The Power of Networks: Relational Intelligence and Network Weaving

Source: Design Futures Aotearoa Network Map

In a world increasingly driven by fleeting transactions, how do we build enduring connections that foster resilience and purposeful change? In this episode of Signal Shift, we welcome Victoria Mulligan, a futurist and co-founder of Design Futures Aotearoa in New Zealand. Victoria introduces the crucial distinction between a network and a community, emphasizing investment over mere connection. She unveils the powerful practice of network mapping, making invisible relationships visible to strategically strengthen collaboration and shared potential. The conversation delves into "network weaving," the intentional art of building trust across boundaries, highlighting it as a foundational, yet often un-resourced, skill. Victoria also shares profound insights into how women naturally prioritize the relational, fostering psychological safety and deeper conversations essential for tackling complex challenges. Discover why prioritizing stewardship over strategy, and relationship over transaction, is key to unlocking the transformative power of networks for a more adaptable future.

Further Resources:

• "Design Futures Aotearoa." Design Futures Aotearoa, www.designfutures.nz/.

• "Aotearoa Futures Network Map." kumu.io/aotearoa-futures/aotearoa-futures-network-map#aotearoa-futures-network-map.

• "The Futures Workshop." thefuturesworkshop.substack.com/.

• Ehrlichman, David. Impact Networks: Create Connection, Spark Collaboration, and Drive Systemic Change. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2021, www.converge.net/book.

• Ehrlichman, David. "Fostering Self-Organization." Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2021, ssir.org/books/excerpts/entry/fostering_self_organization.

Episode Transcript:

Raakhee: (00:00)

Hello and welcome to Signal Shift with me, Raakhee and our wonderful guest, Victoria Mulligan. Welcome, Victoria.

Victoria: (00:07)

Kia Ora, Hello?

Raakhee: (00:08)

Victoria Mulligan is a former forensic psychologist turned futurist based in Auckland, New Zealand.

She is the co-founder and director of the female led Design Futures, Aotearoa and founder of the Aotearoa Futures New Zealand Network, an initiative which began with a map exploring the network of futures practitioners in New Zealand. She's also the creator and the host of the Futures Workshop, a podcast showcasing the world's leading futures tools and she's an advisory board member for the Global Futures Society, which is a part of the Dubai Future Foundation. Victoria considers herself a builder of strategies, futures, teams, and networks with the aim to co-create resilient, purposeful, and adaptable communities. We have been talking about social and relationship capital its growing need and importance for the now and the future.

We've looked into community living and even explored the power of friendships. But today we want to talk about networks inspired by your network mapping, Victoria. So once again, a very warm welcome and I'm looking forward to dig into all of this with you.

Victoria: (01:20)

Me too, thank you for having me. It's a real pleasure to be here.

Raakhee: (01:24)

A lot of people probably wondering what your work is about. Can you tell us more about Design Futures Aotearoa? What purpose does it serve? Who's involved? And what does the organization do?

Victoria: (01:36)

OK, it's a lovely place to start. So Design Futures Aotearoa, it's not an organization, I guess, in the most conventional sense. So we think of ourselves as a network that behaves a bit more like a community. And I think that distinction is quite helpful because a network shows you who is connected, but a community shows you who's invested. And we like to think of ourselves as a community of people who care. We share values, rather than just specific objectives or goals. We work really hard to build trust among the people that we are working in relationship with, rather than just coordinate activities. we set out with a very clear purpose, fourfold.

One is to connect, support, and amplify the really amazing work that's already going on in the foresight space in New Zealand to make the field of foresight more visible, more accessible, more coherent across disciplines, across sectors, industries, and regions as well, to embed Te Ao Māori. So this is our indigenous knowledge systems more explicitly into the way that we think about the future as a worldview really that shifts how we think about time, how we think about responsibility, and how we think about, I guess, intergenerational care as well. and with that sort of final

I guess, purpose to make sure that we are shaping a more just, more equitable and sustainable Aotearoa New Zealand for future generations. I think what is particularly interesting about what we've done here is that it began in response to a need. And so you talked about the network mapping that we did and that network mapping work really revealed that in Auckland, where I'm based, Hamaki Makaurau, Auckland,

People that were working in futures or design or even systems, for the most part were operating in silos. So we had these relationships, but they were quite thin. The field felt quite fragmented. And so Design Futures Aotearoa really emerged to try and strengthen the connective tissue and not by just launching a new organization, but trying to invite in a new way of collaborating really.

