Cultiv8 tool

How the Cultiv8 Process works

  • In this step, you are asked to assess your current situation. Here, we recommend engaging in three activities to help you assess context:

    • Step 1a: Identify what the general “thing” is that you are trying to address.

    • Step 1b: Identify the stage of your relationship.

    • Step 1c: Rate your relationship in terms of level of trust and power.

    To explore this step and the complete Cultiv8 Process, join us for Cultivating Trust and Navigating Power.

  • In this step, we ask you to consider your role in the situation you find yourself in. What do you think are some of the factors within your control that are contributing to a particular level of trust and power?

    • Step 2a: Identify what is impacting trust.

    • Step 2b: Identify what contributes to power.

    • Step 2c: Reflect on your analysis of trust and power.

    • Step 2d: Reflect on the goal(s) of your actions.

    To explore this step and the complete Cultiv8 Process, join us for Cultivating Trust and Navigating Power.

  • In this step, you are ready to select specific actions that you can do to impact the situation you are in. Use the Cultiv8 tool to select trust and power actions that best address your situation.

    • Step 3a: Develop your action plan

About this tool

The Center for Implementation supports people to plan for implementation and apply strategies that will lead them to effective change. Being able to cultivate trust and navigate power dynamics are essential for creating change, yet they’re rarely taught in practical ways.

Originally designed for our Level 2 course, Cultivating Trust and Navigating Power, the Cultiv8 tool had been exclusively available to enrolled participants for the past two years. However, we’ve heard from many participants that they’ve been using the tool in an ongoing way to strengthen relationships with their teams, collaborators, managers, and leaders, as well as with other organizations.

Aligned with our vision of making the science of implementation practical and accessible, we’ve chosen to release the Cultiv8 tool to the public for free. While we encourage the use of the Cultiv8 tool at any time, it's important to note that it represents just a small component of the broader picture of how to build trusting relationships while navigating power dynamics in collaborative work.

For a more in-depth exploration of the Cultiv8 Process, we delve into it extensively in our online course, Cultivating Trust and Navigating Power.

  • This tool has been developed and designed specifically to help you go through the process of selecting trust and power actions, a process we explore in detail in our online course.

    We wanted to make this tool freely accessible; therefore, it’s not mandatory that you take the course to use the tool. However, we recommend that you explore the Cultiv8 Process (Steps 1 and 2) prior to using the tool.

    Considerations:

    It’s important to note that the actions included in this tool aren't an exhaustive list of actions, but can help you develop an action plan.

    If you would like to learn more about the Cultiv8 Process, join us for Cultivating Trust and Navigating Power.

  • Part of our foundational equity work was to examine important research related to equity and implementation, and synthesize key guiding questions from research and practice that can help people reflect on equity at every step of implementation. Check out our guiding questions related to the Relational Pathway to reflect on how trust and power can impact equitable relationship building. In selecting trust and power actions in this tool, we also encourage you to think about equity when operationalizing your actions.

  • We would like to acknowledge and thank those who have developed the theories, frameworks, and approaches that have contributed to the development of this tool. Without their amazing efforts, this tool would not have been possible.

    We would like to thanks Frances X. Frei and Anne Morriss for their work on the Trust Triangle as well as Brené Brown for a definition of trust that resonates with our work. Their contribution to the field has directly influenced the creation of The Trust Trifecta framework.

    In addition, we would like to thank the Participation, Power and Social Change team at University of Sussex for their work on the Powercube.net — a project led by John Gaventa and Jethro Pettit, with communications support by Laura Cornish. Their contributions to understanding power dynamics have directly influenced the creation of the Dimensions of Power.

  • The Center for Implementation. (2024). Cultiv8 tool [Web application]. https://thecenterforimplementation.com/cultiv8-tool

Learn how to Cultiv8 trust and power

The Cultiv8 Process helps you deeply examine relationships that impact implementation and view them through the lens of trust and power dynamics.

Step 1 and Step 2 involve unpacking and understanding trust and power at deeper levels. This is where you'll consider the factors that affect trust: authenticity, competence, and connection. You’ll also reflect on dimensions of power, which includes types of power, forms of power, and spaces of power.

Join our online course Cultivating Trust and Navigating Power to learn all about these components and access the full Cultiv8 Process resource and worksheets.