Sevenfold Overview

SEVENFOLD OVERVIEW

DRAFT

Dr. Steven Newcom

January 1, 2023

The Work of Transformation

We are not lacking practical social change activities — phone banking, direct action, education, letter writing, visiting legislators, reparations, one to one’s, envisioning the desired future, building abiding relationships, storytelling, organizing, coalition-building, leadership development, mobilizing, base building, fundraising, policy analysis, movement building, to begin the list. What is harder to figure out — is what is really going on and what combination of strategies and actions will provide the transformation we seek. What is needed is a framework that can deepen understanding and guide individuals and organizations in creating social transformation in an increasingly complex, multi-dimension, and dynamic world of interactive systems.

This book aims to provide a practical, theologically grounded framework for social transformation. The framework draws from research across multiple disciplines and forty years of experience to identify and integrate seven dimensions of social change, powerful enough to capture the complexity and dynamics of social transformation yet straightforward enough to be helpful. Each dimension represents a foundational transformation component and a dominant contemporary social change strategy.

Encounter: Igniting Souls for Transformation Awakening. Encounter is our direct experience with injustice. Millions of people had a horrifying Encounter with racism and police brutality as they saw George Floyd die under the knee of police officer Derek Chauvin. The strategy of Encounter lies at the heart of immersion learning and place-based education and is a powerful vehicle for transformation. Our experience with injustice connects us to the context and setting from which our action springs. Encountering injustice grounds us in the historical, social, and ecological realities and illuminates the setting in which action is rooted and from which it arises. It is the ground of our actions. Encounter calls us to reexamine what the past, as connected to our present, means for effective practice. What of the past do we honor and preserve, and what do we leave behind? Experience is both good and sometimes tragic, but it sets the stage for action in all cases. If one denies elements of the past, we distort our future; if we assess and own our history, it can launch us into a world of promise.

Educate: Equipping Persons for Public Life. Education equips us with the knowledge, competencies, and confidence with which we act. Education is the most utilized transformation strategy of all the dimensions and is familiar to all of us. Education is essential and addresses what we need to know and know how to do. In its most sacred expression, it forms and prepares us to live our deepest convictions for the healing of the world. This requires skills and competencies, but most importantly, it requires critical consciousness and a commitment to education as a tool of liberation and empowerment.

Advocacy: Changing Systems for a Just and Sustainable World. Advocacy addresses the systems, processes, policies, plans, institutional arrangements, forms, procedures, and structures through which justice is expressed. Advocacy is about systems change and advancing just and sustainable policies and systems. Minnesota's Joint Religious Legislative Coalition embodies this strategy and provides multi-faith legislative advocacy representing Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim traditions. The structures we attempt to change are complex adaptive systems comprised of diverse, interactive components separated in space and time, frequently hidden from view and acting as a whole. Understanding both the form and the dynamic of these complex systems is critical for the work of transformation.

Organizing: Harnessing Commitment for Participatory Democracy. Organizing enlivens commitment and energy for powerful action. Organizing elicits the passion, dedication, and volition that energizes our sustained and decisive action. This dimension focuses on power and finding ways to include more voices. Organizers ask what power we need, with whom we need to be in relationship, and whose voice needs to be heard—organizing shifts power from a select few to a large base of people acting for their shared well-being.

Envision: Enlivening Movements for Cultural Change. Envisioning provides a tangible vision of an alternative future. Envisioning anticipates and enlivens collective action toward a future possibility. The civil rights movement, the MeToo movement, and the eco-justice movement all represent movements for cultural change. Envisioning taps our prophetic imagination, calling forth new actions and new possibilities. Movement building makes connections, sets direction, and enlivens collective action. Building movements requires focus on the destination of our trip and the way we journey together. Without a clear sense of direction and internal connection, movements flounder.

Proclamation: Transforming Worldviews for Beloved Community. Proclamation names and frames the why of our actions and gives sacred meaning to our work. Whether it is a prophetic sermon, a passionate podcast, or an insightful analysis, proclamation unmasks the dominant worldview. It situates our actions within the significance, legitimacy, and meaning of our deepest values, histories, relationships, and shared aspirations. Proclamation creates significance and purpose when life is chaotic and old answers fail. Effective Proclamation is the art of discerning and affirming the pattern of being and value amid our most chaotic moments.

