As a designer or transition facilitator, you often work at the core of complex systems. Whether designing sustainable food systems, biobased construction solutions, or other transformative projects, your role extends beyond design alone. It requires skills in guiding processes, creating space for collaboration, and connecting different perspectives. But how do you develop these skills? And how can you better understand your own role and growth?
With these questions in mind, we collaborated with The Hague University of Applied Sciences to develop the 'Navigating through Complexity' card set. This set helps designers and facilitators reflect on their skills and roles within complex projects. It provides a moment of self-assessment while also offering inspiration for further professional development.
The card set focuses on four essential stages for any facilitator or designer working in complex systems:
Setting the Stage
This first theme is about creating the right context. Mastering these skills means establishing an environment where collaboration and creativity can thrive. A well-designed physical and social space is essential for effective teamwork.
Holding the Space
This theme revolves around maintaining energy and focus within a group. How do you ensure that everyone feels heard and actively contributes? These skills help create a sense of psychological safety and a collaborative mindset, which are crucial for co-creation.
Navigating the Process
Complex processes require a clear sense of direction and the ability to embrace unexpected developments. This is often the most demanding aspect of facilitation. These skills involve guiding and steering a group through complexity, knowing which steps to take and when.
Making Impact
As a designer or transition facilitator, your work is also about results. How do you ensure that your efforts not only inspire but also create meaningful change? This phase focuses on securing a lasting impact by monitoring project goals and ensuring sustainable outcomes.
With the card set, participants can assess their skills across these themes, ranging from beginner to expert. This can be done individually, with colleagues, or within teams. The cards provide a structured way to evaluate strengths, identify areas for growth, and determine where collaboration is needed. The card set can be used in three ways:
1. Self-assessment: Use the cards to evaluate your own skills, for example, in relation to a specific role in a recent project. This helps identify both strengths and areas for development.
2. Peer-assessment: During or after working with a group, the cards can be used to gather feedback on how others perceive your skills. This offers valuable insights from an external perspective, including concrete examples of strengths and areas for improvement.
3. Team assessment: Evaluate the skills of a facilitation team as a whole. This process highlights overlapping strengths and missing competencies, creating opportunities for specialization or external support. It also helps in distributing roles effectively within complex projects, ensuring a well-balanced and efficient collaboration.
This interactive approach not only helps participants understand their current skill levels but also provides a roadmap for further development.
The card set and accompanying website were launched on February 11, 2025, at an event of the Expertisenetwerk Systemisch Co-Design (ESC). During this session, 40 participants mapped their skills using the cards, sparking valuable discussions.
"We compared our scores—from beginner to expert—and noticed both similarities and clear differences. This led to an interesting conversation about how our skills could complement each other and where we could learn from one another’s approach. I gained a lot of insights for my own development," said Erwin Elling, ESC partner and strategist at Fundamentals, specializing in learning and development environments.
The development of this card set is part of Future Proof Labs, a project by the Innovation Networks research group at The Hague University of Applied Sciences. This project explores how to effectively set up and operate within living lab environments. It was developed in collaboration with VanWaarde, Being a Designer, and Fundamentals Academy and was made possible by PPS funding from TKI CLICKNL (2021-2023).
The skills and insights from Navigating through Complexity are also featured in the book Innovating with Labs 3.0: Becoming Transition Facilitators (Anja Overdiek, Ju Laclau Massaglia, 2024). This book offers an in-depth exploration of multi-stakeholder facilitation and the challenges and opportunities of system transformations. Together, the book and the card set serve as valuable resources for designers, educators, and facilitators looking to strengthen their role in tackling today’s complex challenges.
Develop your Facilitation Skills
Are you ready to map and develop your facilitation skills? The Navigating through Complexity card set provides practical tools for reflecting on how we collaborate and learn in an ever-changing world—whether you're a young professional, an experienced designer, or active in education.
Want to learn more about the card set or how to use it? Visit the website: www.navigatingthroughcomplexity.com
