Using the Coalition's map in the workshops
This is Paper Giant's suggestion for the Menzies Leadership Foundation (MLF) and its workshop facilitator. It is not a Coalition finding and no member has endorsed it. Prepared 10 September 2026.
A grid you could use
In the Coalition's June session, members were asked where they would put their energy across four areas of shared work. Shared data and knowledge drew the most support. We at Paper Giant suggest trying the Coalition's conditions matrix as an exercise in your online workshops, so participants can describe their current work and a change they would like to make.
The matrix is a four-by-four grid. Four conditions: capacity (resources to act), capability (skills and confidence), trust, and belonging. Four levels: personal, interpersonal (between people), community, and systemic (institutions and policy). The sixteen cells are labelled below, with the example from the exercise marked on it.
The four areas of shared work the Coalition named are MLF's working set of workshop themes: data and knowledge, coordination, shared projects, and amplification (helping work that is already effective reach more people).
A three-step exercise
You could invite each participant to do the following, before or during the first session:
- Mark current work. Choose one to three cells where your organisation works today.
- Choose a change. Draw one arrow to a cell you want that work to reach. For example, a local dialogue programme might become standard practice inside an institution.
- Pick a theme. Choose the theme that could help with your arrow. Then ask:
- What does your organisation already do that could support this change?
- What could we do together that we could not do alone?
- Who could take responsibility for the next step?
The theme groups could then discuss the arrows and look for possible shared projects. Arrows that stand alone are worth discussing too.
What the Coalition's own session showed
Coordination drew the next most support after shared data and knowledge. No shared initiative emerged from the first phase. We suggest testing whether a step between describing current work and choosing a theme helps participants get to a shared proposal. The arrow gives them a specific change to talk about.
How participants can use the grid
The conditions and levels describe what the Coalition discussed. You could offer the grid as one way for participants to describe their work and make it optional. Anyone can join a theme group directly.
What you would need from MLF
- Background reading, once members have cleared it: the Coalition's public summary site and the draft investment framework, which sets out five ways to fund this work.
- The grid above, ready to print or to use on an online whiteboard.
- A decision on whether participants draw their arrows in a short survey beforehand or during the session.
- Half an hour with us, if a walkthrough of the material would help.
What would you adapt for your sessions?