Raakhee: (03:58)

I love your distinction right up top of the difference between an organization, community, and a network. Can you share a little bit more about that as well and what differentiates, what really makes something not an organization and a community, specifically with your community.

Victoria: (04:18)

Yeah, ok, it's a great question. So I start usually by defining what we mean by not just a community, but a network. And even within a network, I regard the work that we're doing as an impact network. And that concept comes from a man called David Ehrlichman, who literally wrote the book on impact networks. he defines it as a web of relationships that connects people and things. So a mapping activity of an impact network really helps to visualize the shape of a system. So who's linked, who's collaborating, who's sharing information.

It's this living representation of how people in this space, in the future space here, are organizing and how ideas move together. So what makes something like a map powerful is that you're moving something that has been previously invisible, a system, and you're making it visible. for most of the time, networks, know, those connections exist in people's heads.

Once we were able to create a map to show this network of connections, it suddenly becomes a tool, a strategic tool where you can see where connections in that network are strong, where they're thin, where the energy might be building. And so that's been particularly helpful.

When you open up the map, this is essentially what you see. You get a sort of text sidebar and you get the map, you know, the futures network, the Aotearoa futures network on the right-hand side.

So most people are most interested in the network map, so we just click on that there. And I should also just add that, a sort of big shout out to a guy that I work with in this space called Howard Lange down in Christchurch who is actually just quite incredible at figuring out digitally what is needed in this sort of map. Here's my amazing collaborator Jade who founded Design Futures Aotearoa with me.

So you can see who she's connected to there. Where you see thick lines, it shows that they are, you know, a strong connection as in currently collaborating. When you see thin lines, you can see sort of here and here and here. They're weaker connections, so it's quite intuitive in that you can have, you can filter by connection so you can see where there are current collaborations right down to where there is no connection between members and the network to where they are maybe just communicating or just coordinating their actions.

So talked a little bit about, you know, how we're moving the invisible to something that is very visible. When you have a product, when there is something that you can coalesce around, that you can see and touch and interact with, you have far more agency and you tend to do things more.

One of the problems with networks is they tend to be something that is quite conceptual. Something that we can think about, we might talk about, but we don't do anything with. Whereas when you have a network like this that you can actually see, it shows you where to put your energy. You know where to place an intervention in the system so that you can effect change.

Raakhee: (07:42)

This is amazing. It's visually done so beautifully as well. And to see those relationships. And I can see this being of so much value outside of, I've been exposed to stakeholder maps in the corporate sector, where the conversation is really around influence and power. It's a very different context around that. it's really beautiful to see something that is about collaboration.

And it's about strengthening bonds between people, really, in that sense of community that you're sort of speaking about. I can see use cases for this in so many of the smaller groups and communities and places. What exactly is network weaving? Is it just simply the process of building the map, or is that a different concept?

Victoria: (08:31)

Yeah, ok, cool. So let's jump back a little bit. So if we talk about what network mapping is, so the network mapping is essentially the process of collecting data about relationships. So who's connected to whom, how, for what purpose. And then we've used, in this case, used Kumu to visualize those connections. But we talked about this as being a strategic tool. So the purpose isn't to create this pretty image, this pretty picture. It's to better support questions. So we want to know who's on the periphery, why are they there, where is trust or that sort of relational infrastructure the strongest, where might there be new connections that could unlock shared potential, you know, it's a strategic tool to show you whether invest your energy.

Now that takes us on to network weaving, which is then the practice of acting on that insight. So then weaving becomes about intentionally building relationships, particularly across boundaries. So someone who is strong in network weaving notices where there is energy or perhaps where someone or an organization even is isolated and creates conditions for that connection. So at the job of a network weaver is about fostering, we talk about creating conditions and that means fostering trust rather than just increasing interaction or communication. So it's relational, not transactional. So when we weave networks, we're actually allowing them to then use that information to build trust, to build relationships.

And once you do that, you're enabling a system to become more adaptive, more resilient, and then can obviously respond to change. And we need that skill right now because we're having to respond to change much faster than we ever have before.

Raakhee: (10:23)

I think it brings up for me as well, when you spoke about the periphery and having this picture of sort of all entities or parties, would you say that some extent of inclusion and even diversity would be a part of just the natural outcomes of doing network weaving the right way of the right participants looking at this? Or is other separate concepts?

