Design Guidelines for Transformative Social Innovation and Change

Social innovation for transformation can be fostered by the involvement of purposeful and self-aware innovators called transformation catalysts, who follow a clear set of design guidelines in their system change efforts. The paper discusses three sets of guidelines, principles, and associated practices central to achieving transformation: (1) connect social innovation efforts through shared life-affirming purposes and intentions; (2) foster values-driven netweaving (network weaving) processes that generate voice and participation for collaborators; and (3) cohere and catalyze a variety of transformation efforts and initiatives through systems stewardship. Use of such guidelines is needed in the underorganized context of bringing together multiple initiatives for the purpose of fundamental systemic change.