Envision a Better Tomorrow

We are currently experiencing a critical juncture in history. Societies worldwide have traditionally relied on macro-level systems - including political and geopolitical structures - to provide order, protection, and the preservation of human rights. These control systems have remained relatively unchanged in recent history, creating a longstanding status quo that has been generally accepted by the masses.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought to light issues with this status quo in an unprecedented way. Now, in this post-pandemic era, we face a pivotal point in the trajectory of the world. As the United Nations advances toward implementation of its Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), we face a potential reality where individual and national sovereignty may be overshadowed by the self-interests of those in control.

Our future - and our children’s future - is at stake.

The problem lies in the sheer fact that the SDGs were operationalized by geopolitical, private, and private-public partnerships that do not represent the voice of the people. The people have become passive recipients of a world they did not help create.

Now, we - the citizens of the world - are faced with two options:

• Accept the world created by the actualization of the SDGs by global elites who do not represent the voice of the people

OR

• Join together to take steps to create the world we want to leave for future generations.

Ultimately, the answer is in our hands. We hold the key to the future. But we must act deliberately and with intention. The time has come to evolve beyond antiquated methods that rely on luck. We can no longer afford to just toss out ideas and hope for the best.

Success in a grand-scale, societal shift requires thoughtful preparation, careful analysis, strategic solutions, and coordinated action. We must draw on scientific knowledge of system-level change and implement best practices with quality.

It is time we Envision the world we want - then create it!

In this Substack, we introduce the Envision initiative. Please stay tuned for more as we implement this grand strategy to take hold of the world we want to leave for future generations.

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What is Envision?

Envision is a systematic and proactive approach toward creating a sovereign world based on the will of the people. The process derives from best practices in scientific literature on system-level change and is guided by internal improvement processes and evaluative data to ensure effectiveness. Envision includes the planning, implementation, and evaluation of a common, proactive agenda that will serve as a framework for the coordination of activities and the respective evaluation to help us optimize our work. It is an inclusive process for sustainable social change.

Developing a proactive coordinated action plan that adequately captures multidimensionality of a global society and harmonizes the collective vision of its people is not a trivial endeavor. We adopt a multi-phased approach to ensure high-quality planning and implementation while maintaining transparency and accountability to outcomes. Each phase has a pre-defined set of objectives, action strategies, and deliverables that serve the broader movement at large. We continuously elicit input from key stakeholders at all levels to ensure quality and will provide formative data to leaders to help improve our efficiency and effectiveness.

We Are Currently in Phase 1: Develop a Shared Vision.

While it is fairly commonplace to discuss the problems of our world - the things we dislike, the things we want to change, the societal gripes - it is far less common to discuss in detail the changes we actually want to see.

Not wanting something is not the same as defining what you want.

In fact, when discussing changes that we would like to see, the discussion is plagued with buzzwords and catchphrases that rarely reach the depths of what it really takes to engage in meaningful societal change.

• Develop a “parallel society”

• Fight for “freedom”

• Achieve “sovereignty”

Buzzwords are thrown around like candy out of pinata… exciting citizens around the world who chase them around like children.

But… we ask:

• What does a “parallel society” actually look like? What exactly does this mean in operational terms?

• While we all know the definitions of “freedom” and “sovereignty” from a textbook, do we really know what these constructs mean for modern life? What do these philosophical constructs look like when applied to society?

• Do our buzzwords have universal meaning, or do we make assumptions about our shared understanding? When I say “freedom” in America - does it mean the same thing to a friend in Sweden, Thailand, Australia, or Brazil? Are we talking about the same thing - or are we merely talking past each other?

We claim that we are building a new society, but how can we build anything if we don’t know what we are building? No one builds a house by saying they “don’t want it to be a car”. Houses are built by first creating a blueprint, and then bringing that blueprint to life.

If we are serious about societal change on a global scale, first we must define success. We cannot create a better tomorrow if we do not first share an understanding of what a better tomorrow is. We cannot build a house together if I design a cabin and you design a castle. The first step to any successful change process is to develop a shared vision (and shared understanding) of the world.

A Shared Vision.

A shared vision is a joint understanding of the world we want to create. This foundational step is critically important in the process of proactive change. It sets the stage for all future steps in the process of proactive change.

We cannot create a world that represents the voice of the people, if the people’s voice is not included in the process.

Developing a shared vision is one of the most overlooked steps in social movements. There is a tendency to want to jump to solutions. Solutions are important; but, if the solutions do not map onto our goals and reflect our vision, then we may be missing the mark altogether. We will waste time, energy, and resources on ineffective or inefficient action.

Imagine going on a road trip with friends.

• Your goal is your destination; it’s where you want to go, the specific address you plug into the GPS.

• Driving is the solution

• Implementation is the act of driving to get where you are going

• The shared vision is the conversation that happens before ever getting in the car, when you ask each other, “Do we want to go to the beach or the mountains?”

