The School for Social Entrepreneurs

Concept and practice: Charlie Leadbeater and Peter Holbrook

I'm never at my finest on Mondays, but today was a really stimulating and interesting one which revolved around two very different individuals: one more conceptual, and one very practical. [apologies for length of post]

First up was Charlie Leadbeater at the Hub for breakfast (two coffees necessary before I could form sentences, needless to say), talking about the ideas and issues which inform and underly his book, We-Think. Leadbeater has been an innovator and ideas pioneer for many years (in 1997, for example, he wrote 'The Rise of the Social Entrepreneur' at the same time as the SSE was being founded). We-Think is about the rise of mass, creative collaboration, and how this is changing society, employment, and traditional systems.

Some interesting tidbits I took from his talk this morning were the five themes in the book:

- the move from marginal to mainstream can happen much more quickly these days
- creativity is a social and collaborative process
- the world is cloud / swamp-like; organisations are box-like....
- a different approach to ownership and control is emerging (sharing animates the economy....)
- these are old systems re-emerging in new incarnations (peer-to-peer, the commons etc.)

He also posed two key questions about this movement: How do you make money from it? (the financial q) and Can we be trusted with this stuff? (the political q). The discussion was interesting, particularly for me around how to make best use of a distinctive piece of intellectual property (don't keep it in a darkened room...think counter-intuitively), about  the importance of relationships (could we see SSE through a lens of creating relationships that motivate, support, trade and inspire?) and the three principles of (self) governance in this area, which again seemed very much related to what we do:

- the need for these connected networked communities to have leadership that leads by values/purpose and tends to come from within that community
- the community needs motivation to contribute and left options to decide why and how they will do so
- peer-to-peer becomes much more important for accountability, review, resources, credibility and so on

Much food for thought.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was then straight off, via a swift clear-up of my desk (we've moved around in the office), to visit Sunlight Development Trust in Gillingham. Peter Holbrook, who founded the trust (the building was an old Sunlight laundry factory that they got the funding to renovate), is a social enterprise ambassador, and it's been a pleasure to meet and work with him on that programme.

Sunlight is an inspiring place, and is growing really fast: a network of cafes is stretching through the Medway Towns in Kent, and, most recently, they won the contract to provide all the catering in the new Medway Council building: so there is a social enterprise serving up all the lunches, coffees etc in the heart of the local authority. The original Gillingham site is also piloting a range of other initiatives, including a music studio, a radio station, parenting workshops, community gardening and so on.....

It's hugely impressive and a good kick up the arse for those who become occasionally jaded and cynical (this is my arse I'm kicking) about what these types of organisation can achieve. Whilst Peter and I agree that it is about the people, leadership, quality of service, transparency of operation etc that brings success, the CIC model clearly has brought Sunlight benefits; with freer governance, but also the badging / recognition that it brings.

Peter himself is one of those genuinely inspiring blokes; not only because of his energy and enthusiasm, but also because he is fired up and passionate about Sunlight being the best it can be, and about making a difference in what is a hard, tough business. It is a professional outfit, but also remains passionate and personal(ised)...which is a great achievement. Though he made me feel like he'd done more that morning than I had done in the past two weeks, I left inspired: take the concepts and thoughts, and start to deliver.

Charlie Leadbeater referred to a headteacher friend of his who labelled himself a 'pragmatopian', in that he had kept his utopian ideal of the power of education, but had had to do inspite of (and weaving through) the national curriculum, Keystages, league tables etc. It's a horrible neologism, but I think Peter is one too: pragmatic and entrepreneurial, but with values written through everything he does.

Your Chance to Change the World launch

Just a brief note to say that I attended the launch of Craig Dearden-Phillips' book, Your Chance to Change the World this lunchtime. In proper disclaimer fashion, I should say that SSE is formally endorsing the book as a good and practical guide for social entrepreneurs, particularly for those in the early stages. [SSE Fellows reading this: contact me for a negotiated discount!]

The reason we agreed to support the book is that, like SSE programmes (which are the antithesis of classroom-textbook-teacher approach), it is practitioner-led and peer-led, not just in terms of being authored by a person who walks the walk (Craig founded Speaking Up and has seen it through a fair rollercoaster ride to its current position), but also in terms of containing nuggets of advice and experience from other social entrepreneurs (including SSE Fellows Luljeta Nuzi, Roger Wilson-Hinds and Simon Fenton-Jones).

Simon was at the launch, along with more recent SSE Fellows Tokunbo Ajasa-Oluwa and Cerdic Hall, SSE champion / friend David Gold, and former SSE Director of Learning Matthew Thomson (now at LCRN). As that reunion went on in one corner, my eyes scanned the room, and it was a good turnout: Phil Hope said a few words after Craig and Debra Allcock Tyler (DSC's CEO), and there was good government representation from OTS, DCFS and others; + sector-heads Owen Jarvis (from Aspire UK), Bergin O'Malley (from SEC Ambassadors) etc....

