Learning to Learn: A Cultural Transformation at United Way of Greenville County

Abstract

Founded in the early 1900s and organized as a franchise model of approximately 1,800 local fundraising affiliates, United Way has established itself as a premier nonprofit dedicated to supporting the well-being of its communities. During most of the 20th century, local United Ways deployed a "community chest" model, in which community funds were primarily raised to deliver health and human services via other local nonprofits. However, at the turn of the 21st century, United Way began experiencing multiple threats to its viability, and the organization began pivoting to a "community impact" model—a model which focused beyond alleviating symptoms of social issues and aimed to address their root causes by new means such as policy and advocacy. This capstone describes a strategic project at United Way of Greenville County aimed at kickstarting a cultural change in support of its transformation from a "community chest" model to a fully realized "community impact" model in its efforts to remain relevant, credible, and competitive. The capstone focuses on how I applied a systems lens to help United Way of Greenville County evolve into a learning organization using the Deliberately Developmental Organization framework. This capstone highlights the successes and challenges of demonstrating the competitive imperative for learning, improving psychological safety, spreading innovation, and sustaining momentum for transformational change. I conclude that to continue to make progress and adapt within an ever-changing environment, an organization should generate and maintain a state of disequilibrium or “tilt”, which is achieved by incorporating new information and ideas through listening, feedback, and learning.