Promise Served: This is the world of fulfillment and requires comprehensive action. Effective impact does not reside in isolated dimensions but is expressed as a complete whole. Serving life's most profound Promises requires asking comprehensive questions, making wise choices, and facing the most complex and devastating aspects of human life. The Promise we serve lies at the heart of all of our actions. Life’s most fundamental question is, “What Promise do you serve, and why is it worth your life?”

Each dimension represents a world unto itself — each has a specific transformation objective, core strategy, and central concept. Each provides a specific type of change and holds a particular image of leadership. Each addresses a critical dimension of organizational systems and contributes to significant transformation. You probably have experience with some of these strategic dimensions but may be less familiar with others. Each illuminates a distinct dimension of social transformation to deepen our comprehension of the types of change needed and strategic points of leverage.

Each dimension is powerful in its own right and, when assembled into a whole, provides a framework of social transformation which can deepen understanding and increase effectiveness. The framework is called Sevenfold because each dimension amplifies and builds upon the contributions of the other dimensions, magnifying impact. Sevenfold is both a diagnostic tool and seven integrated dimensions of strategic action. Sevenfold provides a dynamic framework to generate insight into what is really going on and align strategic action for transformational impact.

Figuring out what is going on.

The first and most crucial task of transformation is to figure out what is really going on. In his theological ethics, H. Richard Niebuhr affirmed this as a fundamental aspect of responsible life. “In our responsibility, we attempt to answer the question: “What shall I do?” by raising the prior question: “What is going on?”. That is a difficult task when assessing complex, dynamic, multi-dimensional, ambiguous systems. Yet we know we will not find the appropriate solution if we miss-diagnose the issue or misread the system dynamics. Like a medical doctor, the first step to health is correctly diagnosing the illness. If the diagnosis is incorrect, the treatment will not be successful.

Social Analysis: Deepening the Diagnosis

In 1980, the Center of Concern, an interdisciplinary catholic nonprofit engaged in social analysis, religious reflection, and public education on social justice issues, self-published a small booklet entitled Social Analysis: Linking Faith and Justice. It was expanded and published in 1983 in collaboration with Dove Communications and Orbis Books and, in 2000, was in its 15th printing. In it, the authors, social ethicist Joe Holland and political scientist and Priest Peter Henriot, identify the central importance of social analysis in work for justice. This analysis allows us to view, understand and deconstruct the complex, dynamic, multi-dimensional systems we are attempting to change. The authors identify the following elements in their analysis:

History — Placing current events and issues into a historical perspective provides a larger context for understanding the problem and the possible solutions. The point of concern should not only be understood in the present context but also illuminate its origins and history.

Structures — The authors emphasize the structural foundation of social justice, saying, “Social justice is itself a structural question, not simply a personal matter.” Racism is not just personal bias but is embedded in the many institutions within which we live our social lives. The authors assert that identification of the “key operative structures in a given situation” is key to social change. This aligns with Bryson et al. statement that “. . . a theory of transformation specifies how systems are transformed”. The authors further identify political, economic, cultural, and institutional alliances as critical systems dominating public life.

Societal Divisions — The authors emphasize that social analysis “enables us to see more clearly the divisions of society according to race, sex, age, class, ethnicity, religion, geography, etc.” These issues are the backdrop of our actions in the world and a critical component of any analysis. The authors are clear that their analysis also includes power and ask three crucial questions:

• Who makes the decisions?

• Who benefits from the decisions?

• Who bears the cost of the decisions?

Levels of Issues — The authors note that issues and social analysis happen at multiple levels — neighborhood, city, region, nation, and internationally- and that local problems often result from national and international actions.

Social Analysis for the 21st Center: How Faith Becomes Action

Thirty-five years later, Maria Cimperman authored Social Analysis for the 21st Century: How Faith Becomes Action, building upon Holland and Henriot’s work. She refined the elements into six areas of analysis. While developed independently, Cimperman’s dimensions correlate strongly to Sevenfold strategy dimensions, as shown below. Sevenfold strategies are noted parenthetically.