All good stuff, and we wish DSC and Craig all the best with the book: Craig is a really good, and talented guy, and it's nice to see someone nice have their day (and his mum looked chuffed too ;0).

Friday round-up: Coin St, Clinton, Camberwell, Collaboration

SSE is still recovering from its residential in Devon which was a great success. Write-up/report to follow soon. Though here are a few photos that give a snapshot (click to enlarge):

So at least you know why we're tired....anyway, the traditional Friday round-up:

- Social Entrepreneur Show going on in Olympia today and tomorrow. Part of Business Start-Up show that's run for quite a few years....

- Whilst we were in Dartington, CAN had their Scaling Up event. Third Sector reports on some of the findings, namely that the supported organisations' turnover increased 20% in two years, with social impact increasing 40% (presumbaly with a wider range of measures..). I was interested by this as well: "A CAN spokeswoman said Permira had received no return on its investment of £690,000 because, in CAN’s view, the social enterprise sector is “not yet ready to give market-rate returns”."

- Coin Street in the news with their ambitious South Bank plans....

- For all those who say the hype is out of control, check this report in the New York Sun: "A Bush-Clinton idea". The idea? Social entrepreneurship....Look forward to seeing George and Bill on our next programme.

- Chris Hill at Camberwell Project makes some good points in this article from the Yorkshire Post re. enterprise and deprivation.

- Interesting article in New York Times on the "right" places to learn entrepreneurship, which basically goes through lots of university-based courses. Then there's a link to a different view, an article by George Gendron, who says "kids with passion are our next entrepreneurs", and that entrepreneurial life skills are needed by all...

- In the world where social networking meets non-profits, no-one understands/connects more than Beth Kanter: thoughts on Google Open Social et al in this post

- Also via Beth, Forces For Good: the Six Practices of High Impact Non-Profits is a new book out in the US. Read the authors' essay on Stanford Social Innovation Review site: Creating High-Impact Non-Profits
The 6 practices, FYI, are:

• serve and advocate (delivery not enough: policy to achieve big change)
• make markets work (tap into self-interest / capitalism)
• inspire evangelists (strong communities of supporters / emotional connections / involvement)
• nurture non-profit networks (collaboration rather than competition)
• master the art of adaptation (combining innovation, execution and learning)
• share leadership (distribute amongst organisation / team)

Job done.

- Acumen Fund have a blog which occasionally has interesting gems. This post about Melinda Gates aiming to eradicate malaria is worth a read. I particularly enjoyed the following comment: "the experts are often expert in what has been, not what could be."

Cheers.

20 questions: advice for social entrepreneurs

Craig Dearden Phillips, CEO of Speaking Up and general all-round wunderkind, is not content with running a leading social enterprise and winning awards..., so is also writing a book to be out later this year. As part of the writing process, Craig has contacted lots of social entrepreneurs / people who work in the field and asked them to answer the following 20 questions. I thought I'd post up my answers (please note that Craig asked for brevity, hence the one-line responses):

1. Why did you take the plunge and set up on your own?
[answering for previous org I used to run]. Exciting, own boss, lots of different areas, challenging.

2. What are the best and worse things about doing what you’ve done?
Best is seeing people thrive and succeed. Worst is seeing organisations doing good work fail for eminently avoidable reasons.

3. What is your one golden nugget of business advice for people during their first year of their new venture?
Focus and communicate. Focus on the next action that moves you along the road to where you want to get to each time. And communicate that journey as honestly and positively to as many (relevant) people as possible.

4. How do you cope with setbacks?
Generally, with humour (defence mechanism!)

5. How do you get funders or investors interested in your organisation?
By bringing them in to see what we do, and building relationships.

6. Is there anything you'd advise new social entrepreneurs NOT to do?
Be late for meetings with funders / stakeholders.

7. How has your role changed as the business has grown?
Widened into more areas + more responsibility

8. What have been the challenges of scaling up your business?
Franchising SSE has been tough, but rewarding. Biggest challenge for scaling up (which we've seen in students/Fellows as well) is communicating the ethos and culture, which is much more difficult to codify and write down than simply 'what you do'.

9. How do you maintain energy during the hard times?
Coffee.

10. How do you go about finding the right people and keeping them motivated?
Spotting them some time before, and (again) building relationships. Keeping them is through an open work environment, and culture of honesty and trust.

11. Who inspires you ?
SSE students.

12. What are the key qualities in a successful social entrepreneur?
Vision, passion, persistence, pragmatism, relationship-building, self-awareness.

13. What do you look for in people who work for your ventures?
See above!

14. What do you think is the most effective way to lead a new organization?
Getting people to buy into a shared vision/ strategy, and inspiring them to do so, as well as putting in the hard graft.

15. What do you think people need to think about most when they are starting up?
Governance - legal structure - funding / investment. (All interlinked). + "Do I really want to do this?"

16. How have you gone about building a reputation?
Primarily, through consistency of message and behaviour.

17. How do you go about planning for the future?
Strategic planning, awareness of staff / recruitment issues, discussions with board etc.

