Certification & pathways

Build your capability. Strengthen your practice. Join a global community of collaboration.

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Practitioner pathway Your journey into the discipline of Strategic Doing.

  1. Becoming a Strategic Doing Practitioner equips you with the skills and habits needed to lead collaborative conversations, design small experiments, and help groups move complex work forward.

    This pathway gives you a step-by-step guide from introductory learning to full practitioner certification.

Steps to become a Practitioner

  1. Start with an introduction
    Begin with the Strategic Doing Overview - Strategic Doing in A Nutshell or a short introductory workshop
  2. Complete the Core Practitioner Training
    A 1-day or 2.5-day training (depending on your region) that covers the Ten Skills, facilitation techniques, and Pathfinder design.
  3. Practice in real settings
    Apply Strategic Doing in your own workplace or community to build confidence.
    You’ll complete at least one guided Pathfinder Project as part of your assessment.
  4. Submit a Practitioner Portfolio
    Share your reflections, examples, and outcomes from your practice.
  5. Receive Practitioner Certification
    Once approved, you will be added to the Practitioner Directory and may use the Strategic Doing Practitioner title.

What you’ll gain

  • confidence to guide complex conversations
  • practical tools to move groups from talk to action
  • a shared language for collaboration
  • access to a global community of practitioners
  • opportunities to deepen your skills over time
Start your practitioner journey

Team pathway Build shared capability across your team.

The Team pathway helps groups develop a shared understanding of Strategic Doing so they can collaborate more effectively, move work forward quickly, and respond to complexity together.

This pathway is ideal for intact teams, cross-functional groups, or working groups facing complex challenges.

What the team pathway Includes

  1. Tailored training
    A customised introduction to Strategic Doing aligned with your team’s goals.
  2. Team-based pathfinder project
    Your team designs and tests a shared experiment that builds collaboration habits fast.
  3. Coaching & support
    A certified practitioner guides your team through early 30/30 cycles.
  4. Skills development across the ten skills
    Teams learn how to:
    • hold safe conversations
    • identify and combine assets
    • rank priorities
    • design experiments
    • make steady progress

Who this pathway is for

  • project teams
  • leadership teams
  • cross-functional groups
  • innovation and transformation teams
  • new teams forming around complex challenges
Talk to us about team training

Organisation pathway Embed Strategic Doing into the way your organisation works.

For organisations navigating complexity, collaboration isn’t optional — it’s essential.

This pathway helps organisations integrate Strategic Doing into strategy, innovation, leadership development, and cross-functional work.

What this pathway offers

  1. Organisational assessment
    We review your current structures, decision-making patterns, and collaboration challenges.
  2. Leadership training
    Leaders learn how to frame questions, guide ranking, support Pathfinders, and cultivate collaboration.
  3. Internal capability development
    Multiple staff become certified practitioners or workshop leaders.
  4. Systems integration
    We help your organisation integrate Strategic Doing into:
    • strategy cycles
    • project design
    • cross-team collaboration
    • innovation programs
    • community engagement
  5. Long-term support
    Coaching, community of practice sessions, and advanced development options.
Explore organisational adoption

Community pathway Help communities design their future together.

Strategic Doing is widely used in communities around the world to bring diverse voices together, discover local assets, and design shared steps toward stronger futures.

This pathway supports community groups, councils, nonprofits, and regional alliances.

What’s included

  1. Community workshops
    Inclusive, accessible workshops for residents, local leaders, and stakeholders.
  2. Asset mapping across groups
    Communities discover existing strengths, networks, and resources.
  3. Shared outcome development
    Groups define what they want to see in their region’s future.
  4. Multiple pathfinder projects
    Small community-led experiments run simultaneously to build momentum.
  5. Community coaching
    Support for facilitators and local champions.

This pathway works for:

  • neighbourhood renewal
  • economic transition
  • youth leadership
  • community wellbeing
  • local government partnerships
  • place-based initiatives

Ecosystem pathway For multi-stakeholder systems where no one organisation holds the whole answer.

Complex challenges — like workforce transformation, regional development, health systems, justice reform, or climate adaptation — require many organisations to work together.

The Ecosystem pathway supports collaborations across sectors, regions, and networks.

What the ecosystem pathway includes

  1. Systems mapping & insight work
    Identify the actors, relationships, constraints, and opportunities across the system.
  2. Multi-organisation workshops
    Bring together stakeholders to identify assets, shape opportunities, and design shared outcomes.
  3. Cross-boundary pathfinder projects
    Small, manageable experiments that build trust and momentum across organisations.
  4. Governance & collaboration support
    Design lightweight structures that keep the work aligned without bureaucracy.
  5. Long-horizon learning
    Use 30/30 cycles to build institutional memory and support continuous adaptation.

Ideal for: From early experiments to a global movement.

  • regional alliances
  • multi-agency partnerships
  • industry clusters
  • cross-sector coalitions
  • government–community partnerships

Requirements & assessment What’s involved in becoming certified through the Strategic Doing Institute.

Certification ensures that practitioners uphold the method’s integrity and apply the Ten Skills responsibly.

This page outlines the requirements for practitioner certification and advanced levels.

Practitioner requirements

  1. Training completion
    Complete the standard practitioner course.
  2. Demonstrated application
    Use the ten skills in real-world settings.
  3. Pathfinder project completion
    Submit evidence of one Pathfinder Project, including:
    • outcome
    • guideposts
    • small steps
    • learning from the 30/30 cycle
  4. Reflective portfolio
    Provide reflections and insights on your practice.
  5. Community contribution
    Participation in practitioner groups, sessions, or events.

Assessment process

  • review of portfolio
  • feedback conversation
  • approval by certified reviewers

Why certification matters Certification protects the discipline and strengthens the global community.

Strategic Doing certification is more than a credential.

It ensures the method is practiced with integrity, quality, and respect for the communities it serves.

Benefits of certification

  1. Skill mastery
    Gain deep expertise in leading collaboration in complex environments.
  2. Quality assurance
    Certification signals that you can apply the Ten Skills effectively and ethically.
  3. Access to the global network
    Certified practitioners join a connected community of colleagues worldwide.
  4. Credibility & recognition
    Certification is widely recognised across sectors and professions.
  5. Advanced learning opportunities
    Access to special modules, events, and pathways for Fellows and workshop leaders.

Recertification process Keeping your skills sharp and your certification current.

The Strategic Doing Institute maintains a recertification process to ensure practitioners remain active, connected, and aligned to the evolving discipline.

Recertification requirements

  1. Practice evidence
    Demonstration of continued use of Strategic Doing.
  2. 30/30 participation
    Ongoing involvement in learning cycles or practitioner communities.
  3. Continuing learning
    Completion of at least one advanced learning module.
  4. Short reflective update
    Reflection on your practice and learning.

Timeline

Recertification is typically required every 5 years if not actively practicing.