Our focus from the outset is on helping to create systemwide change in social services. We have spent the last ten years developing and implementing system change strategies garnering learning along the way and adjusting accordingly. 

Systems change is a collaborative endeavour as systems are not owned by one person or entity and cannot be changed by one organisation alone. Our experience tells us that effective system change strategies need to take account of all of the key stakeholders identifying what each needs to do in order to bring about the required changes. A range of key stakeholders need to be supported to achieve change including policy-makers, politicians, funders (philanthropic and public), public service commissioners, service providers and people who rely on services (and their families/carers). 

What is the difference between systems change and scaling? 

There is sometimes confusion between ‘scaling’ and ‘systemic change’. Approaches to scaling from private and philanthropic perspectives generally involve finding new resource to grow organisations or to replicate or multiply projects often established in parallel to existing service systems. This can be a rewarding and worthwhile endeavour but creates little or no change in the system serving the majority of those who depend on services unless a deliberate strategy for doing so is developed and implemented. Scaling for systemic change may involve growing organisations but is more focused on changing mind-sets across multiple stakeholders and scaling practice across a range of organisations and agencies. 

Acknowledging and dealing with complexity

Too often approaches to scaling and to systemic change are simplistic, focusing on only one stakeholder group (usually service providers). For example, the majority of resources invested in social services are spent on enhancing the quality and supply of services with little or no resource invested in supporting those in need to effectively articulate the ‘demand’ for improvements. As in any market, both demand and supply are crucial. Other approaches can be overly optimistic, based on the belief that demonstration of improvements through evidence-based programmes will secure adoption by ‘the system’. Lack of recognition of the conflicting demands on public service systems and the challenges of having systems adopt and mainstream projects that they have had no role in co-creating, have led to many disappointments on the part of philanthropic organisations and NGO service providers.