We Can Do This!: 10 Tools to Unleash Our Collective Genius

Something is trying to be born. We can feel it. The old ways of the industrial growth society are crumbling, and the new ways of a life-sustaining civilization are emerging like grass through cracks in the concrete.

Everything we need is already here. 

We Can Do This! is about unleashing our immense potential by harnessing the power of “group work” through tried-and-true frameworks for working together better.

What is “group work”? Hold in your mind, if you will, the soul-nourishing quality of a barnraising, the A-ha’s accessed only through deep conversation, or the exhilarating joy of a team in creative flow.

The transformative magic of being in relationship, of collaborating and actively working together to achieve big goals is not only not new, but it’s also the answer to how we move forward, as a society and a species.

Our deepest ailment is our disconnectedness, from self, each other and Life. The challenges we face are too complex for our old “lone wolf” and heroic leader strategies.

We Can Do This! 10 Tools to Unleash Our Collective Genius provides a roadmap for how we can leverage the power of the group to intervene in our stuck systems.

How does the book work?

We Can Do This! works at multiple levels to foster transformation. The book: 

1. Empowers you and others with the perspectives and distilled wisdom of 10 key frameworks used by professional facilitators and consultants. Applicable at all scales — from self to system — these frameworks are relevant to people from all walks of life, including leaders, change agents, entrepreneurs, bureaucrats, managers, consultants, coaches, frontline workers, teachers, parents… 
2. Gives groups and teams shared language and ways of navigating through the frustrations and challenges of working with other humans. 
3. Supports our personal growth and development, and especially bringing us into greater alignment with what is most alive in us, and 
4. Brings it all together into a tidy "package" that is highly shareable so we can leverage our networks to get these tools into the hands of many many more people — and grow a movement to revolutionize how we work together.

All these levels are important and mutually reinforcing.

More about the book

More specifically, the book introduces a complementary set of 10 frameworks: 

• Appreciative Inquiry
• Chaordic Design 
• Generative Dialogue 
• Adaptive Cycle 
• Enterprise Facilitation 
• Theory U 
• Process Oriented Psychology 
• Integral Theory 
• Systemic Constellations
• Conscious Co-Creation

Each framework is summarized from the perspective of what is most useful in the field: the framework in a nutshell, its origin, a story of the framework in action, how it applies at the personal level, finer points, possible pitfalls and finally key questions as a short cut to drawing out the insights of that framework. Icons support the reader to see connections between the different frameworks. 

The tools offer complementary perspectives and pointers, each focused on different aspects of how humans are together. Just as carpenters need hammers, screwdrivers, measuring tape, drills, sandpaper and so on, no one tool can do it all, but all together they support effective action. 

“I believe that there is a renaissance unfolding around the world in understanding and leading systemic change, change at a scale commensurate with the deep problems we face. By its nature, such a renaissance is all but completely invisible... Grasping for more tangible ways to express this awareness, I often point to the extraordinary array of relevant practical tools and processes that have emerged over the past few decades, starting with ways to cultivate a space for deeper conversation and building teams and groups who can work together on truly complex problems. I salute Kate Sutherland’s wonderful book for two reasons: for its wonderful synthesis of useful tools for just this and for offering one more piece of evidence that the renaissance is indeed unfolding, hidden in plain sight.”

PETER SENGE, MIT and The Academy of Systems Change

“However great a person may be, no one person can make things happen. Sometimes an individual gets the credit but always there is a group behind any project, event or organization. Things happen through co-creation. Kate Sutherland’s book We Can Do This! is a superb exploration of group work and the process of co-creation. I recommend the book wholeheartedly.”

SATISH KUMAR, Editor Emeritus, Resurgence & Ecologist

“A tight consolidation of 10 frameworks for transformation that should be in every change maker’s toolkit.”

JASON MOGUS, NetChange

"I’ve been very grateful for the many group processes developed in the past decades that create new capacities and new relationships among people working together. Kate has brought the best of these together, in clear and direct language, making these processes easily accessible. Yet we must also notice how, in these past decades, we have become more separated, impatient and self-protective. Working well together is a much less frequent—even rare—experience as people withdraw in fear in response to profound uncertainty. This is where Kate’s book becomes both a challenge and a gift. Can we commit to working in these ways so that people again become engaged with their work and manifest their collective creativity? If we do, people will remember the joy of what it feels like to work well together and produce work they believe in. And this is the ultimate gift."

MARGARET WHEATLEY, Author, Who Do We Choose To Be? 

"This book is a rare gem, as it’s easily accessible, deeply useful and offers clear guidance to make changes that seem simple, but that will have profound effects, if practiced. Kate helps us to surface and make pragmatic what we intuitively know about groups and change processes. I urge you to see for yourself. It will strengthen your ability to navigate everything from relationships to complex systems, and to create the better outcomes we so need at this time."

NINA SIMONS, Co-Founder, Bioneers

"At this time on our planet, learning to work together with open hearts and open minds is crucial to finding a just and sustainable path into the future. Kate has given us a wonderful guide for our journey forward together. We Can Do This! is a must-read for anyone working towards change in their communities, organizations or families."

LENA K. SOOTS, Faculty, Social Innovation at Mount Royal University 

"Open any page of this book and you will find practical ideas and strategies for working with groups — as a facilitator, participant or manager. We will definitely use and share these tools!"

HEALTH NEXUS