18. How do you balance your social and financial goals?
Through measurement and evaluation, and debate and scrutiny internally on key decisions.

19. How do you know when its time to move on from a venture?
When you are bored of it (and vice versa).

20. What was your biggest mistake?
Ever agreeing to be part of a three-person leadership team!

Your Ethical Business + SSE

When we were undergoing our re-branding (the final part of which, the website, will be coming soon), we did discuss whether we should change our name. Why? Because people get misled by the word 'School', and assume we are an academic institution delivering taught content/programmes. When, as anyone who knows us will tell you, our focus is on action learning and personal support: learning by doing, and gaining confidence and self-esteem, as well as business skills and knowledge, to achieve personal and project development. But some people don't get past the word 'School'....

Anyway, as you will have noticed, we never got that far down the line of a name change, given the track record of the organisation, its reputation, and so forth (the agency who suggested the name 'Spark' will remain nameless; although if we ever diversify into soap powder, we may revisit). One of my former colleagues, Matthew Thomson (now at the London Community Recycling Network), suggested cunningly that we should change it from School FOR Social Entrepreneurs to School OF Social Entrepreneurs, making 'school' the collective noun for social entrepreneurs, like...er...whales. And making clear that we are representative as well as service-driven.

Why am I burbling on about all this? Because I was asked to give feedback about a new book, Your Ethical Business, which is being launched in March. It aims to be "a 'how to'  handbook covering everything you need to know about starting and succeeding in an ethical enterprise" and it's pretty good: clear, coherent, and covering all the main areas. But, as you may have already guessed from the above, we are mentioned only as delivering 'academic programmes' and bracketed with accredited university courses, rather than listed as a deliver of business support in the (otherwise very good) resources directory. Very frustrating and, given that all our literature/website makes clear that our ethos/aproach is the exact OPPOSITE of an academic programme, I can only assume it is because we are called 'School'.

Rant over. The book is a good introduction to the field, and worth adding to your reference library, although it does make out that it's all rather easier than is really the case. I would have put a few more lines in about the need for personal support, support networks, work-life balance and so forth which we have seen emerge as key issues for social entrepreneurs over the years. The only other comment I would give is that, as someone said to me recently, entrepreneurs (of all types) have a drive and spirit that can't be gained from a book and, if they're a true entrepreneur, they probably won't have time to read it anyway.....

We-think throws its pages open

Charles Leadbeater, author of the Rise of the Social Entrepreneur and other myriad texts of interest, is publishing an interesting new book, entitled We-Think, next year. It seems to be bringing together various strands from his recent work into a coherent whole, particularly the Pro-Am Revolution stuff he did with Paul Miller at Demos.

To get a sense of what the book is about, here's the introduction which bears a long quotation...:

"The basic argument is very simple. Most creativity is collaborative. It combines different views, disciplines and insights in new ways. The opportunities for creative collaboration are expanding the whole time. The number of people who could be participants in these creative conversations is going up largely thanks to the communications technologies that now give voice to many more people and make it easier for them to connect. As a result we are developing new ways to be innovative and creative at mass scale. We can be organised without having an organisation. People can combine their ideas and skills without a hierarchy to coordinate their activities. Many of the ingredients of these forms of self-organised creative collaboration are not new - peer review for example has been around a long time in academia. But what is striking about Wikipedia, Linux, Second Life, Youtube and many more is the way they take familiar ingredients and combine them to allow people to collaborate creatively at mass scale.

The guiding ethos of this new culture and forms of self-organisation is participation. The point of the industrial era economy, was mass production for mass consumption, the formula created by Henry Ford. In the world of We-think, the point is to take part, to be a player in the action, to have a voice in the conversation. And in a participation economy people want not services and goods, delivered to them, but tools so they can take part and places in which they can play, share, debate with others. Workers could be instructed, organised in a division of labour. Participants will not be lead and organised in this way.

The people who take part in these collaboratives are neither workers nor consumers. They are participants and contributors. If the 20th century marked the rise of mass consumerism, one feature of the 21st century will be the rise of the mass participation economy: innovation by the masses not for the masses. Innovation and creativity have been elite activities, undertaken by special people - writers, designers, architects, inventors - in special places - garrets, studies, laboratories. Now innovation and creativity are becoming mass activities, dispersed across society. We-think is an effort to understand this new culture, where these new ways of organising ourselves have come from and where they might lead. They started, as most radical and disruptive innovation do, in the margins, in open source, blogging and gaming. But they will increasingly become the mainstream by challenging traditional, hierarchical, top down and closed organisations to open up. They could change not just the way that the media, software and entertainment works but also the way we organise education, health care, cities and indeed the political system."

Which all looks and sounds very interesting. And in the spirit of creative collaboration, Leadbeater is making the book open to read, comment on and print out. Of particular interest to the social entrepreneur will be the sections on Open Work and Open Leadership; you get a taste of the latter from a recent article entitled  "Jimmy Wales, not Jack Welch" (pdf...)

[via Designing for Civil Society, via the Open Blog etc....]