A framework for understanding social innovation
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Transcript of A framework for understanding social innovation
A Framework for Social Innovation
Frances WestleySiG@Waterloo
University of WaterlooNovember, 2008
What is social innovation?.
Social innovation is an initiative, product or process which profoundly changes the basic routines, resource and authority flows or beliefs of any social system. Successful social innovations are therefore disruptive and have durability, impact and scale.
The role of:Social Innovation Generation (SiG)SiG@Waterloo
Key messages Social innovation is complex: understanding the
difference between complicated and complex is important in understanding the dynamics of social innovation
Market/diffusion models of social innovation should be complimented by complex system models which see change as discontinuous and focus on cross scale dynamics.
Agency and opportunity are both important. Agency is defined not only by social entrepreneurship but by
institutional entrepreneurship Institutional entrepreneurs tailor strategies to particular
opportunity contexts.
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Santropol Roulant
Eva’s Phoenix
The Working Center
Innovations abound….
modified from Nesta (www.nesta.uk)
How do innovations achieve a broader impact?A marketing
strategy for “routine” change
Hi control -innovation contained in the organization-spread by growth or clonign
Lo control:
Innovation spreads like weeds- advocacy, persuasion and a sense of mvt.
Licensing and franchising - quality assurance and training
Structured, open source methods - sometimes with payment, consultation or technical assistance
Federations or control thru professional networks - helped by evaluation
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Following a Recipe A Rocket to the Moon Raising a Child
Complicated ComplexSimple
Following a Recipe
zThe recipe is essential
zRecipes are tested to assure replicability of later efforts
zNo particular expertise; knowing how to cook increases success
zRecipe notes the quantity and nature of “parts” needed
zRecipes produce standard products
zCertainty of same results every time
Simple
Following a Recipe A Rocket to the Moon
Formulae are critical and necessary
Sending one rocket increases assurance that next will be ok
High level of expertise in many specialized fields + coordination
Separate into parts and then coordinate
Rockets similar in critical ways
High degree of certainty of outcome
Complicated
zThe recipe is essential
zRecipes are tested to assure replicability of later efforts
zNo particular expertise; knowing how to cook increases success
zRecipes produce standard products
zCertainty of same results every time
Simple
Following a Recipe A Rocket to the Moon Raising a Child
Formulae are critical and necessary
Sending one rocket increases assurance that next will be ok
High level of expertise in many specialized fields + coordination
Rockets similar in critical ways
High degree of certainty of outcome
Formulae have only a limited application
Raising one child gives no assurance of success with the next
Expertise can help but is not sufficient; relationships are key
Can’t separate parts from the whole
Every child is unique Uncertainty of outcome
remains
Complicated Complex
zThe recipe is essential
zRecipes are tested to assure replicability of later efforts
zNo particular expertise; knowing how to cook increases success
zRecipes produce standard products
zCertainty of same results every time
Simple
Following a Recipe A Rocket to the Moon Raising a Child
Formulae are critical and necessary
Sending one rocket increases assurance that next will be ok
High level of expertise in many specialized fields + coordination
Separate into parts and then coordinate
Rockets similar in critical ways
High degree of certainty of outcome
Formulae have only a limited application
Raising one child gives no assurance of success with the next
Expertise can help but is not sufficient; relationships are key
Can’t separate parts from the whole
Every child is unique
Uncertainty of outcome remains
Complicated Complex
zThe recipe is essential
zRecipes are tested to assure replicability of later efforts
zNo particular expertise; knowing how to cook increases success
zRecipe notes the quantity and nature of “parts” needed
zRecipes produce standard products
zCertainty of same results every time
Simple
Complicated – “complicare”- folded Verb - to fold
Complex – “complexus” – woven Verb – to embrace or
comprehend a pattern
Stored
ReleasedVariety Sameness
An idea is born
The idea is developed
The idea is launched as a product, process or organization
An “established” innovation
A model for complex and discontinuous change: cross
scale interactions
Social Innovation
Political system Economic system Cultural system Legal system
Social entrepreneur
Institutional entrepreneurs + actor nets
Interorganizational/ intersectoral system
Local/organizational system
What is an institution “A patterned set of behaviors and meanings
which structure social behavior over time” Embedded in our language and our
understandings Embedded in our rules for social behavior;
including in our laws. Embedded in our economy, including resource
distribution
What is the role of the institutional
entrepreneur To change the ideas, discourse, knowledge, social
interactions, resource expenditures, and policies/laws which support environmental destruction to a new pattern which supports a particular innovation.
