Learnings from the Field - Case Studies
The Many-to-Many System was co-developed with experienced practitioners already navigating the challenges of complex governance. Through a dedicated learning network, these partners shared insights from their live initiatives and tested components of the Many-to-Many System in their diverse contexts.
Who is the Community?
The Many-to-Many "Proof of Possibility" was brought to life by a dedicated Learning Network of practitioners and organizations committed to exploring new ways of collaborating. This includes Dark Matter Labs, the Legal Plumber, Local Motion, Huddlecraft, Plymouth Octopus Project, We are Opus, Foundation Scotland, Lankelly Chase. This work was generously supported by Arising Quo, Lankelly Chase, and Laudes Foundation.
This initiative didn't start from scratch; it emerged from a rich history of fieldwork and shared inquiry. You can explore this full story on Many-to-Many Journey page.
Here, we invite you to explore the experiences of four network participants through in-depth case studies. You'll find their reflections on co-developing the system, lessons from testing its components, and valuable wisdom from their own extensive work in complex collaborations.
Complex Collaboration in Practice: Case Studies from the Field
These case studies explore real-world contexts where people are tackling complex, entangled challenges - and disrupting norms in how we see value, ownership, power and risk. They were developed through seven in-depth interviews, survey responses and shared documentation about each of the projects. The initiatives featured are independent efforts that predate and sit alongside the work of the Many-to-Many System. We’re sharing these examples to demonstrate how people are doing complex collaboration work in practice - including distributed governance, collaborative resourcing, shared infrastructure, and deep relational work.
What we’ve tried to share
This is not a set of uniform case studies. There is no single way of doing complex collaboration. What you’ll find here are multiple approaches, shaped by context, values, and experimentation. We’ve tried to show not just what worked, but what changed, where things got stuck, and how people held the ambiguity of this work.
Each story includes:
- Context: What the initiative was trying to do
- What’s being disrupted: The intended shifts created through this approach
- What it looked like in practice: How the complex collaboration unfolded in practice
- What changed: How expectations evolved along the way
- Hard bits: Where the work got hard, and what was learned
- Insights & tips: Practitioner tips for others doing complex collaboration work
- Looking ahead: Where next for this initiative
Who is this for?
These are for anyone working on complex, entangled challenges looking for inspiration. You might be particularly interested in these case studies if you are: a governance practitioner exploring how to hold complexity and build trust in collaborative work; a funder interested in how to redistribute power and support emergent asset allocation; a legal professional who is mindful of how their role and their stewardship of contracting, risk and accountability can impact complex collaborations, and who is looking to adapt their practice. We’ve pulled out top tips for each of these audiences here.
