Change in team structure 

We better aligned the team structure with our core expertise: adult education. Mental health, including referrals, is beyond our expertise and remit. 

Change in immersive length

The UK Fellows Program will contain fewer days per immersive. Previously, the immersives were a maximum of six days. Now the immersives will be a maximum of four days. In between immersives, there will be relatively more brief, virtual conversations. 

Change in cohort size

The UK Fellows Program used to have a maximum cohort size of 22 participants. Now the program will have a maximum of 18 participants. 

Change in curriculum 

There have been enough changes in the curriculum that listing them would be overwhelming, so we offer a few examples of the kind of changes made. 

1. For example,  the UK Fellows Program will no longer include "Life Maps". Life Maps is about getting to know one another through significant life events. While we have found that life maps allow people to start talking about their lives in different ways to form genuine connections, we have also found that, for a select few, these exercises can evoke threatening memories that can be difficult to expunge and are anxiety provoking. Instead, we will pursue different strategies to get to know people that can lead to healthy connections without evoking traumatic memories. 

2. Another example, the UK Fellows program will also no longer include “Group Agreements”. Group Agreements was an exercise where the group agreed on norms. While the exercise helped the group take accountability for how they interacted with each other and set important parameters, we found that it could produce an elevated energy in a group. Now we are centering around inclusion and working toward understanding differences in service of creative collective action. We have replaced “Group Agreements” with a “Group Boundary Map” which helps everyone understand their own boundaries, other people’s boundaries, and the boundaries of the program.

Change in facilitation training

While the UK Acumen Academy team members went through extensive training, coaching, and mentorship, additional training was ad hoc following the initial onboarding. Now we train facilitators in an ongoing facilitator’s forum globally. 

Change in phrases

In the global facilitator’s forum, we are also exploring how certain phrases, when held too tightly, can cause unintended effects. For example, one such phrase we have often used, “trust the process”, can lead the audience into focusing entirely on trusting the process (or in some cases, an authority for the process), and not also learn to trust themselves.

Change in policies

UK Acumen Academy had an external legal review of our UK safeguarding policies. Although compliant, we augmented our policies for the future. Policy matters, and culture and practice may matter more.

Core remaining ideas

While there have been changes in content, exercises, mindset, and facilitation, we have maintained many of the program’s core ideas, specifically:

• Polarities
• Immunity to Change
• Good Society Readings
• A model for working with the people side of change management known as Adaptive Leadership

Reasons for change

There have been a number of reasons for the changes described above.

Most importantly were the reported first-hand experiences of some UK Fellows. Some Fellows felt uncomfortable in our program or destabilized by the experience. Such impacts seemed to land more on those who have been historically disadvantaged. This contradicts the impact we are seeking, so we needed to make changes. 

The social context is changing too. We’re post-pandemic and headed into climate consequences. There are various critical issues at the surface as well that can easily cause tension: racially, socially, economically. We hope to model a constructive way through these dynamics while we stay focused on skill building with leaders of social enterprises who are focused on solving problems of poverty.