Sociological analysis — examines the people and communities impacted. (Encounter)

Economic analysis — examines the allocation and utilization of resources. (Educate — the Sevenfold dimension focuses on human resources but includes resources more generally.)

Political analysis — examines issues of power and power relations. (Organize)

Cultural analysis — examines societal values and their expression. (Envision)

Environmental analysis — examines impacts related to the natural system. (Included within Encounter)

Religious analysis — examines religious and spiritual expressions and practices. (Proclaim)

Cimperman’s work illuminates the specific analysis particular to the Sevenfold dimensions and affirms the foundational nature of these dimensions. For further grounding, we turn to Robert Terry’s theory of human action.

Aligned Strategic Action

The second critical task of transformation is deciding what we will do. It is essential to remember that the systems we are attempting to transform are human systems. Our economic systems, political systems, technology systems, financial systems, health care systems, and public safety systems, to name just a few, are all human systems that were created and sustained with specific interests to provide particular outcomes. These systems are not universal givens like the speed of light or gravity, but human systems can be transformed for more fair and inclusive outcomes.

Sevenfold integrates seven real-world transformation strategies and correlates Cimperman’s categories of social analysis. Additionally, it unites them with Robert Terry’s theory of human action. Terry’s human action elements align with the Sevenfold dimensions and contribute an additional layer to the Sevenfold framework. Terry’s work provides epistemological grounding and identifies the core elements of human action, which are embedded and manifest in the systems we hope to transform.

Robert Terry was a theologian and social ethicist by training (Ph.D., University of Chicago Divinity School, Ethics and Society) and a leadership scholar, trainer, consultant, and author by vocation. Terry brought his theological and ethical training and orientation to the field of leadership and developed a leadership theory grounded in a theo-ethical framework of human action. His action framework was developed and articulated in stages through his four publications.

Theory of Human Action

Terry’s theory of human action grew out of his exploration of leadership. He begins by reviewing six schools of leadership theory: Personal, Team, Positional-Functional Leadership, Political, Visionary, and Ethical. Terry found that while each of these six schools of leadership thought provides insight and illuminates an important aspect of leadership, they fall short of providing a comprehensive leadership perspective or orientation. Terry situates leadership as a sub-set of human action. Situating leadership within the universe of activity reflects the historical understanding of the work of leaders and is embedded within each of the six schools of leadership thought. Personal, team, functional, political, visionary, and ethical leadership all require action. Action, as a broad category, also transcends the constraints of each school and situates leadership not as the activity of an elite few—the powerful, the positional heads of organizations, or team leaders—but within the purview of all.

Terry integrates these distinct leadership schools into seven generic features of human action. Terry argues that these features are present in every human activity, from washing dishes to resisting white supremacy. Terry says, “Every human act reveals these seven generic features, all the time, every time. These features are explicitly or implicitly present whether the action has happened, is happening, or will happen. The features are present, even if the actor is unaware of them.”

The features are an integrative deconstruction/construction of leadership theory and practice, drawing upon the contributions of multiple philosophical predecessors. Terry acknowledges that these generic features are constructions grounded in experience.

“The definitions blur at the boundaries because they come from reflection upon experience, not from “pure” thought. They are enmeshed in life because they clarify life experiences. My orientation is not theory to practice. Instead, I begin with action, calling it into review, teasing out its essential features, and then testing in real situations those features, which came from real situations. These features and the frame in which I assemble them provide, I believe, both theoretical and experiential support for informed, reflective leadership engagement in the full panoply of life experiences because the generic features of action are implicit in all action.”

These features are present in every human system we are attempting to transform. I have summarized the features below and drawn their correlation to the Sevenfold dimensions.

Existence: a limiting and possibility term. Our Encounter with injustice is grounded in existence and is the starting point of action. Existence is the reality of the world around us. It is literally the ground and setting of our actions. It includes our history, culture, relationships, institutions, and ecological surroundings. Existence both limits and makes possible any action.

Resources: a material term. Resources are the things used to accomplish a mission. Paper, pencils, computers, mission statements, cash, newsletters, and, most importantly, people are all potential resources. If it is useful, measurable, and needed to accomplish the mission is a resource. Everything else is just a thing. If you have a mission statement that is not used to give direction to the organization, it is not a resource; it is only a binder on the shelf. People are the most critical resource, reflected in the Educate dimension of Sevenfold.

