Case studies & stories
Practical examples from the field.
Every Strategic Doing project starts with a small step — and every story in this library shows how those steps add up to meaningful change. Explore real-world examples from teams, organisations, communities, and ecosystems around the world.
You’ll see how practitioners have used Strategic Doing to:
- accelerate cross-department collaboration
- unite diverse stakeholders around shared outcomes
- leverage hidden assets in tight-resource environments
- pilot innovative ideas through Pathfinder Projects
- build trust in fractured or uncertain contexts
These stories help practitioners understand what the method looks like in practice — and how small moves can create surprisingly big results.
Featured Case Studies
Changing the Conversation in Flint
The city of Flint, Michigan, has faced immense challenges, from high rates of youth violence and teenage homicides to a...
Milwaukee Water Council: Building a Global Hub from Local Strengths
In 2007, civic leaders in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, along with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, envisioned establishing the city as a global...
Duquesne University: Fostering Community Health Partnerships
Duquesne University's Center for Community-Engaged Teaching and Research (CETR) aimed to expand its work in economically underserved neighborhoods of Pittsburgh....
Tippecanoe County, Indiana: Tackling Opioid Addiction
Tippecanoe County brought together public health agencies, law enforcement, nonprofits, and residents to address opioid addiction. Strategic Doing enabled the...
Richmond, Indiana: Rapid Pandemic Response
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Richmond, Indiana, used Strategic Doing to quickly form collaborations and deliver quarantine care packages to vulnerable...
Lockheed Project (Condition-Based Maintenance)
Purdue's Agile Strategy Lab assisted Lockheed in developing a technology roadmap for the U.S. Navy's Aegis destroyer fleet. The Purdue...
Kauffman Foundation (Entrepreneurial Ecosystems)
Strategic Doing is being integrated as an "open-source operating system" for ecosystem builders to develop and scale entrepreneurial ecosystems. This...
Social Networks, Strategic Doing and Sustainable Management of Local Food Systems
In recent years there has been increasing interest in many communities across the United States in developing local food systems....
Stimulating & Supporting Change in Entrepreneurship Education: Lessons from the Front Lines
This paper describes Pathways to Innovation (Pathways), a national program that uses a team-based guided change process to help faculty...
Past, present and future barriers to digital transformation in manufacturing: a review
Research in digital transformation (DT) is burgeoning. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic has not only influenced both day-to-day functions of firms...
Mother of Invention: Skills for Innovation in the Post-Pandemic World
A Canadian report on innovation highlighting Strategic Doing as an effective approach
Shoals Shift: An Ecosystem Transformation Success Story
In the Muscle Shoals region of North Alabama, the University of North Alabama (UNA) and its partners launched the Shoals...
Allowing Change Through “Letting It Happen”
Explores how enabling conditions and restraint often lead to more durable change.
An Effectual Model of Collective Action for Addressing Sustainability Challenges
Presents a model for collective action under uncertainty, integrating effectuation theory with Strategic Doing.
Positioning Wicked Problems Along Two Dimensions
A visual framework helping distinguish problem complexity and collaboration intensity.
How do I implement complex change at scale?
Addresses the challenges of scaling change in complex systems, aligning closely with Strategic Doing’s iterative approach.
Collaborative Networks: a mechanism for enterprise agility and resilience
A scholarly paper explaining why collaborative networks outperform hierarchical structures in volatile environments, providing theoretical grounding for Strategic Doing’s network-based...
Corporate Languages and Strategic Agility
Shows how informal language and everyday conversations shape an organisation’s ability to adapt.
Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks
Explores how social networks shape behaviour, influence, and outcomes.
The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century
Explores global interconnectedness and the rise of networked, cross-boundary collaboration.
What These Stories Show
- complex challenges become manageable
- small steps shift systems
- cross-sector collaboration becomes possible
- shared outcomes bring people together
- learning cycles improve results
- trust grows through action, not talk