About the institute
Stewarding Strategic Doing for a changing world
The Strategic Doing Institute exists to support, protect, and evolve Strategic Doing as a global discipline for collaboration in complex environments.
Why the Institute exists
Strategic Doing emerged from practice — not theory alone. As the method spread across communities, organisations, and countries, the need for stewardship became clear.
The Institute exists to ensure that Strategic Doing:
- remains practical and credible
- continues to evolve through learning and research
- is shared openly and responsibly
- is practiced ethically and inclusively
- is supported by a strong global community
The Institute does not own Strategic Doing.
It stewards the discipline on behalf of those who practice it.
Our mission & purpose
Our mission is to strengthen the capacity of people and organisations to collaborate effectively in complexity.
We do this by:
- supporting learning and certification pathways
- advancing reflective practice and research
- maintaining standards and quality
- enabling communities of practice
sharing tools and knowledge openly
Our story & evolution From early experiments to a global movement.
Strategic Doing began as a practical response to a simple question:
How do people collaborate when the future is uncertain and no one is in charge?
Over more than two decades, the method evolved through fieldwork, research, and partnerships across communities, regions, governments, and organisations.
The Early Roots
Action research in the real world
Strategic Doing emerged from work in regional economic development in the United States. Teams needed a way to collaborate quickly without long planning cycles — so simple rules were tested, refined, and shared.
Pragmatism in practice
Ed Morrison grounded the approach in American Pragmatism and reflective inquiry, connecting theory with practical experimentation.
A Growing Discipline
The Ten Skills take shape
Patterns from the early experiments formed a clear structure. The Ten Skills became the backbone of the methodology — practical, teachable, and reliable.
Communities of practice expand
Universities, nonprofits, public agencies, and businesses adopted the approach, each contributing to its evolution.
Today: A global community
Strategic Doing is now used across:
- North America
- Europe
- Asia
- Australia
- Africa
- Latin America
The Institute continues to support research, development, training, and ethical stewardship so the discipline can grow responsibly.
Partners & alliances Collaboration is at the heart of everything we do.
The Strategic Doing Institute works with organisations, networks, and communities around the world to strengthen the discipline and expand its impact.
Below are placeholders for your formal partnerships and alliances.
Our key partners
Purdue University, University of North Alabama, Sparktank Technologies
How we collaborate
- co-designing programs and training
- supporting regional transformation
- developing research and case studies
- strengthening practitioner communities
- enabling global knowledge sharing
Governance & ethics Accountability, transparency, and ethical stewardship of the discipline.
Strategic Doing is built on trust, generosity, and open knowledge.
Our governance and ethics framework ensures that the discipline grows responsibly, protects community contributions, and fosters integrity in how we operate.
Transparent decision-making
We document decisions and ensure the community understands how the discipline evolves.
Ethical stewardship
The Board and Executive are responsible for modelling the Credo and protecting the method’s integrity.
Community accountability
The global network is encouraged to raise questions, share insights, and contribute to the Institute’s direction.
Ethical standards We commit to:
- open knowledge and fair attribution
- respectful engagement across cultures
- inclusivity in training and practice
- protecting participant safety
- transparent research and evaluation
- responsible use of the Strategic Doing name and framework
Equity & inclusion commitment Collaboration only works when everyone can participate fully.
Strategic Doing is grounded in the belief that every person, community, and culture holds valuable assets.
Our equity and inclusion commitment ensures we honour this diversity and create conditions where all voices can shape the work.
Our commitments
- Cultural humility
We acknowledge culture, history, and lived experience as essential assets.
- Inclusive facilitation
We design sessions so everyone can contribute — not just the loudest or most powerful voices.
- Accessible learning
Training, materials, and tools are offered in plain language, multiple formats, and open licences.
- Equity in practice
We support communities disproportionately affected by systemic barriers to have agency in shaping their futures.
- Community-led knowledge
We protect knowledge shared by communities and avoid extractive practices.
- Continual learning
Equity is not a checklist — it requires ongoing reflection and adaptation.