Structure: an arrangement term. Advocacy focuses on institutional systems, public policy, administrative procedures, and the judicial process because it is through these structures that justice is expressed. Structure refers to the plans, processes, forms, and systems through which we act. These can be simple actions like going to dinner, which has a process and order - deciding where to go, making reservations, arranging transportation, reviewing the menu, placing your order, making conversation, and so on. Or they can be complex adaptive systems like our economic or political systems.

Power: an energy term. Power is the actual expenditure of energy. Power is the decision, commitment, passion, and volition that energizes personal and collective action. It can be intense or relaxed, strong or weak, wild or calm. In this understanding, power is not synonymous with authority nor limited to a position. Everyone can be powerful. Organizing is the strategy utilized for building energy and power.

Mission: a direction term. Mission provides trajectory and direction. Any aspect of an action that refers to its direction, where it is headed, and what it hopes to accomplish constitutes a mission. Missions can be big or small. Going to the grocery store to get milk is a mission, and restructuring our extractive economic system is also a mission. The terms purpose, expectation, aim, vision, goal, intention, objective, and desire point toward an action’s mission. Although many authors distinguish between these terms, at the generic level, all the terms indicate the trajectory of motion. Building movements is about Envisioning what could be, setting direction, and nurturing the many voices seeking a new way.

Meaning: a significance term. Meaning addresses the why of action. Meaning identifies what is at stake, why we are acting, and what we are acting for. The values, reasons, and rationalizations that justify a specific action constitute its meaning. Proclamation names and frames the significance of the action. It evaluates, recommends, explains, and makes sense of our actions and answers the core question, “why does this matter?”

Fulfillment: an embodiment term. Fulfillment is the completed act into which meaning, mission, power, structure, resources, and existence converge at any given time and place. It is the fulfillment of the central Promise which is served. If the promise is to give a speech, the speech is fulfillment. If the promise is to change public policy, the policy change is fulfillment. Some actions produce objects separate from the actor, such as a painting. Some actions, such as speaking, are integral to the actor while acting. Some actions are virtual, such as imagination; some are actual, such as walking. Fulfillment is any completed act.

Love Poem

One way to deepen understanding of the dimensions of Sevenfold is to imagine we are writing a love poem and examine our actions through the dimensions of Sevenfold.

Existence: We have a history and a relationship with the subject of our love. We have shared experiences. We remember our first encounter, how we felt, what we said, the plans we made and lived. This history holds profound potential for our love poem; it is the ground of our love. Our love and its expression spring from this ground. Yet this history and our existence also limit its expression. We cannot say our love has endured against the travails of time if we only met six weeks ago. We also have a history and expectation of what a love poem should be and do, which both limits and launches how we may craft our poem.

Resources: We can draw upon many resources in writing our poem. We may use a pen or a computer, craft it on parchment paper, or create a meme. We can use words, symbols, similes, or metaphors to express this love. We might deliver it in person, requiring the resources of speaking or send it by mail, requiring an envelope and a stamp. We may draw upon our history or our imagined future as a resource. We most certainly will use the resource of time in the crafting. In every instance, human resources are the most critical - our ability to speak, write, and love which makes the poem possible.

Structure: The poem will have a particular form. It may have the rhythm of iambic pentameter or be free verse; it may rhyme or not. It may take the form of a short haiku or a long ballad. Not only must the poem take some form to be expressed, but the form we choose will affect its success. If we want to convey deep romantic feelings, a bawdy limerick may not be the best form, but if we want to tickle, humor, and express our delight in our love, a limerick is just the thing. It is essential that we match the structure of the poem with the intention and mission.

Power: What is the power of our poem? It is twofold. The energy, passion, motivation, and commitment drive the writing of our poetry. It is also the energy, passion, dedication, and motivation elicited in our poem's hearer. The poem requires power for crafting and generates power when the hearer is “moved” by its delivery.

