About
Complex systems shape how organizations function, how decisions are made, and how change unfolds.
My work focuses on helping leaders see those systems clearly and act with intention.
I am Karyn Zuidinga, founder of NextWAVE Innovation. For more than two decades, I have worked at the intersection of research, design, and strategy. Increasingly, that work has focused on ecosystem awareness, systems-aware strategy, and innovation in complex environments.
How I Work
My approach is grounded in three commitments.
Clarity before action
Participation before prescription
Structure without rigidity
I do not deliver packaged solutions. I design processes that help leaders and teams build shared understanding and coordinated action.
This work draws on research, design facilitation, strategic planning practice, and ecosystem methods developed through The Ecosystem Project.
From UX to Ecosystems
I began my career in user experience and design research. Over time, I saw that many organizational challenges could not be solved at the level of interface or service alone.
Products and services sit within broader systems of incentives, governance, relationships, and value exchange.
As a result, my practice expanded from UX strategy to systems-aware work that operates across multiple levels of complexity.
The focus shifted from optimizing parts to understanding and strengthening wholes.
The Ecosystem Project
I am co-creator and co-author of The Ecosystem Project, a method and toolkit for illuminating and transforming human ecosystems.
This work defines five stages of ecosystemic transformation: Orienting, Sensing, Illuminating, Engaging, and Sustaining.
Through facilitated sessions and structured depictions, we help participants make the invisible visible and build shared agreement about purpose, boundaries, and value dynamics.
The method has been applied in higher education, public agencies, health initiatives, and cross-sector collaborations.
What Clients Experience
Clients often describe this work as:
- Structured but flexible
- Engaging without being performative
- Grounded in real constraints
- Focused on clarity rather than rhetoric
The goal is not to impress. It is to enable durable action.
Leadership and Community
I serve as Chair of the Association for Managers of Innovation.
My work is informed by ongoing collaboration with practitioners, leaders, and researchers working in systems change and innovation.
I am also co-host of the Positive Turbulence podcast, where we explore how leaders navigate complexity and create meaningful change.
A Note on Practice
This work is delivered through carefully designed engagements that may include:
- Ecosystem illumination and transformation
- Systems-aware strategic planning
- Innovation at ecosystem scale
Each engagement is tailored to context. The structure provides coherence. The process remains adaptive.
If You Are Here
You may be leading a team, an institution, or a multi-stakeholder initiative.
You may be facing complexity that cannot be reduced to a single problem.
You may sense that alignment is fragile because the system itself has not been clearly seen.
If that resonates, a conversation is a good place to begin.