Importantly, developing a shared vision does not equate to seeking consensus. We are not forcing our reality upon others. We are not looking to change the value systems of others. (You may head to the beach and your friends may go to the mountains - both are valid options!)

Instead, we are seeking to surface our assumptions and see where we align and where we do not. There are multiple potential versions of reality. There is no reason that the vision of the future for a rural, Eastern farmer should be the same as an urban, Western businessman. We are different - and so is our vision of the world.

Your voice matters in this process - please complete our initial survey to support the prioritization process and help us determine the areas to focus on first.

Leaning in and having the difficult conversations.

One important aspect of Phase 1 is that we will expose assumptions and key differences across stakeholders. We lean into difficult conversations in order to help us move toward a shared understanding of each other and our perspectives of the problems we face. This process, while difficult at times, is critical for helping us avoid pitfalls in the future. Part of the reason for in-fighting in the movement is simply related to our talking past each other and fighting for different versions of the world. Our realities do not have to be the same. They simply need to co-exist. Developing a shared vision helps us reduce assumptions. It “puts the skunk on the table” so to speak so that we can stop talking past each other - and instead find out where we agree, where we disagree, and where we simply use different words to describe the same thing!

Failure to build a solid foundation on the front-end can lead to implementation failures on the backend. Phase 1 builds the foundation we need to succeed. System change is both an art and a science. Envision captures both in a non-linear and strategic way.

Phase 1 Deliverables, In Brief

The primary outcome of Envision Phase 1 is a comprehensive statement of our shared vision for the future. This statement will form the basis of Phase 2, Develop Goals and Desired Outcomes. The measured objectives we develop in Phase 2 must be directly aligned with our stated vision of Phase 1, else we will have goals that do not represent the complexities of the world and merely represent the value system of leaders. Phase 1 data will also be used formatively to identify needs and leverage resources that can help improve our work.

The Phase 1 vision statement will be made publicly available to inspire hope and offer promise of a better tomorrow.

We adopt a mixed methods approach to data collection that includes surveys, focus groups, and interviews with key informants. We employ two stages of sampling, starting with purposeful snowball sampling of leaders in the movement, followed by a random stratified sampling of subpopulations outside the core health freedom movement. We explore many different aspects and dimensions of system-level improvements to obtain a comprehensive description of the world we want to create. Data collected will be used formatively to improve our methods overtime.

Envision is a product of the movement. The Inspired Network is merely the facilitator and glue that helps connect the different pieces of the movement. Therefore, data will be shared with leadership and key stakeholders to help improve our movement as a whole. Our evaluation is conducted with transparency and commitment to outcomes.

We are in a data war.

Our opposition regularly uses data to improve their processes. The UN collects massive amounts of data - including data we intentionally or unintentionally provide to them - that helps them move SDG implementation forward. Implementation monitoring is part of Agenda 2030, written in clear form. Our movement has fallen short of using data to inform our processes. We currently do not have an evaluative infrastructure or capacities in place to support the efficiency and effectiveness of our work. While individual content creators and marketers study the impact of their content, we do not do this on a movement-wide basis. We do not have movement-wide, system-level theories of change or efforts to successfully reach goals (heck, we don’t even have clearly stated, measurable movement-wide goals!) We do not monitor implementation; we do not have cost-effectiveness data on efficient allocation of resources; and so forth. Currently, we do not use data to optimize our likelihood of success.

Utilization of process and formative evaluation can substantially increase the sophistication of our work. Our focus is not on the evaluation of any particular individual or group, but rather how the movement is functioning overall to facilitate the changes we want to make.

• Process evaluation answers questions related to the quality of implementation - e.g., Are we reaching all subpopulations of people? Are we doing what we said we would do?

• Formative evaluation provides data to help with continuous quality improvement - e.g., How are people from different subpopulations responding to this content? Are there data-informed ways to improve?

The Phase 1, Envision survey is the first step of a comprehensive process that integrates both process and formative evaluation into the design. The process is led and designed by professional evaluators with experience in global evaluation. All data is collected for the purpose of supporting the movement. It is not The Inspired Network’s data; it is our data, collectively.

In an information war, high-quality data is our greatest weapon.

Please help us collect this valuable data that will help us uncover needs and prioritize efforts.

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The time has come, friends.

It’s time to solidify our vision.
It’s time to operationalize our world.
It’s time to build a better tomorrow.

Our world is filled with brilliance on multiple levels - from the lone mother raising her child with bravery to the fearless leaders taking on the global elites. Our expertise is enough to save the world for future generations. We already have all the answers. We just need to bring them to light in a systematic and meaningful way.

We do not need anyone to save us.
We can save ourselves.

The power is in our hands.
We just need to harness it.

Have your voice heard by filling out a two-minute survey here (then share it with a few friends - we cannot represent the voice of the people without your help!)