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Ecocycle Planning

Ecocycle Planning

The purpose of Ecocycle Planning is to help groups analyze and rebalance their portfolio of activities to improve performance, agility, and resilience. It does this by:
  • Identifying bottlenecks, such as activities that are under-resourced (starvation) or overly rigid and blocking progress.
  • Engaging everyone involved, rather than limiting planning to a small group behind closed doors.
  • Visualizing the full system, so participants can see how their work fits into the broader context.
  • Encouraging creative destruction and renewal, not just growth and efficiency.
  • Supporting all four phases of development - birth, maturity, creative destruction, and renewal - to foster sustained performance and adaptability.
In short, Ecocycle Planning helps teams make smarter, more inclusive decisions about where to invest, what to let go of, and how to evolve.

  • Time needed

    95 minutes

  • Preparation

    Offline Format Online Format
    Prepare pieces of paper for participants Prepare virtual whiteboard template to collect ideas (e.g. Miro)
    A blank Ecocycle map worksheet for each participant and a large wall-poster version posted on the wall  Prepare a blank Ecocycle map worksheet for each participant and one bigger one for all
    Arrange chairs for people to sit in pairs and then groups of 4 Prepare split into groups (first pairs then 4 people)

  • Set the stage

    1. Invite the group to view, organize, and prioritize their current activities done for defined topic. Example: 
      • "Our Team's Activities,"
      • "Our Project Portfolio,"
      • "My Personal Leadership Practices,"
      • "Our Product Features,"
    2. Invite the group to formulate action steps linked to each phase:
      • Birth phase: Small ideas
      • Growth: Expanding and developing
      • Harvest: Delivering maximum value
      • Creative destruction: Letting go, replacing old practices
      • Renewal: Learning from destruction, emerging new ideas
      • Poverty trap: Stuck, unable to start new things
      • Rigidity trap: What needs to be stopped
    3. Explain the Ecocycle Metaphor: Describe each stage of the ecocycle and the two traps. Emphasize that all stages are natural and necessary for a healthy system.
    4. Explain the Purpose: State that the goal is to map current activities/initiatives to understand the system's health and decide on strategic actions.
    5. The type of leadership needed at each stage can be described as being an entrepreneur, a manager, a rebel, and a networker.

  • Step-by-step and timing

    1. Introduce the idea of the Ecocycle and hand out a blank map to each participant (5 min)
    2. Ask participants to generate their individual activity lists: "Thinking about [TOPIC], what are all the current activities, programs, initiatives, roles, projects, or ways of working that are currently active or consuming our energy?" (5 min)
    3. Ask participants to work in pairs to place every activity in the Ecocycle (10 min)
    4. Form groups of four and finalize the placement of activities on the map, group them and delete duplicates (15 min)
      • As a facilitator: Ensure clarity, one item per note. Avoid deep discussion at this stage.
    5. Each group places their activities on the large map (15 min)
      • As a facilitator: Encourage discussion about why an activity belongs in a certain stage. This debate is crucial for surfacing different perspectives and hidden assumptions.
    6. Groups reflect and discuss, focusing on specific questions related to each part of the cycle (35 min):
      • "Creative Destruction" & "Rigidity Trap": "What activities are we doing that we need to stop doing, simplify, or let go of? What's preventing us from letting go of things in the Rigidity Trap?"
      • "Poverty Trap" & "Renewal": "What new ideas or activities should we start or experiment with? What fresh energy is available from Renewal that we're not tapping into?"
      • "Birth" & "Growth": "What activities should we invest more time, energy, or resources in to nurture them or accelerate their growth?"
      • "Harvest": "What activities are currently delivering maximum value that we should celebrate and sustain, but also be mindful that they will eventually need renewal?"
    7. Capture Actions: As insights and actions emerge, write them down on a separate flip chart, perhaps categorizing them as "Stop," "Start," "Continue/Invest." (10 min)
      • As a facilitator: Guide the discussion. Ensure focus is on actionable insights. Encourage moving beyond just plotting to actually deciding what to do.

  • Hints

    1. Embrace the Metaphor: Lean into the ecocycle metaphor. It provides a non-judgmental language for discussing difficult topics like letting go.

    2. Don't Over-Explain: Let the participants engage directly with the diagram. The "ah-ha" comes from their own plotting and discussion.

    3. Foster Debate (in a good way): Disagreements about where an activity belongs are extremely valuable. They surface different perspectives and highlight areas of misalignment.

    4. Focus on the System: Remind participants to think about the health and flow of the entire system, not just individual preferences.

    5. Physical Space: A large drawing surface is beneficial for visual clarity.

    6. Follow Through: Ecocycle Planning is most effective when the insights lead to concrete decisions and actions.

  • Examples of use

    1. Project Portfolio Management - System/Focus: "All current projects and initiatives in our pipeline."

      • Activities: Each project (e.g., "Launch of Product X," "Upgrade CRM System," "R&D for New Technology Y," "Internal Training Program").

      • Insights: Identify projects stuck in the Rigidity Trap (old projects that won't die, draining resources) or the Poverty Trap (promising small ideas that never get funding to reach Birth/Growth). Decide to sunset non-performing projects, invest more in high-growth ones, and seed new exploratory initiatives.

    2. Team Activities & Ways of Working - System/Focus: "How our team spends its time and energy."

      • Activities: Daily stand-ups, weekly reporting, monthly team-building, specific recurring meetings, annual planning, training sessions, individual tasks (e.g., "Responding to ad-hoc requests," "Deep work," "Mentoring new hires").

      • Insights: Discover that "Weekly Status Report" is in the Rigidity Trap (nobody reads it, but we keep doing it), "Cross-training Initiative" is stuck in the Poverty Trap (always talking about it, never starting). Decide to automate weekly reports, cancel ineffective meetings, and formally schedule time for cross-training.

    3. Product Feature Roadmap - System/Focus: "All features of our product."

      • Activities: Each existing feature (e.g., "Basic search function," "Advanced analytics dashboard," "Beta mobile app integration," "Legacy reporting module").

      • Insights: See that "Legacy reporting module" is in Creative Destruction (old technology, few users, high maintenance), "Basic search" is in Harvest (highly used, stable), and "AI-powered recommendations" is in Birth (new idea, needs exploration). Decide to sunset the legacy module, invest in the AI feature, and optimize the basic search.

  • Link with other Liberating Structures

    Use together with:

    1. 1-2-4-All

    String with:

    1. Open space
    2. Panarchy
    3. TRIZ

    Deepen the conversation and plan the actions with:

    1. 25/10 Crowd Sourcing 
    2. What, So What, Now What? W³
    3. What I need from you

  • Link to Liberating Structures page

    Ecocycle

  • Link to virtual whiteboard template (Miro)

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