frontier.

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Explore Key Concepts
Which best depicts your pursuit?
Enabling Tech - facilitating engagement across the board
Building on First Principles
The ABC Opportunity - accelerating transformation
Pushing the Capability Frontier
Collective IQ - for more brilliant outcomes
Scenarios - how might you proceed? scale up?
Icon Your Group
Pushing the Envelope How well do you think and act together? Keys to more bril­liant out­comes, dy­nam­ic knowledge systems
see examples below
Icon ABCs of Organi­za­tional Transformation How orgs drive capa­bil­i­ty improve­ment; keys to evolv­ing faster, smarter, im­prov­ing how we improve
see examples below
Icon Trans­for­ming the Organi­za­tion Driving capa­bil­i­ty improve­ment in the org; keys to evolv­ing faster, smarter, im­prov­ing how we improve
see examples below
Icon Networked Improvement "NICs" Joining forces to pursue a shared cause, challenge or capability; keys to doing it smarter, faster
see examples below
Icon Capability Augmentation What makes people capable; how capabilities co-evolve; keys to co-evolving smarter, faster
Icon Harnessing
"Collective IQ" How well do we think & act col­lec­tive­ly? Keys to more bril­liant out­comes, dy­nam­ic knowledge systems
see examples below
Icon Networked Improvement "NICs" Joining forces to pursue a shared cause, challenge or capability; keys to doing it smarter, faster
see examples below
Icon Capability Augmentation What makes people capable; how capabilities co-evolve; keys to co-evolving smarter, faster
Icon Capability Co-Evolution Frontier How groups, orga­ni­za­tions push the frontier; keys to advancing further, faster, more cost-effectively
Icon A Dynamic Knowledge Ecosystem "DKE" Collective IQ distilled to its essence - a knowledge process and repository
Icon Boosting Collective IQ Collective IQ is strategic; To boost the capability, improve the DKE
Icon Enabling Technology "OHS" The critical missing piece for facilitating cross-cutting gains in Collective IQ
Icon A Multiplier Effect Collective IQ in AB&C Bootstrapping Collective IQ in A, B, and C offers extra strategic leverage, a compounding ROI
Icon ABCs on the Frontier The org units pushing the frontier are the most strategic and least flexed; keys to improving how they jump the curve
Icon At Any Scale From NICs to alliances of NICs, to national or inter­nation­al Grand Challenge
Icon (1) View your initia­tive thru an ABC Lens Assign an ABC task force as part of your initiative to explore the ABC opportunity
Icon (2) Form Networked Improvement "NICs" Consider joining forces with like-minded initiatives in a 'NIC' to share results and learnings; consider especially an 'ABC NIC' with fellow ABC task forces
Icon (3) Leverage Your "Collective IQ" Using First Principles, assemble/employ best practices and tools to facilitate your pursuit(s)
Icon (4) Pursue Capability Augmentation Identify key capabilities to pursue, distilling their human-tool elements to inform MVP* design
Icon (5) Push the Capability Frontier Field your MVP in build-test-learn human-tool pilot(s) to accelerate learnings, results
Icon (6) Enabling Technology "OHS" Explore best of open, evolv­able hyperdoc tools to enhance #3 en­gage­ment, cap­ture, utility
Sample Scenario - regardless of your primary pursuit:
Start anywhere in the process, cycle through in any order that makes sense to your situation. For those who pick and choose, benefits are additive, while taking an integrative, all-in, whole-systems approach offers the greatest bootstrapping leverage, the greatest ROI.
  1. Assign an ABC task force as part of your initiative for a deeper dive;
  2. Consider joining forces with other ABC task forces in an 'ABC NIC' to share in the exploration; Join or form other NICs to enhance results in your primary pursuit; see NIC Notes below for more;
  3. Begin employing the best practices and tools you can muster to facilitate your pursuit(s) – harnessing your Collective IQ – using First Principles and the OHS tech template as a guide;
  4. Identify which strategic capabilities to cultivate, improve, augment early on, distilling their human-tool elements to frame your minimum viable prototype (MVP) design;
  5. Field your MVP in build-test-learn human-tool pilot(s) to accelerate co-evolution, frontier learnings, and results;
  6. Explore best of open, evolv­able hyperdoc tools (OHS) to stream­line #3 en­gage­ment, cap­ture, utility within and across initiatives;

NIC Notes:

  • a NIC is an expeditionary force out on the frontier, scouting, mapping, researching options and solutions, fielding pilots, paving the way for its members to advance their home initiatives with greater assurance, resources, and ROI than otherwise possible;
  • your task force participates in the NIC(s) hands on, continuously transferring shared learnings, findings, and prototypes into home pilot usage;
  • your ABC NIC is paving the way with best practices and enabling technology for added bootstrap­ping leverage to all other pursuits and NICs;
  • NICs form alliances with related initiatives to expand results;
  • Alliances of NICs also form at the Grand Challenge level to advance key capability, best practices and tools for any and all initiatives pursuing important challenges worldwide to their highest potential.

Start Where You Are 3

This strategy is especially suited for initiatives like the following, and dovetails neatly with existing in-place strategies to accelerate progress. Find your primary pursuit below, to better explore the concepts above:

  • Organizational Improvement Initiatives - such as Lean, Agile, Design Thinking initiatives pursuing continuous improvement within the organization;
  • Networked Improvement Communities - alliances formed to advance a particular cause or capability, such as in healthcare, educational, or economic initiatives, professional societies, consortia, NGOs, task force, network of networks, etc.;
  • Your Team or Initiative - such as a project team, learning circle, leading edge research team, program development team, or initiatives tackling important causes in communities, government, or society at large.

Extra bootstrapping leverage available for those whose primary pursuit is:

  • Boosting Collective Intelligence - initiatives improving how people engage and shape their thinking, vision, sensemaking, insights, problem solving, collective action, knowledge work, dialog, collaboration, tools for thought, extended mind, intelligence augmentation (IA), information flow, digital libraries, etc.

For tips on putting any or all of this strategy to work in your initiative or organization, check out our ABC Toolkit for Bootstrapping Brilliance.

Learn More 4

  Helpful Resources 4a

  Press 4b

  Papers 4c