ACTIVITY 1 TH E ALL-FOR-ON E COOPERATIVE

Purpose: To practice the steps for discovering the structure behind a pattern of behavior

Outcome: A list of the story's key variables

Behavior over time graph of the key variables A causal loop diagram that depicts the case story

Instructions: Read the case study below and then answer the questions that follow.

Case Study The All-for-OneCooperative

The All-for-One Cooperative is a stunning example of a community that has embraced and mastered business collaboration. The cooperative was founded several decades ago with funds raised from local townspeople to open a small factory that employed only 25 people. Today, All-for-One has more than 160 cooperative enterprises, employing more than 23,000 members.

The member enterprises' actions are based on a single guiding principle: "How can we do it in a way that serves equally both those in the enterprise and those in the community, rather than serving one at the expense of the other?"

Interviews with members of the cooperative revealed the centrality of this shared vision between the business and the community. Trusting in their shared beliefs and values had encouraged the founders to collaborate closely to design the original cooperative. Reinforcement of their common beliefs had allowed newer, younger members to propose the changes required for All-for-One to adapt as it grew.

The experience of collaborative design supported various joint experiments in profit sharing, diversification of members' benefits, apprenticeships, and exploration of new markets. Although some of the experiments failed, the losses were spread across the entire association. As a result, the experimenters were encouraged to discuss their ventures at cooperative governance meetings and to publicize the causes of both success and failure to all cooperative members. Old-timers and newcomers believe that this sharing of business knowledge has consistently reinforced the sense of shared vision and beliefs.

QUESTIONS

1. Briefly sum up the All-for-One story.

2. Identify four or five key variables from the story.

3. Graph the variables' behavior over time.

4. Decide how the variables interrelate and draw a causal loop diagram to show the connections. Work in pencil, and don't be afraid to use that eraser! Label your loop diagram R or B.

5. Walk through the causal loop diagram, telling the story it depicts and checking it against the original story.