The Ecosystem Project: A Practical Guide to Illuminating and Transforming Our Human Ecosystems

The Ecosystem Project offers a groundbreaking approach to navigating complexity and making real, lasting change in human systems.

Too often, leaders face challenges that are overwhelming in scope-interconnected problems that defy simple fixes. The default is to focus on what can be controlled: launching initiatives, tweaking processes, or applying "best practices." But in complex ecosystems, these problem-to-solution moves often stall, backfire, or quietly erode the very purpose they aim to serve.

Drawing on decades of experience in design, strategy, and organizational change, Rob Brodnick and Karyn Zuidinga introduce a practical, flexible method for illuminating and transforming human ecosystems. Rather than forcing change through top-down plans, this method engages multiple perspectives to make the invisible visible-revealing patterns, relationships, and leverage points that are otherwise overlooked.

Through a series of accessible canvases and guided conversations, The Ecosystem Project equips leaders, teams, and communities to:

• See the system as it truly is-not just as it appears from one vantage point.
• Work across four orders of complexity: transactional, functional, strategic, and ecosystemic.
• Engage diverse stakeholders in sensemaking and action.
• Prepare for collective action across the ecosystem.
• Sustain momentum in times of uncertainty through adaptation.
• Move toward ecosystem stewardship to benefit everyone engaged.

With vivid examples and a step-by-step process, The Ecosystem Project is both a field guide and a catalyst. Whether you are a CEO, community leader, or change agent, it will help you navigate the messy and difficult work of transformation-and move your ecosystem toward a better fit for purpose.