Systems convening? When I first heard the word, I thought: here we go, another fluffy concept that academics or consultants use to describe solutions for problems that only exist on paper.
But here’s the thing: systems convening is surprisingly pragmatic. For me, the concept brings awareness, intention, and structure to what might be the most powerful mechanism for achieving change in complex systems: bringing people together around shared values and goals to tackle a problem no one actor can solve alone. Systems convening also provides a richer set of tools than the usual organizational playbook, including things like strategy decks, transformation programmes, or stakeholder engagement plans.
So what do I mean by system convening? Simply put, it’s the practice of bringing the right mix of people, organizations, or institutions together across silos, sectors, cultures, socioeconomic backgrounds, and ideological divides, to make progress on shared issues.
Crucially, it’s a form of leadership that:
- starts with deep listening and observation,
- holds space for different perspectives,
- builds trust in places where it’s been lacking,
- and helps people move from talking past each other to acting together.
Conveners don’t usually hold the most power. Their names aren’t always on the output. But they’re the ones who help align the actors in a messy system, creating the conditions for coordinated change. Systems convening is a critical skill for leaders today because many of the biggest problems we face are interwoven by nature. That means no single organization, no matter how capable, can solve them alone.
For example, at Clarasys, we supported a group of UK pubs and restaurants looking to accelerate their Net Zero journeys. There are nearly 100,000 of them across the UK, many small and independent, under pressure from tight margins, rising costs, and the cost-of-living crisis.
Even though many operators want to reduce emissions, the system around them makes it hard: fragmented supply chains, no shared roadmap, limited resources. So that’s why we brought together a group of hospitality businesses under the leadership of Peach Pubs, alongside suppliers like Coca-Cola and Pernod Ricard, finance providers, and sustainability experts, to identify the biggest barriers and co-create solutions. We ran workshops, did customer research (yes, in a pub), and interviewed stakeholders across the system.
The result wasn’t a silver bullet. But it was a shared understanding of what’s holding people back, and a practical set of actions the sector could take together. We called it Race to Net Zero. It didn’t get us to zero overnight, but it gave smaller players a much-needed boost to start or accelerate their journey.
For larger players like Coca-Cola or Pernod Ricard, it created something equally important: a shared platform to engage downstream partners, show leadership, and surface insights they wouldn’t get through top-down programmes. It also helped align action across their value chain, something individual initiatives often fail to do.
At the time, I didn’t call it systems convening. But that’s exactly what it was.
Another example: the CPHI Sustainability Collective. CPHI, a global pharma trade show owned by Informa, realized they had a unique opportunity to convene the pharma industry around sustainability. Leveraging their reach and position, we helped them establish a Steering Committee of pharma leaders and sustainability experts.
Together, they defined the Collective’s mission: to create a central hub for sustainability in pharma to build connections, foster partnerships, share knowledge, and align diverse initiatives. This is an ongoing piece of work, but it's already helping create visibility and momentum across a fragmented space.
Who can be a system convenor?
You don’t need a new job title. You don’t need to be a consultant. But you do need to:
- see the whole system, not just your part of it.
- Be willing to invite in diverse, even conflicting, voices (including those who are usually left out or your competitors),
- and have the patience to build trust before pushing for solutions.
Some organizations are naturally well-positioned to convene:
- Charities, especially those working across advocacy, service delivery, and policy.
- Companies with market power or shared infrastructure, such as event organizers, platforms, or retailers.
- Trade bodies, regulators, or public institutions, particularly those seeking to unlock collaboration, even if it means giving up some control.
- Or simply a leader who dares to ask:
“What would it take to solve this properly, even if it means doing things differently?”
A good systems convening effort doesn’t start with structure. It starts with a problem that matters, and a deep understanding of how it plays out across the system. That might mean bringing together competitors, regulators, and suppliers. Or in some cases, customers and communities, too.
Often, it also means making space for those most affected but rarely invited in, such as frontline workers, underrepresented groups, or local communities. And it means questioning power dynamics: Who gets to shape the system? Who’s missing? Who benefits from how things are?
Convening isn’t neutral work. Done well, it helps rewire systems to become more inclusive, adaptive, and aligned with shared values.
We recently explored this idea in the context of regulation and purpose. Alongside leaders from water, telecoms, finance, government, and legal sectors, we hosted a cross-sector workshop to ask: What if regulation wasn’t just about avoiding harm, but enabling purpose?
The barriers that surfaced were familiar: adversarial relationships, lack of shared definitions, short-termism, and finger-pointing. But the most powerful realisation? When everyone is in the room, many actually want the same things.
The seeds are now planted for a systems convening effort. And if the water or energy sectors wanted to take this further, the opportunity is real, so is the need.
Sometimes the most powerful convening happens when urgency collides with collaboration. During COVID-19, the UK Ventilator Challenge brought together over 5,000 companies, from aerospace and F1 teams to medical suppliers, to design and build thousands of ventilators in record time. That wasn’t just innovation, it was systems convening at speed. Competitors worked side by side. Supply chains were reconfigured. Governance was reshaped overnight. It worked because the problem was urgent, shared, and too complex for any one actor to solve.
A few things to keep in mind if you’re considering systems convening
While every systems convening journey is different, there are often a few stages that show up again and again.
- See the system – map the actors, power structures, incentives, and pain points. Where are the connections? The gaps?
- Start small – begin with a conversation or a gathering, not a grand plan. Build trust before expecting alignment.
- Define the rules – what do we need to agree upfront about how we’ll work together? Behavioral norms, expectations, and principles of engagement.
- Co-create purpose – help participants define a shared challenge or aspiration.
- Support action and learning – convening isn’t just talk. It's about collaborating, then learning, adapting, and building on what emerges.
These stages won’t always be linear; in fact, usually they are not, but they can help guide the work.
So to close, when might you consider system convening?
If you’re facing a problem that feels stuck...
If you’re seeing fragmentation, duplication, or inertia...
If you’re wondering who else cares about the same outcomes you do...
It might be time to ask: Who else is part of this system, and what would it take to bring us together?
You don’t need all the answers. You just need the curiosity to start.
