Changing Mindsets

In the Pattern Book we sweep together terms like values, beliefs and ethics and gather them under the broad term ‘mindsets’.

Mindsets have high leverage in the system (see the System Bookcase). They shape operating systems and design decisions. They also take a long time to change. Working at the level of mindsets therefore has great potential but should also be approached with patience.

In The Regenerative Structural Engineer, we suggest that shifting to regenerative practice requires a shift in mindsets from three that are commonly held in our current economy to three associated with a more holistic world view.

• From separation to interdependence
• From scarcity to abundance
• From control to emergence

These mindset shifts are characterised in the table below.

From Separation to Interdependence

Separate	Interdependent
I see myself as independent from the system I am working in	I see myself as dependent on the system I am working in
The health of the system has no impact on me	My health and the health of the system are inseparable
‘I was stuck in traffic’	‘I was traffic’*

From Scarcity to Abundance

Scarcity	Abundance
There is no potential in the system	There is potential in the system
There isn’t enough for everyone	The system can meet everyone’s needs
I must protect my surplus to protect my future needs	If I give away my surplus I will end up with what I need
If I look after myself, I’ll be fine	If I look after the system, I’ll be fine

From Control to Emergence

Control	Emergence
I know the best options	The best options may not be clear to me
The best options will come from thinking about the problem in isolation	The best options will emerge
I need to control the system to limit my risk	I put my trust in the system to help me limit my risk
I need to plan every step	I just need to plan the next step and then see what to do next

Delving further into mindset shifts

To explore each of these mindsets separately, jump into the following motifs in the Pattern Book.

• Interdependence — see In or Out, Stuck in Traffic and Living World.
• Abundance — see Harvesting Abundance, Desertification and Seeing the Potential.
• Emergence — see Standardising Decision-Making in Design, Seedling Analogy, Catalytic Style, and Beavers.

Role in the Pattern Book

Changing mindsets is one the most commonly used motifs in the Pattern Book because it serves so many functions — both as an early tool for engagement and for supporting on-going reflection:

• an early entry point to surface existing mental models
• a philosophical grounding for the more structural systems-based motifs
• an empathetic framing for working with resistant audiences see also Three Horizons > Understanding Group Dynamics
• a persuasion tool — helping audiences to notice their own perspectives and to experiment with seeing the world from an alternative’s
• a framing tool — for long-term business plans, infrastructure strategy or policy
• inspiration — challenging assumptions and sparking new ideas
• a way to interrogate values in decision-making
• prompts for personal reflection

User guide

Exploring your own mindsets

• Where do you personally identify as sitting on each of these three mindset spectra?
• In a work or project context, where do you sit? Is it different from where you personally identify?
• What other mindsets or values influence your decision-making?

Look for the mindset in the system

• Take a design decision, strategy or policy. Ask, what mindset shaped it?
• Then ask what it would look like if it were shaped by a different mindset?
• If you have populated a Systems Bookcase as part of another exercise, ask what mindsets have shaped the books on the operating shelf?

Exploring values in decision-making

• What values do I bring to decision-making?
• What values do others I consult bring to decision-making?
• What values are embedded in the tools and processes we use?

Using Changing Mindsets in different contexts

In the Pattern Book for Regenerative Design, the Changing Mindsets is a key motif in the following scenarios:

• Intuitive exploration of regenerative design — to explore how different mindsets affect what we observe about a situation and its potential.
• Systemic exploration of regenerative design — to investigate how mindsets influence how a system behaves.
• Critical thinking — as a tool for exploring how values influence decision-making.
• Personal regenerative practice — for exploring how different situations affect your mindset. What mindsets do you identify? What do you notice?
• In continuous place-based design — the mindsets challenge the lenses through which we look at places, communities and organisations.
• With developers and asset managers — map your client’s regenerative mindsets, understand their risk profile and find the right entry point for discussion.
• Transforming supply chains — investigate our relationship to materials, considering separation from source, hoarding of scarcity and top-down control of material use.
• Shifting business strategy — explore what mindsets influenced the shaping of the current strategy and how shifting these can change direction of travel.
• Cultural shift — what mindsets influenced the systems of control and organisational hierarchy in the system.
• Local and national-level policy and regulation — investigate the prevailing assumptions that have shaped existing policies, and how scarcity, risk and control have shaped what goes on the Systems Bookcase.

Related motifs

Abundance, Action Learning, Beavers, Culture Web, Desertification, Emergence, Framing the Question, Harvesting Abundance, In or Out, Interdependence, Levels of Regenerative Intervention, Living World, Persuasion, Seedling Analogy, Seeing the Potential, Standardising Decision-Making in Design, Stuck in Traffic, Wildwork.

Footnotes

*The traffic metaphor comes from Wahl, D. C. (2016). Designing Regenerative Cultures. Triarchy Press.