Victoria: (10:47)

Well, yeah, gosh, there's lots to unpack there. I actually believe it's not organic, that you do need to be intentional. I think if it happens, which in some cases it does, you got lucky, really. I would not rest on laurels to assume that if we are weaving, that we are successful in making sure that all voices are heard. I don't think that's the case. I do think we need to intentionally design for multiple voices to be be heard and to be reflected in networks like this.

I saw some comment somewhere about the fact that: we're drawn to networks where we can see ourselves, where you're more likely to join the Aotearoa Futures Network, for example. If you feel like the people in that network look like you, speak like you, act like you, it's very easy to be drawn to those sort of networks because you see yourself there. So in order for us to try and capture futures thinkers around the country, that reflect the diversity of futures thinking that's actually going on, we had to intentionally go out and say, hey, do you define yourself as a futures thinker in this way?

So we were able to go up to groups that would otherwise not consider themselves to be a foresight practitioner, a futurist We had to do that to get a network of people who reflected the diversity of the field here in New Zealand. I don't think it happens by accident. I think it is very intentional. And the best weavers, the best weavers do do that. They do go out, they do sense connection. They do create conditions where people feel safe, that are psychologically safe environments, where people feel like they can take risks, that they can be vulnerable, that they can communicate in a way that makes them feel comfortable, that they are listened to.

Raakhee: (12:47)

We all have the similarity bias, right? We look for the same as us in anything we go to. just, yeah, really, really fascinating. you've touched on this a bit. But I'm just I'd love to hear more on this again. What do you think the power of this kind of mapping ... can be ... where else do you see this sort of network mapping being really beneficial, really powerful? Where else can it be used? Where else do you think it should be used? Where should this kind of work really grow?

Victoria: (13:20)

I guess there's two parts to that question. One is where I think this network can go, the Aotearoa Futures Network. I tend to believe more in networks of networks. So rather than just growing a network for the sake of growing a network, we should be focused on, in our case, we could talk about regional networks. So for example, there is a great network down in Otatahi Christchurch in New Zealand, which inspired a lot of my work. So Dr. Cheryl Doig down there created a network of individuals and has really fostered their sort of passion and futures thinking actually, she's now sort of part of the Design Futures Aotearoa. She helps with sort of the directing of the organization.

We've had a lot of conversation about whether this sort of work should be done across the Pacific as well. And I think it 100 % should. But I think that that needs local ownership. One challenge that networks have is that I think largely because they are often invisible, they are very under-resourced. So it's not something that you know, organizations or even individuals really invest in. And I think that's a major challenge for networks. Where do I think these sort of networks belong? I think everywhere. I don't think there's anywhere that wouldn't really benefit from an approach like this.

I see these networks working very well, very powerfully in public sector systems. So in government institutions, there's definitely stuff happening in that space in New Zealand. There is great stuff happening in the Kenyan government in this space as well. Wales is a really great example of where there's great foresight networks happening. So public sector for sure.

But I've seen it work really brilliantly in private sector organizations as well.

Raakhee: (15:09)

The next question that was bubbling up for me naturally is kind of the resources, right? Who takes on the task of saying, OK, let's build this. Where's the capacity? How do people do this? Where do they even start thinking about this and building these kinds of networks? It seems a little daunting, right?

Victoria: (15:30)

I think if you just take it down to sort of like the core of what we're doing, right? So all network analysis is understanding the structure and the health of relationships. That's all it is.

I always say start with purpose. Define what the boundaries of the network are and why you are doing this. So you talked about stakeholder maps and it's a really great starting point. But we're interested in more than just who people are, but how they're connected and then the type of connection that they have as well, the strength of that connection.

And you prompted me to think about it around. I guess the role of women, the role of women in this space.

We talk about about network weaving and I sort of touched on this about it being it's quite a skill. It's also an invisible skill and we find that when you look across networks and I look across a lot of networks and what you tend to find is that the people that are holding those leadership roles and those more facilitation roles. Those that are doing the weaving tend to be women almost across the board. Like it is a pattern that we notice again and again. And I've talked to many colleagues about this. There's really great work. I probably should have done a shout out to earlier as well, the School of International Futures, who does about the best networks work that I've seen out there. Abi Nokes and Cat Tully with their, particularly with their next gen. foresight practitioners just do amazing work to build a network of new thinkers in this space, which I just think is so important. And these are two just incredible women who just devote so much time and energy to fostering this community of individuals. And I'm constantly looking to them and how they're thinking about things like networks as well.

