From Cooperation to Mycelium: Why Networks Matter More Than Hierarchies

Leadership Learning Through Transition with Both/And Thinking

Dear friends and colleagues,

After 25+ years in education and over 11 years in school leadership, I find myself writing this inaugural Mycelium Cooperative blog post with what I can only describe as a heart heavy with grief, yet remaining optimistic about what emerges when we honor both completion and new beginnings.

Like my colleagues who are principals and directors of programs both conventional and experimental, I've always known that leadership involves constant challenges. But my recent experience stepping down as President and Teacher Owner of Nature School Cooperative has required approaching leadership learning through the lens of what we teach children: change is constant, conflict is inherent to the human condition, and what matters is how we respond and learn from it all.

One way to learn is to remain open hearted, curious, and empathetic to all aspects and to recognize that this letter is only one perspective despite my efforts to encompass many angles. One of my favorite TED talks is by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie who highlights The Danger of a Single Story so please read on and consider how your leadership growth can be informed by multiple diverging view points and stories.

The Art of Beginning Again: From Grief to Growth

I find myself starting this new venture in the same way I imagine Andy Goldsworthy beginning a new art project after watching his previous creation get wiped away by the elements. There is beauty and impact with each project, and none of them are "failures." This perspective has led me from Nature School Cooperative to founding Mycelium Cooperative—a name that reflects how transformative learning spreads through underground networks rather than hierarchical structures and how seemingly opposing and competitive structures and organizations can communicate below the surface and share resources to ebb and flow.

The grief of leaving something you've built is real. So is the recognition that sometimes the most regenerative choice is stepping away from what we've created to honor our deepest beliefs about education and leadership. As I wrote to NSC families, "rather than compromise on this vision of a teacher owned and run school with 'on the ground,' in-person, 'face to face' relationship-based leadership, I have chosen to step down to pursue this work in a way that fully embodies this approach."

Beyond Either/Or: What Sociocratic Decision-Making Taught Me

My recent organizational transition involved navigating complex questions through Sociocratic decision-making processes—responding to organizational drivers, navigating via tensions, and attempting consent-based decisions. These practices can help organizations operate as heterarchies, where leadership is shared and decisions emerge through collective wisdom rather than top-down authority.

However, I learned that sometimes individual needs and collective processes don't align perfectly. We attempted consent-based decision making but ultimately moved to a majority vote. While I deeply respected my colleague's personal circumstances and personal needs to work remotely from out of state, I cast a dissenting vote to investing and creating a remote position because I believe effective leadership in nature-based education requires physical presence—seeing children's faces, understanding community rhythms, and being present for the small moments that shape our culture.

This experience taught me that traditional either/or thinking often masks deeper questions about what we truly believe about leadership, presence, and relationship in educational settings.

What Mycelium Networks Teach Us About Presence and Connection

Mycelium—the underground fungal networks connecting forest ecosystems—offers a different model for both educational programming and organizational leadership. These networks simultaneously support individual tree health AND forest-wide resilience through direct, physical connection. They share resources based on need, communicate across boundaries, and adapt dynamically to changing conditions.

Critically, mycelial networks function through physical presence and connection. The underground threads must actually touch to share resources, communicate information, and coordinate responses. This mirrors what I've observed over 25+ years: the most effective educational leadership happens through direct relationship—the nuanced work of guiding educators requires witnessing dynamics, relationships, and daily rhythms that shape learning environments.

For nature-based education especially, I believe physical presence is essential. Children communicate through body language, energy, and subtle cues that can only be fully understood through in-person interaction. The same applies to supporting teachers and building authentic relationships with families.

From Cooperation to Regeneration: Honoring What Is and What's Emerging

Traditional cooperation often implies working together toward shared goals—valuable, but sometimes limited by assumptions about what those goals should be and who gets to define them. My experience taught me that regenerative thinking goes deeper, asking: How do we create conditions where individual flourishing and collective healing strengthen each other, even when that means difficult transitions?

This shift from cooperation to regeneration reflects my ongoing journey since writing "Pilgrimage for Hope" in 2016. That essay explored regeneration as lived practice—not just individual transformation, but collective healing that addresses root causes of disconnection from each other and the more-than-human world.

Leadership learning through transition has shown me that sometimes the most regenerative choice is stepping away from what we've built to create space for new growth, honoring both what was and what's emerging.

Both/And Leadership: What Teacher-Owned Education Taught Me

What draws me to teacher-owned and teacher-run schools is the belief that those who work directly with children should make decisions about their learning. This requires both individual expertise AND collective wisdom, both personal autonomy AND shared accountability.

At Mycelium Cooperative, both/and thinking also described as shapes everything from daily programming to organizational structure:

• Individual development AND collective justice: Honoring each learner's authentic interests while building capacity for inclusive, anti-racist community

• Structure AND flexibility: Maintaining small group ratios (typically 1:6 or less) and trained facilitation while adapting dynamically to weather, natural cycles, and emergent learning opportunities

• Accessibility AND sustainability: Experimenting with Pay What You Can culture while ensuring educators receive living or thriving wages

• Presence AND innovation: Grounding leadership in daily relationships while exploring new possibilities for multigenerational and multilingual family programming.

Networks Over Hierarchies: The Heterarchy Vision

Through years of leadership experience, I've learned that the most transformative education happens through relationships that honor both individual wisdom and collective knowledge-building. This doesn't mean abandoning accountability or expertise—rather, it means creating multiple pathways for leadership, learning, and resource sharing while maintaining clear commitments to what we believe matters most.

Working on Tsėhéstáno (Cheyenne) and Hinono'eino (Arapaho) territory, I'm constantly learning about how educational approaches can either perpetuate or interrupt patterns of disconnection. The heterarchy vision requires examining how power operates in educational spaces while using whatever access we have to create more just, relationship-centered learning opportunities.

The Mycelium Invitation: Staying Open-Hearted Through Change

As I shared with NSC families, one way to learn from difficult transitions is to remain "open hearted, curious, and empathetic to all aspects" while recognizing that every story represents only one perspective.

Mycelium Cooperative emerges from this commitment to both/and thinking—honoring the grief of transition while celebrating what becomes possible when we align our work with our deepest beliefs about education.

This isn't about perfection or having all the answers. It's about creating conditions for the kind of learning that prepares us—children and adults alike—for participating in regenerative communities that give back more than they take, even when that means making difficult decisions about organizational direction.

Like mycelial networks, transformative education spreads through direct relationship, physical presence, and the recognition that individual and collective wellbeing strengthen each other through authentic connection.

Your Invitation to Relationship-Centered Leadership

How might your own leadership approaches—whether in education, community organizing, or family systems—honor both individual needs and collective vision? What becomes possible when we ground decision-making in daily relationships while maintaining commitment to justice and accessibility?

These questions invite us into the kind of contemplative practice necessary for creating learning communities that serve both current participants and future generations, both local ecosystems and global healing.

Change is constant.

Conflict is an inherent part of the human experience

What matters is how we respond and learn from it all.

With deep respect and care.

Many smiles,

Ryan

Cell 801 633-3474

In the spirit of healing and making steps toward reconciliation I acknowledge that the land I live and work on is unceded territory of the Arapaho and Cheyenne.

Go raibh mile maith agat - A thousand thanks in Irish - for being vulnerable and "hugging a cactus" with me.  

Go neiri an bothar leat - An Irish Blessing of “may the road rise to meet you” - I acknowledge our ephemeral and unique existence in this universe traveling a road on this planet together.