Catalytic Governance

Although the information age offers individuals from all walks of life the power to make their voices heard, we often end up with a cacophony of competing voices rather than a conversation. With so many people empowered to join the decision-making process, the number and diversity of stakeholders in governance situations poses a special challenge: how do you steer when so many hands are on the wheel?

Catalytic Governance offers a proven approach to managing this challenge, built on the insight that effective leadership and governance depends less on traditional top-down approaches and more on creating shared meanings and frameworks. Drawing on their experiences managing transformational change in a complex, multi-stakeholder environment on issues ranging from finance to climate change, health, and the digital revolution, Patricia Meredith, Steven A. Rosell, and Ged R. Davis demonstrate how to use dialogue to engage stakeholders, explore alternative perspectives, develop shared mental maps and a vision of the future, and co-create strategies and initiatives to realize that future. While elements of this approach will be familiar, this is the first time they have been combined into a coherent model and tested together in practice. The book describes in detail how this was done in the process of transforming the Canadian payments system. The catalytic approach to governance is a powerful tool for leaders in the public and private sectors looking to lead and govern more effectively.