Ecosystems aren’t the answer
What’s behind the explosion in “ecosystems” that are not ecosystems?
In the last few weeks alone, I’ve heard people refer to the:
- Small business support ecosystem
- Housing ecosystem
- Local news ecosystem
- Entrepreneurial support ecosystem
- Workforce ecosystem
- Public health ecosystem
- Safety ecosystem
And the list goes on and on…
The definition of an ecosystem is the biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment, yet it is increasingly being used to describe civic systems created by humans (not ecological systems) to address community priorities.
When I ask those who use the term “ecosystem” why they don’t simply use the word “system,” some acknowledge they have no clue. They’ve simply adopted the language of others. Others say their call for an “ecosystem” reflects the need to improve the alignment and coordination among the different players – our chaotic civic systems need to behave more like ecosystems. But an ecosystem can produce something as beautiful as trout stream and as chaotic as a forest fire. Ecosystems are neither good nor bad. They are. As are our civic systems.
There are two main reasons I cringe when I hear the term “ecosystem” used in the context of community change.
First, it reminds me of humankind’s long history of trying to redesign our planet’s ecosystems for our benefit and the ecological devastation and human harm that inevitably follows. We haven’t learned the lessons of Aldo Leopold that “the land is one organism,” even though we now have a much deeper understanding of our natural environment than when he wrote his pioneering essays. We continue to prove H.L. Mencken right when he observed: “There is always a well-known solution to every human problem – neat, plausible and wrong.”
If we bring the same mentality we’ve applied to “fixing” ecosystems to our civic systems, then we will continue to be disappointed by the outcomes.
Second, the overuse of “ecosystems” and even the term “systems change” distracts us from embracing the wisdom of Maraget Mead, who said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
What that looks like in the context of civic systems is instead of trying to transform an entire system we should nurture small networks of people open to thinking differently, committed to strengthening existing and building new reciprocal relationships, and willing to foster healthier power dynamics to drive policies, practices and resources that generate lasting, meaningful change.
Despite this rant, I don’t expect the use of “ecosystem” in the context of civic change to fade away, but I do hope that all of us will more deeply explore the challenging question: What needs to change to change systems? And that we are all humble enough to acknowledge we cannot know the answers in advance. Instead, we’ll have to continually experiment, learn and adapt to improve the outcomes of the systems that shape our communities.
