In her book Leadership and the New Science, Margaret Wheatley references a maxim in organizational behavior, "people support what they create." And that makes sense, doesn't it? Like we discuss in the Elements of Empowerment, being trusted (Autonomy) to use your expertise (Competence) to do work that makes you feel connected (Fulfillment) can make you feel more empowered in your work. But there's one element that you can't tackle alone…Community. 

Cultivator Alex O'Connor is well versed in the importance of community. As part of her company's DEI cross-functional team (XFT), she wanted to create more opportunities for her colleagues to take ownership of DEI initiatives. These critical projects were happening in a silo, and Alex and the XFT knew that insight from the broader team could lead to more ideas, increased buy-in, and better outcomes. So how did this small, mighty team manage to get input from over half the company, leaving 91% of event participants who gave feedback saying they felt more empowered to have ideas and initiate them after participating in the event series?

By running a Changeathon! 

The Context

The Cultivators Community is a private Slack space where trailblazers from all around the world gather to hang out, share ideas, and mobilize for change. We know the only way to make change happen in our organizations is to be a part of that transformation. Cultivate created this space for changemakers, culture champions, and community builders to come together and share ideas, strategy, experiences, resources, and more.

In 2020, the Cultivators Community hosted three Changeathon events, showcasing nine Changeathon contributors and their ideas for change. Changeathon is a community event grounded in collaborative innovation. Contributors share their ideas for change within their company, and in return, receive actionable feedback and suggestions from an audience of peers.

When Alex attended her first Changeathon last year, it sparked an idea. Could Changeathon exist beyond the virtual walls of the Cultivators Community and add value to her own organization?

The Idea

Short answer: yes. After attending several Changeathon events hosted by the Cultivators Community and reading Steve Garguilo's book Surge, Alex talked with her DEI XFT teammates about what it might be like to bring a similar event to Mavrck. 

The initial idea was to run a hackathon-type event to create room for more voices across the company to brainstorm and support DEI initiatives at Mavrck. That vision evolved into a series of DEI-focused events, starting with an "Actionstorm" session to ideate individual actions. 

The Activation

The Mavrck team met with Cultivators members and Mavrck's DEI consultant to discuss and plan the Actionstorm event. With 20 team members (almost 30% of the company) attending and participating in the Actionstorm event, it was a huge success, resulting in 20 unique ideas and accompanying action plans to help drive DEI efforts at Mavrck! 

After synthesizing the Actionstorm results, Mavrck’s DEI XFT identified the following themes: 

• Hiring/Jobs

• Influencers/Campaigns

• L&D/Resources

• Platform Capabilities

A group was formed around each theme, meeting separately in "Show & Tell" sessions, which formed part two of the DEI event series. During these sessions, participants walked through their ideas/action plans and collected feedback from the rest of the group, forming connections between ideas and areas of opportunity for additional collaboration. (There's that Community element in action!)

Next came Changeathon, the third and final part of the DEI event series. Empowered by the Changeathon Facilitator Guide along with supportive Cultivate team members, Mavrck hosted an event attended by over half of the company (40 people total)! The presented ideas were truly cross-functional, originating from three different teams — Sales, Engineering, and Services. There was active participation from audience members, with participants from various teams and levels within Mavrck — meaning more voices, perspectives, and expertise to impact these change initiatives.

The Results

After Changeathon, a survey was sent to collect feedback on the DEI event series — starting with the Actionstorm, then the Show & Tell group meetings, and ending with the Changeathon. When asked how likely participants would recommend the event series on a scale of 1-10, the average answer was an 8. In addition, 91% of survey respondents said they felt more empowered to have ideas and initiate them after participating in the event series. 

Want to hear it straight from participants? Here's what some folks had to say:

The thing is, change is always possible, but you can't do it alone. Together with her team, Alex evolved Changeathon into a powerful and inclusive event series that empowered colleagues across the company to be involved and invested in DEI initiatives at Mavrck. And that is the power of Cultivators in action!   

Want to host a Changeathon at your workplace? We would love to help you make it happen. If you'd like to talk more about bringing Changeathon to your workplace, join our community.

Share your ideas. Solve problems. Make a difference.

We’re building a community where your voice is heard, solutions are shared, and changemakers around the world can mobilize for change. If you are passionate about change, culture, and innovation, this is the place for you.