Reader situation
Circles built around broad topics often struggle to keep discussions specific and useful. A Circle built around one shared professional challenge gives members a practical focus, even when they come from different roles and organizations.
Central idea
A shared professional challenge can give a circle a practical focus across different roles or organizations. Purpose, participant mix and discussion prompts keep that focus useful over time.
Worked example
Fictional example
The people and details are invented to illustrate an approach. It reports no outcomes.
Fictional challenge
Several members of a professional community work in mid-sized manufacturers that must start reporting on their carbon emissions within two years. They work in finance, operations, sustainability and IT. Each has part of the knowledge needed, and none has done this before.
Circle purpose
Rosa, a sustainability manager, starts a Circle with this purpose:
For people at mid-sized manufacturers preparing for their first carbon emissions reporting, to share approaches, questions and lessons as we work through it.
The purpose names a challenge, a type of organization and a time-bound situation. It doesn’t name a single job role, because the challenge crosses several.
Participant mix
Rosa invites members deliberately from different functions
- Finance members who understand reporting processes and audit.
- Operations members who know where emissions data comes from.
- IT members who manage the systems that hold the data.
- Sustainability members who follow the reporting requirements.
The mix means that most questions can be answered from more than one angle. Rosa also invites two members from companies that have already completed their first report. They agree to share what they learned, without disclosing confidential details.
Sample prompts
Rosa plans prompts that follow the stages of the challenge:
- “Where are you starting from? What emissions data does your company already collect?”
- “Who owns this work in your organization, and how was that decided?”
- “What’s the hardest data to get, and how are you approaching it?”
- “For those who’ve reported already: what would you do differently in your first year?”
Each prompt draws on members’ current work, so there’s always something new to share as they progress. Rosa posts one prompt every two weeks and leaves space between them for members’ own questions, which she expects to become the main source of discussion over time.
Moderation and review questions
Rosa sets two boundaries: no vendor promotion, and no sharing of confidential company figures. She also plans to review the Circle every three months with a few questions:
- Is the challenge still shared by most members, or has it changed?
- Are all functions contributing, or has one come to dominate?
- Are members getting answers they can use?
- Should the Circle change its purpose once most members have completed their first report?
The last question matters. A Circle built around a time-bound challenge may need to evolve or close once the challenge is behind its members. Rosa plans to ask members directly rather than assume.
Boundaries
- A shared challenge doesn’t mean shared circumstances. Remind members that approaches may differ by company and region.
- Specialist matters, such as legal interpretation of reporting rules, need qualified advice. The Circle can share experience, not replace it.
- Protect confidential company information, even when members are eager to compare figures.
Reflection questions
- What shared challenge do people in your network face right now?
- Which roles or functions hold part of the knowledge needed?
- How would you know when a challenge-based Circle has served its purpose?
One practical application
Write a one-sentence purpose for a Circle built around a challenge you share with others, and list the three roles you’d most want to invite.