Mission: What is the mission of our poem? What do we envision? It may be to bring our lover to tears with the depth of our love or make them cry with laughter. It may be the need to say what is deep inside, the mission to get it out, whatever the form. It may be to become a published author, and the poem's mission is not just to express ‘our’ love but to capture some essence of love, which can be shared and experienced by a total stranger.

Meaning: The meaning of our love poem is the measure of its significance to the hearer. I may write a poem to convey the depth of my love that is grounded in our history, uses pen and paper, has the structure of a ballad, and is delivered with passion, and it may completely miss the mark. I may not capture the essence of our love; it may come off as cheesy and sophomoric and lack significance, thereby failing as a love poem. Or perhaps the listener hears the meaning of my love and understands the significance and meaning of my poetic proclamation despite its poor poetic form.

Fulfillment: The completed poem is its fulfillment. It may be a bad poem or a brilliant poem, but a completed poem is a poem fulfilled. Its measure of fulfillment is found in the degree to which it successfully utilizes each feature of human action. If any piece is left out, no poem is possible.

Without our encounter―a history or shared experience―I have no ground for love. Without resources—words, paper, pen, or the human resource to speak, write, or communicate—I cannot craft my poem. A poem without form, some structured expression, cannot exist. If I cannot muster the energy to compose my poem, it remains unarticulated. Without a mission to guide its creation, it becomes random words. If my poem has no meaning or significance to the hearer, if it does not convey my love, it fails to fulfill as a love poem. If any of these generic features of human action is missing, the love poem is doomed and will never be fulfilled.

These human action elements are present in all human systems. These systems have specific histories and grow out of particular contexts, which both launch and limit action. These systems all utilize and provide specific resources. Each system is a complex dynamic with interactive components separated in space and time, frequently hidden from view and acting as a whole. Each of these systems we hope to transform is held in place by the power and commitment of the status quo and those it serves. Each system serves a mission, frequently serving those with political and financial privilege. Each system we hope to transform holds a worldview, a mental model of how the world should be and why. And each system we hope to change serves a promise that may not align with the deepest values and promises of our spiritual traditions. Like the poem, social transformation is impossible if we leave out any dimension. The power of transformation, like the power of the poem, is dependent on our adept use of all the dimensions of Sevenfold.

A Praxis of Social Transformation

Sevenfold integrates these seven dimensions of social transformation. Each dimension represents an autonomous strategy, each with its own history, worldview, theory of change, competencies, methodologies, body of knowledge and practice, tactics, literature, organizational expression, and type of impact. Viewed holistically, the dimensions represent interconnected and interdependent elements of a comprehensive social transformation framework that integrates “multiple theories of change operating at many levels that, knitted together, explaining how major systems transformation occurs.” When assembled into a whole, the framework provides a user-friendly dynamic model of social transformation, which can deepen our understanding and increase our effectiveness.

Exhibit: 1:4 shows the core dimensions of Sevenfold. The framework, in its parts and as a whole, provides an integrated set of diagnostic frames and strategic arenas of action. It provides a common language and approach that affirms and deepens understanding from multiple perspectives.

Exibit:1.4 Sevenfold Dimensions of Social Transformation

These dimensions and the framework can be judged by their internal coherence and external applicability. In subsequent chapters, we will explore its applicability in depth. Internal coherence is based on these seven standards:

First, the dimensions represent the minimum ones necessary to account for transformation.

Second, the dimensions must be distinctive enough to be analytically separable.

Third, the dimensions must be inclusive. They must embrace a large number of strategic actions while maintaining their distinctiveness.

Fourth, the dimensions must be relatively easy to identify when a leader is analyzing any particular issue or activity.

Fifth, the dimensions must be capable of being connected and related to each other and assembled into a whole.

Sixth, distinguishing and connecting the dimensions and using the framework must generate insight into critical aspects of transformation.

And seventh, the theory of transformation must be able to ground, inform, and enrich our understanding of social transformation and engagement as leaders.

It’s important to remember that Sevenfold is a tool for transformation—and to be clear on what transformation is and requires. Transformation occurs when we ignite souls, empower persons, change systems, organize commitment, enliven movements, and transform worldviews in service to life’s most profound promises. The magnitude of the transformation, like the success of the love poem, is a function of how fully each dimension is expressed.