What we do notice, I should say, is that women do tend to to center this relational intelligence. And we talked about psychological safety and vulnerability and that sort of collective sense making, what you really need when you are looking at how networks evolve. And people often talk about them as soft skills. I think they're more than soft. I think that they are structural. I think that they are foundational. And generally when you look across networks, you find that women or these female-led networks are a far more comfortable sort of holding tension that exists with these very meaningful networks. Because networks shouldn't be where everyone is just agreeing with each other. It should be a space where we can actually have safe debate about things that we can honor, like emergence as it comes through. We talk about safe space, but also protecting and holding that space so that we can have these slower, deeper conversations, which is actually really required if we're going to have any shot at solving some of these more complex challenges.

I think this relational labor that goes into making things work just gets ignored. And women are, but women are good at it. There's no doubt about it. And I don't necessarily think that we're just biologically wired to be great collaborators. Maybe we are, I don't know. But increasingly I'm starting to think that maybe historically women have had to navigate complexity relationally because we haven't had access to the same levers of institutional power, that we've had to build other forms. And we've had to do that through build and trust, through reciprocity, through care, through relationships. And so when you see these networks that are run or led by women, you can see that they do prioritize that. They are centering relationship before transaction. They're the first ones to notice when someone's not in the room or to ask, what are we doing?

But also how are we doing it and who is it serving and it's a really beautiful thing to watch, but you also want to be able to make sure that it is not women that are constantly having to hold that responsibility. And if they are, and actually whether or not they are, that role, that relational labour is just so critical that we should also be resourcing it, you know, and that is the...

But we said it right at the top, you know, that that is the major challenge for networks is that good networks, the weaving that is going on behind the scenes is just invisible. So we forget to support it. We forget to invest and we forget to resource. And that is just a tragedy in my opinion.

Raakhee: (20:30)

And I think the historical context that you spoke about as to why that might be the case is really, really interesting to think about. I hadn't thought about that before. I think that's really, really interesting.

I picked up this quote from one of your posts, I think, online. And I think you have inherently, you've spoken about this throughout the call, but I wanted to just bring attention to it because it's such a beautiful statement. And the statement is, "just because we are working with someone doesn't mean we are working relationally. Transactions are easy. Relationships take effort. Yet it's in those deeper relational spaces that networks become transformative."

Victoria: (21:11)

Networks and the strategies don't fail because they lack a plan. Like plans are easy. They fail because they neglect the people that hold them together.

And there's a quote, again, it's not mine, but I use it all the time, that change happens at the speed of trust, right? So change happens through people. And unless we nurture that, unless we care about sort of the relational stuff, then it will fall apart. Like it's, we've seen it time and time again, it's a no-brainer.

Raakhee: (21:48)

Shifting the lens from the transactional to the relational and kind of, yeah, just I think everyone kind of sitting with it in our own lives with so many things, right? I think it's so powerful to just think of things from the lens because so much of our lives and our world has been built to be transactional in this world. So I think to step back and keep going back to the relational.

Victoria: (22:10)

I often like to leave people with questions. It's sort of a flip because I often get asked for advice on networks, but I think it's better to be able to reflect on your own work and ask questions of the work that you're doing to figure out what the path forward might be. So I always ask people who are working, either designing or leading networks to ask themselves, exactly what you just said. Are you working relationally or are you working transactionally? Are you, when you're thinking about investment, are you resourcing and funding a strategy or are you funding and resourcing stewardship?

You know, I think those questions are really important because as soon as you start prioritizing relational work, when you recognize it, when you resource it, when you value that as much as the outputs, that's the point at which you start unlocking I think what networks are really capable of.

Raakhee: (23:06)

Thank you so much, Victoria. I that's a beautiful close and really giving everybody a lot of food for thought.

I will link to the network maps as well as the book that you mentioned on the call as well. So to everybody listening, thank you so much for being here. Let us know what your questions are, what you thought of today's session and what's coming up for you and any networks or communities that you're a part of that are really powerful and what can we learn from them. So please do share with us, but as always, thank you for being here and bye for now.