Many global challenges are obviously too big and too complex for any one organization to address on its own.  In some cases, these challenges can not be addressed even by the collective efforts of organizations from a single sector of society (business, government, or civil society). These types of problems require a span of competencies and resources that can be obtained only from a broad combination of actors from the different sectors, or multi-stakeholder action networks. These types of cross-sector initiatives can produce amazing innovation in response to seemingly intractable problems.

Because multi-stakehoder action networks can be challenging to develop and sustain, iScale develops, tests and promotes innovative organizational practices to address these complications.

In particular, iScale works closely to foster and support Global Action Networks (GANs), a specific type of multi-stakeholder network that offers a unique combination of five strategic qualities. 

A GAN's strategy:

1. is global
2. focuses on issues of common public interest (not profit-seeking).
3. develops interdisciplinary action-learning with real-time experiments to address novel and enduring challenges
4. creates a diverse network of organizations of stakeholders in their issue
5. generates systemic change by creating cross-sectoral (business-government-civil society) actions

GANs contrast with traditional approaches to global challenges and opportunities that focused upon national and intergovernmental organizations. Over the past few decades, as the pace of globalization has increased and environmental issues have grown, the limits of the nation-state have become increasingly apparent. Substantial disparities in wealth and seemingly intractable poverty in large regions, global health threats, pollution of the seas, and the growing pace of climate change are only a few examples of issues that are propelling the development of Global Action Networks. They organize around a particular issue and include Transparency International, the Forest Stewardship Council, the Microcredit Summit Campaign, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Global Water Partnership and the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict.

Through its program for GANs, iScale supports an association of GANs called the Network of Global Action Networks (GAN-Net). GAN-Net brings together people working in GANs and experts to share knowledge and address challenges to the development of GANs.

For GANs to become highly effective and realize their potential, they must develop new knowledge and capacity in eight "competencies":

1. Leadership: Network leadership contrasts sharply with traditional organizational leadership - it is leadership of influence, of carrots, of support and nurturing. We need to develop a new generation of leaders for the GANs.
2. Strategy-Structure-Governance: GANs are defined by their multi-stakeholder, global, global, interorganizational, systemic change, learning strategy. How to best organize these qualities globally, respecting transparency, accountability and participation is a complex challenge. 
3. Measuring Impact: Traditional linear models of "act-impact" are inappropriate in the complex world of GANs. New methodologies must be developed to measure the contribution of GANs to the change goal, identify action priorities, and guide managerial action.
4. Generative Change: GANs must be experts at creating global transformation (in addition to scaling up and reform), engage tens of millions in the change processes, and sustain the change effort for the time necessary to realize the change goals.
5. Communications: Global conversations using leading social media technologies are critical to create common understanding and action to address global issues.
6. Knowledge and Learning: GANs must be experts at developing new knowledge and embedding it throughout the world as rapidly as possible.
7. Policy & Advocacy: GANs aim to influence a broad operating environment. They must be experts at developing policy, and ensuring its adoption and implementation.
8. Resource Mobilization: GANs must draw from taxes, revenue-generation and donations to finance themselves. This requires educating about GANs role and creating a new global economic model to realize the scale that is necessary.

Just as it is important to recognize these GAN competencies, it is also critical to recognize that GANs are dynamic institutions that all tend to pass through four development stages. These development stages are depicted in the life-cycle illustration below. It is important to note that this is, of course, a simplified model, and GANs do not have to and generally do not pass through these development stages perfectly sequentially. Instead as an idealized typology, this model represents a generalized pattern of development for GANs, and different GANs can present characteristics from these different development stages at different times. What is important is to understand the inter-relationship among the various dynamics of each of these stages and the overall GAN life-cycle.

iScale encourages participants in GANs to attempt to carefully understand the life-cycle of the GAN they are developing. By identifying and addressing critical tasks that must be accomplished at each stage of development, GAN participants can more easily realize the subsequent stages of development of their global action network and their collective efforts to advance the progress to which they aspire.