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What does it take to make mission-based approaches work in the Canadian context? Over six months, a peer learning group of practitioners from across sectors grappled with this question—unpacking the tensions, opportunities, and practice shifts needed to move beyond siloed strategies toward relational, scalable transformation.

This article, using ChatGPT, distills insights from the Huddle sessions and the hosts’ reflections into key themes and takeaways—offered as prompts and provocations to other practitioners.

✨ 1. Mission-based change requires both structure and emergence

Mission-oriented approaches are often framed as top-down and centralized. Yet, Canadian practitioners are increasingly experimenting with a hybrid mode—where structured missions coexist with emergent, locally-led efforts. The Huddle surfaced a growing appetite to “stack” efforts across scales rather than choosing between grassroots or institutional leadership. In this blended approach:

• Fractal strategies—where small, values-driven actions replicate systemically—offer agility.
• Structured missions provide coherence, direction, and the ability to rally resources at scale.
• The goal is not either/or, but feedback loops between levels, building a more adaptive system.

This also means rethinking who holds power in mission settings. Instead of centralizing decision-making in the hands of a few major institutions, decentralised approaches—where communities, labs, and cross-sector actors co-create the mission—are gaining traction. Such dispersion of leadership opens up more inclusive, resilient pathways for mission-led change.

🤝 2. Social capital is as critical as financial capital

Across all discussions, the importance of relational infrastructure was a recurring theme. Participants pointed to the limits of conventional funding mechanisms and highlighted the untapped power of networks, trust, and collaborative capacity as critical forms of capital.

This signals a shift toward:

• Expanding beyond "financial ROI" to multi-capital approaches, valuing social, cultural, and relational assets.
• Recognizing intermediary organizations and labs as vital connectors that can de-risk innovation, build alignment, and foster experimentation across sectors.

There’s growing recognition that missions succeed not just through policy or funding, but through a shared sense of ownership—enabled by the connections between people, sectors, and ideas.