In 2011, Kania and Kramer published an article titled ‘Collective Impact’, in which they compare the success of a project for improving education in Kentucky USA to failures in similar efforts elsewhere. [1] A nonprofit organisation called Strive brought together local leaders to tackle the student achievement crisis and improve education. “Strive partners have improved student success in dozens of key areas across three large public school districts. Despite the recession and budget cuts, 34 of the 53 success indicators that Strive tracks have shown positive trends, including high school graduation rates, fourth-grade reading and math scores, and the number of preschool children prepared for kindergarten.” The article analyses the case and comes up with ‘Five Conditions of Collective Success’. Google Scholar reports the article has been cited over 3,400 times.
Similarities with the task democracy model
Although labels are different, each of the five conditions of collective success has a parallel in the task democracy model:
- The first three conditions (Shared Agenda, Shared Measurement Systems, Mutually Reinforcing Activities) match the task democracy policy cycle model (Agenda setting, transition project co-creation, impact measurement).
- The fourth condition, Continuous Communication, matches the permanency of task democratic platforms.
- The fifth condition, Backbone Support Organizations, matches the final steps in the task democracy startup model.
Differences between the Five Conditions of Collective Success model and the task democracy model
- Task democracy was developed with sustainable development in mind, while the Collective Impact article highlights a transition over a relatively short time horizon.
- Task democracy provides an elaborated structure model with five coequal task groups, while the Collective Impact model leaves the choice of participants open.
[1] Kania, John, and Mark Kramer. ‘Collective Impact’. Stanford Social Innovation Review, no. Winter 2011 (2011). https://ssir.org/articles/entry/collective_impact.