We catalyze systems change for the well-being of people and the planet
Our generation is experiencing the rise of an inherent tension between improving human well-being and the ecological degradation, social inequality, and economic disparity that has resulted from organizations trying to achieve this goal.
By building the capacity of leaders to design prosperous systems with positive social and ecological impacts, we are helping unlock latent potential and shape transformative action towards the well-being of people and the planet.
Late 19th - Early 20th Century
Mass production, mass markets, and mass media were the underlying forces guiding the design of new organizations to fit changes in the relationship between people and the natural world.
Late 20th - Early 21st Century
The context has shifted, but organizations have not responded accordingly. Modern approaches developed 50 to 200 years ago created friction between people, organizations, and the natural world.
21st Century
Leap supports organizations interested in catalyzing the well-being of people and the natural world but lack proper frameworks and methods to achieve new levels of fitness between the three constituencies.
Yesterday’s approaches are not fit to address today’s challenges
Inadequate education, lack of affordable housing, environmental degradation, political polarization, ineffective health systems, and inclusion in all senses are a few problems that challenge our well-being. These difficulties, challenging in ordinary times, are more daunting in today’s uncertainties.
Efforts of the past decades have revealed how change is extremely difficult for organizations across sectors, especially those that have historically succeeded. While many leaders have realized that a new world requires leap changes in what they do and how they do it, most still make step changes that respond to the context they are leaving, not to the one they are entering. Still, the lack of transformative action is not caused by a lack of knowledge
To act differently, people must see differently
We believe that advanced design models can help organizations shift two modern paradigms preventing organizations to promote well-being in today’s world: (1) the way they plan and operate and (2) the way they use resources. While these paradigms are connected, understanding each paradigm’s unique aspects is useful.
1. The Way Organizations Plan and Operate
Modern organizations fragmented their structure into department siloes to increase efficiency and promote knowledge specialization. Over time, leaders found their organization had unprecedented knowledge about operations and strategy, but became less knowledgeable about people's patterns of daily life. Today, organizations face an Innovation Gap, struggling to bridge modern siloes and overcome their uncertainty about what to make.
Operations
How to make it?
Organization
Knowledge
Offerings
What to make?
Innovation
Gap
Strategy
Why does it create value?
Users
Who is it for?
1800s
1850s
Time
Now
2. The Way Organizations Use Resources
While more integrated approaches can help, it will not lead to sustainable outcomes if organizations continue to produce more things in a linear, take-make-waste fashion. We all know this worldview has led to successful organizations, some of which are able to accumulate more wealth than many nation-states. But it has also shown its limitations in facing well-being challenges, such as those related to environmental integrity and social equity.
Organization
Outcomes
Enviornmental Integrity
Wealth Concentration
Material Goods Production
1800s
1850s
Time
Now
At Leap, we work to shape futures where life is filled with healthier, happier, and more prosperous opportunities for all.