There is a particular kind of spaciousness that comes with standing inside a centuries-old European attic after everything has been cleared out, but it is fleeting. My imagination is quickly stifled by the deep sense of responsibility I feel to protect the layers of labor carried out long before my time, and the worry that I am in over my head.

Over the last decade, I've seen systems change become an increasingly prominent part of the evaluation and programming landscape. There have long been practitioners and champions for a systems approach, but lately, it seems like more funders want to understand it, more grantees are trying to do it, and more evaluators are being asked to measure it. And yet, a common thread in many conversations I have is the same: systems change can be hard to see, hard to measure, and hard to communicate.

At The Convive Collective, everything starts with the learner. We believe learning experiences are exponentially more effective when they are designed around how people actually prefer to receive, process, and apply information, rather than how we assume they should.

In part two of this blog series, I share my findings on leveraging AI as a design tool, specifically in the phase that comes after you’ve analyzed the data and are deciding how to present it for sensemaking. I was curious to see if AI is ready to be the new intermediary - either by helping non-designers produce these learning artefacts or by assisting experienced designers in doing their work more efficiently.

At Convive, we have been experimenting with AI tools across a range of tasks: as thought partners, research assistants, and of course, notetakers. On a recent assignment with a European Foundation, we tested ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini to support a large-scale qualitative systems change analysis.

Our actions, decisions, collaborations, and even our frustrations shape, and are shaped by, the systems we’re part of. Systems thinking isn’t an abstract academic exercise; it’s the water we swim in every day.

At Convive, we believe a little levity goes a long way! When you give people permission to laugh, play, and explore, you’re making space for agency and delight in the midst of the pressure to demonstrate impact.

This is the fourth blog of a four-part blog series. The post outlines the "BRIDGE Method," a conversational tool for organizational learning specialists working in philanthropy.

This is the third blog of a four-part blog series. The post outlines the "BRIDGE Method," a conversational tool for organizational learning specialists working in philanthropy.

This is the second blog of a four-part blog series. The post outlines the "BRIDGE Method," a conversational tool for organizational learning specialists working in philanthropy.

This is the first blog of a four-part blog series. The post outlines the "BRIDGE Method," a conversational tool for organizational learning specialists working in philanthropy.

This is the third blog of a three-part blog series. It details how to actually put an organizational learning plan into action and common challenges that arise.

This is the third blog of a three-part blog series. It details how to actually put an organizational learning plan into action and common challenges that arise.

As organizational learning professionals, we have received a lot of questions over the years about what makes for a good organizational learning plan.

This blog is part two in a three-part series and focuses on how to actually create an organizational learning plan.

This is the third blog of a three-part blog series. It details how to actually put an organizational learning plan into action and common challenges that arise.