In this step, we cover our second theoretical concept: a social architecture framework for designing collective thriving. It will help us see how the Flourishing Triangle scales up to empower groups, organizations, and families.

You heard from Jane about the Flourishing Triangle, which shows us three essential resources for thriving: high quality connections, positive emotions, and positive meanings. These are all experienced at the individual level.

A Social Architecture Framework helps us understand why some groups, organizations, and communities are overflowing with these kinds of resources, while others may be impoverished. Interestingly, these resources don’t necessarily have a strong tie to other kinds of resources, such as money or time or material things. In fact, this theory was developed to help us understand why communities with a lot of money and material goods were not able to use them effectively to create the kinds of changes they wanted to make, while organizations and communities who seemed disadvantaged in terms of money and material goods were able to be much more effective.

Think about this in your own life. Have you ever been on a team that was enthusiastic and energetic, full of pride and a sense of accomplishment, even if it didn’t win or take home first place? Compare that with the team that maybe won it all, but didn’t have much fun and in the end no one wanted to be together anymore. What made the difference for those two teams?

Here’s one more way to think about this idea of a social architecture of thriving. Imagine joining a new community – maybe an online dance club or a new support circle for people who are trying to make physical distancing less socially isolating. You try one of these communities and it feels a little lifeless. Things seem forced and you feel like the 30 minutes is dragging by. You try a second one the next day (good grit!) and it is energetic, fun, and playful. You feel welcomed instantly and before you know it the 30 minutes is up but you don’t want to get off the video. People who had been strangers just a half hour before feel like friends now. How did that happen?

We usually only have the capacity to explain the difference in these two group experiences by thinking that one was started by a happy and enthusiastic person and the other must have been started by a gloomy, uncreative type. This is what psychologists call the “fundamental attribution error,” and it’s when we explain things that happen in terms of the people involved instead of in terms of the situation. When scholars in our field look at the differences between those two group experiences, they look for more than the personalities of people. They look for the four categories of flexible social structures that you already saw featured in Kevin’s video about how EDSI is creating resilience in their organization now.

The four categories of social structure that we focus on as flexible and therefore useful for unlocking resources for thriving are:

1. Networks: Formal and informal recurrent social interactions between individuals In our example, there are two networks - the two different online groups.

2. Routines and practices: Recognizable, repeated, interdependent ways of accomplishing tasks. In our example, routines of welcoming newcomers to an online group probably varied widely, which is why one felt like it created belonging quickly and the other didn’t.

3. Roles: Collectively expected responsibilities and attitudes related to a social position. Both groups had a facilitator or a leader, in our example, but how the person defined that role mattered for whether they thought it was within their responsibility set to make others feel welcome and create connections, or just to convene the group and organize the technology. All kinds of roles can be expanded to include the expectation of creating resources like connections and positive emotions.

4. Culture: Widely internalized or taken for granted norms, values, and patterns in a collective.You’re probably used to thinking about cultures in communities and organizations, but maybe not thinking like a DESIGNER of cultures. The cultures that unlock resources for thriving make the norms and values come alive in everything they do – for instance, the rituals of checking in with members at gatherings is a space where culture can become alive. Yet, we often miss these opportunities by assuming they are too small to matter.

Connecting back to our case study

You can think of the ways the resources and social structures intersect with a table, like the one you saw in Kevin’s video. Go back to that video again if you want to watch for the table and its explanations of EDSI’s social architecture of thriving. It will show you how you can use each cell of the table to help you imagine how to think like a designer.

Let’s try it out. Imagine you want more thriving family check ins during physical distancing. Now that you know how to think like a designer for thriving ask yourself questions such as:

• How can I make my next family gathering on the phone or on video chat more fun (unlock positive emotion!) by inviting a new relative (expand the network) or asking everyone to wear a funny hat like we usually do on halloween (drawing on a family cultural tradition)?

• Now that I’ve tried that once, and I see our family video chat was more energetic and connected, how can I do the next one so that we share more of what’s happening with us (unlock high quality connections!) by doing a personal check in for everyone (improvise a routine!) and modeling good listening with empathy and compassion (unlock positive meaning of your role as not just organizer but also an architect of compassion!)

From these questions, which are a sample of only a few ways you can use these two models, you can see that thoughtful communication routines can strengthen connections, living cultural values can amplify positive emotions, and framing roles can create meaning. The intersection of the two models is where thriving comes alive for people and communities. That’s how we know the practices in Week 2 can pay off in your life.