When social innovation is a matter of life and death
But does it scale? What if scalability, instead of being assessed in terms of ‘financial growth potential’, has to be measured in terms of ‘social impact’?
In the not-for-profit world, ‘failure to scale’ has implications far beyond the disillusionment of VC investors or the bankruptcy of startup founders: countless lives can be lost. This video gives penetrating insights, not just into how new ideas are being applied to old problems, but also how to make sure that these innovations reach the largest possible number of beneficiaries.
This session was held at the Columbia Business School Social Enterprise Conference 2010 held on October the 8th at Columbia University, in New York City. The session was called: Consulting for Growth: Scaling Social Innovation. Here’s the description:
As nonprofit organizations and NGOs organize for the future, they are faced with choices both internal to their missions and in response to external changes in a changing economy. Using live “mini-cases”, we will explore these difficulties and will hear from individuals working in nonprofits and the consultants that are tasked with supporting their missions for change.
What effective strategies have innovative organizations used to scale up? What tensions arise between serving constituencies core to the organization’s mission and finding sustainable revenue models? How can consultants use their knowledge of other organizations, businesses and industries to help create individualized and effective strategies for their clients?
Moderator: Jeff Chu, Editor, Fast Company. Speakers: Sivan McLetchie, Manager, Bridgespan. Saul Kornik, Chief, Africa Health Placements. Violetta Ostafin, Principal, The Boston Consulting Group. Ken Berger, President and CEO, Charity Navigator.
One thing that still remains core as a catalyst for effective change is voice of constituents. The voice of the constituent as a member of the executive process is still missing. Although it might not seem as if these individuals understand the complex ‘models’ or dynamics associated with funding, social process and quantifiables and measurables, because they are in need of services, they are the reason why the organizations exist. When the organization works to include the constituency in the decision making process and educate them about the dynamics of organizational development and strategic planning, the organization will be more effective.
This is not an easy task. It will take a Herculean effort on the part of the professionally educated expert to accept the reality that sometimes the patient knows better than the doctor what the best medicine is for the illness. They might not know how to access it however sometimes they have already figured it out but nobody hears them. In the same sense when they develop a baseline understanding of the change process and learn the importance of collaboratives change is possible.