Have you heard of collective impact? With ESG recently becoming a mega-trend, the keyword gaining attention alongside it is Collective Impact. Collective impact is a model that presents ways for various stakeholders to communicate and collaborate in problem-solving, based on the perspective that our efforts should shift from individual to team-based approaches. This comes as social problems are occurring at a rate far faster than they can be solved, and these problems are predominantly 'wicked problems' that are simultaneous, widespread, and interconnected in ways we've never experienced before. Collective impact has been building its legitimacy through numerous successful large-scale cases overseas, particularly in the United States. The New York Youth Justice Department improved countless young people's lives by reducing youth incarceration rates by 45% in just three years without changing the public safety system. River restoration projects have recovered over 1,000 acres of land and voluntarily reduced over 280 million pounds of pollutants. In Korea as well, various projects in local issues and social inclusion are being attempted and gaining significance.
Collective impact is 'a problem-solving strategy where companies and organizations from various sectors come together to solve common goals, sharing mutual resources and expertise, and achieving objectives as one team from setting common goals to creating impact.' To realize collective impact, five conditions are necessary: △setting common goals △agreeing on performance measurement methods △continuous communication among participating organizations △mutually reinforcing activities △active role of backbone support organizations.
But when faced with the question 'how?', we feel lost. What does it actually mean for these five elements to be in place? What changes occur when we reach that state? These follow-up questions usually end with just an 'oh, I see.' Nevertheless, the importance of collective impact in solving problems facing our times, such as ESG, continues to grow. This isn't different overseas either - most approaches only introduce case studies at an introductory level, with no direct ways to experience the meaning.
Therefore, Realworld has developed a special program where you can experience the meaning of realizing collective impact through hyper-collaboration and hyper-communication for solving various social problems.
Mars Escape Realworld Gamification Education Program
We arrived on the unknown planet Mars to carry out a special mission. But we're stranded due to severe weather conditions - a massive dust storm! To make matters worse, weather forecasts say an even bigger dust storm is approaching! Time remaining: 90 minutes! Quickly find shelter, request rescue, and escape!
Mars Escape is created based on the 'Team of Teams' collaboration model, where teams of 5 perform a series of collective impact missions, then collaborate between teams to complete common objectives. Team members each have fragmented information and tools, cannot meet each other, and must communicate only through words. Since they have no idea what shape the problem takes or how to approach it, they must explain their resources as clearly as possible, confirm that other members properly understand, and work to resynchronize volatile memories. Based on this, each team, centered around a captain, finds the nearest base, opens doors, activates power, secures food storage, then operates communication equipment to request rescue from the rescue team. Simultaneously, they treat injured team members, charge oxygen tanks, board emergency rockets to reach Mars orbit, meet the rescue team, and attempt escape. With thrilling background music and countdown added, the storytelling makes participants feel like they're truly in a survival situation - enough to keep education participants on the edge of their seats.
As they say, seeing is believing - shall we look at how it feels on site? Here are the participants who joined as part of SSIC's (Shinhan Social Impact Forum) Engaging Chapter program. Ages ranged from 30s to 60s, and the diverse industries and experiences coming together created an even more vibrant and energetic atmosphere.
"The immersion was incredible!! The satisfaction of clearing each challenge with teammates was amazing ㅎㅎ I'm leaving with the realization that the will to understand and cooperate with each other is also important"
"It was so much fun as a game with its unique format and exciting story (I got totally absorbed ㅎ), but experiencing the theoretical and somewhat textbook-like 5 success factors of collective impact through gaming will be tremendously helpful in future collaborative projects, company meetings, and even daily human relationships!!!"
From the feedback left by participants, you can sense what kind of experience the Mars Escape education program was, right?
Collective impact programs are crucial not only for various social problem-solving campaigns but also for problem-solving and growth within and between organizations. This is because they open paths to derive meaningful information from fragmented, unrelated information, utilize it as knowledge, and ultimately create impact through problem-solving. It presents a fundamentally different next-level direction from mere communication activation or competency enhancement stimulation.
After going through 90 minutes, it becomes clearly evident how unconsciously manifested behaviors during problem-solving are reflected in the group. Therefore, usual self-deceptions like 'I am generous' or 'I am objective' don't work. Instead, since participants physically feel what's needed for change, they seem to listen with greater immersion than any other lecture during wrap-up. You can properly examine which factors in collaboration, communication, and leadership directly influence problem-solving.
Collaboration
- Did our team properly utilize the information we had to solve missions?
- When you didn't have the information, did you just stand by and watch, or did you try to solve it together?
- Did you try to follow given constraints, or expand the boundaries of constraints for problem-solving?
Communication
- Did you systematically convey information so others could understand?
- What were the elements that hindered communication compared to actual work?
- Are you communicating well in actual work situations where such hindering elements don't exist?
- What enabled you to successfully complete missions despite hindering elements?
Leadership
Did you identify the core of the problem at hand and explain it to team members?
Did you sufficiently draw out the information and capabilities that team members possessed?
Did you continuously encourage communication to keep it flowing?
The Mars Escape collective impact education program is quite intriguing, isn't it? Moving forward, Realworld will actively present this program across the entire spectrum of hyper-collaboration, communication, and leadership, seeking to create meaningful change. We look forward to hearing from those who wish to participate!
The problems we face are truly complex and wicked,
so we too must participate as a team!
We cannot save the world alone!
Let's explore and challenge collective impact!