How to Activate the Mycelium

Seminar Room, Fitzwilliam Museum CAMBRIDGE

APRIL 2nd 2025

1pm-2pm

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When I first read Susan Simard’s book ‘Finding the Mother Tree’ some years ago now, her description of the underground mycorrhizal networks which connect seemingly solitary trees through the exchange of nutrients and sugars, resonated with me. 

It reminded me of the way we as humans work together in what is often called the ‘shadow organisation’, the web of ever evolving relationships which underpin the delivery of any complex programme of work.  

The metaphors we use to describe our work matter, they help us reframe and ultimately shape the systems we work within.  The use of the term ‘shadow organisation’ implies less than / subordinate to the ‘real’ organisation, something which if brought into the ‘light’ and aligned to the ‘real’ organisation would enable smoother delivery of projects … and many transformation projects I have been involved in have tried to take this approach.    

The metaphor of mycelium provides a different framing, where the complex, ever changing web of relationships is the organisation – as surely as the root system and mycelium is the forest.   To bring them out of the ‘shadows’ is tantamount to ripping up trees to place them in neat rows (organisation chart-led reorg anyone?) and then wondering why so many trees stop thriving.  The use of the mycelium metaphor encourages us to respect the complex network of relationships beneath the surface of our organisations when we seek to change them and to consider the soil (unwritten, intangible norms) those relationships are working within.

It is all very well to talk about changing the metaphors we use but how does this work in practice?  How do you ‘transform’ or should I say ‘evolve’ an organisation respecting what lies beneath the surface? 

Based on years of trial and varying degrees of error, I propose sharing what we have learned around ‘how to activate the mycelium’ to deliver complex programmes in an interactive workshop; delving into the art of developing, implementing and repairing the relational infrastructure which underpin delivering hard infrastructure.