To work across scales and boundaries and with multiple agents (agent net) in the “institutional field”
Institutional entrepreneurs tune strategies of resource mobilization to different opportunity contexts of
social innovation :
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Designing strategies for cross scale impact when change opportunity is opaque : “ up-down
strategies” Innovation occurs in the community in the context of organizations/coalitions addressing specific issues - where problems are solved in real time
Social innovators/institutional entrepreneurs key role is to: question the strategic context/directions of decision makers in all sectors
at the community level and beyond. frame (explain) the context for community identify key innovations at the community level (those most pertinent to
the strategies) sell these to the key strategic decision makers (finding the right moment
to introduce the key innovation)
@Westley, SiG, University of Waterloo
National communications strategy -tell the story
Political
C1
C2C3
Senate commission: report and media attention
Legal
Identification of
system pathologies
and promising innovations
“First response” strategy
Committees
PR
Seed innovations
Institutional entrepreneurs+ actor net
Example 1: A movement for Mental Health….
.
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Example 2 :Saving Endangered Species
Interpersonal and knowledge management competencies required
Interpersonal Convening Conflict
management Facilitation
Knowledge management Creating a common
vision Enhancing
sensemaking
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Example 3. Plan Canada and the RDSP
“Every innovation has two parts: the first is the invention of the thing itself; the second is the preparation of expectations so that when the invention arrives it seems both surprising and familiar -something long awaited” Edwin Land
The social innovators +
The institutional entrepreneurs
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Interpersonal and Knowledge skills
required Building social capital
and mobilizing it in support of novelty
Building intellectual/cultural capital and mobilizing it in support
Building financial capital and mobilizing it in support
Recognizing and championing innovative idea
Connecting the idea to “windows of opportunity” at multiple scales
System understanding and emerging pattern recognition
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Example 4: The Great Bear Rain Forest
courtesy of Darcy Riddell
Social-Ecological Significance
25% of world’s Coastal Temperate Rainforest
Richest bio-mass on earth 100+ pristine valleys (none in US) 20%+ of the world’s wild salmon Spirit
bears, wolves, grizzlies Cultural, economic and social significance:
competing claims
adapted from Darcy Riddell
Competing Claims
Activists, logging companies, researchers, First Nations, Government….all laid claim1990s: widespread Land Use Plans
From mid-1980s-mid-1990s -conflict and blockades in Clayoquot Sound: mass arrests raise the stakes
courtesy of Darcy Riddell
Final Agreements Permanent protection – 5 million acres New parks - 3.3 million acres Previous parks - 1 million acres New no-logging zones - 736,000 acres EBM – 21 million acres $35 million mitigation package for forest workers $120 Million for conservation economy First Nations approve all plans International Marketplace shift Model used in Chile, Boreal, USA
courtesy of Darcy Riddell
Facing the Shadow Forest workers: “capuccino-sucking urban enviros” First Nations: “eco-colonialists” Forest Companies: “they are trying to destroy us
and the province we care about” and dueling scientists
Government: “irresponsible” and “enemies of BC” Other environmentalists: “corporate sell-outs”Grains of truth= “breathe”
In sum….the process of transformation:
International level - inside out strategy - using global market resources to reframe provincial “playing field”
Fertile ground fo innovation
Negotiation level =Change in stance: Owning the shadow of environmentalism – solutions space
The essence of an innovation
A change in meaning - “branding” The Great Bear Rain Forest “reframing” from the “war in the woods” to a generative
collaboration New patterns of resource flows
social financing and the conservation economy New relationships and practices
An experience of integration Different logging technologies become viable; different
networks for product distribution
Continues to stimulate Market demands for “Ancient Forest
Friendly” papers Additional innovations: the
“conservation economy” takes hold New forms of social financing - Coastal
Opportunities funds, First Nations forestry companies
Interpersonal and knowledge skills
needed Building coalitions Managing conflict Securing capital for
a focused momentum
Building vertical commitments
Social Marketing Bridging
perspectives and kinds of knowledge
Owning the shadow
Summary To understand social innovation demands a complexity
perspective To understand how social inventions have a broad
impact, marketing models can only tell part of the story Cross-scale dynamics are key and institutional
entrepreneurs + actor nets are as important for impact as are social entrepreneurs.
Institutional entrepreneurs draw on a range of transactional and translational skills and competencies to manage different phases of social innovation for greater impact.
“Farmers don’t grow crops. They create the conditions for crops to
grow.” - Gareth Morgan