The School for Social Entrepreneurs

Passion is important for social entrepreneurs, but what sort of passion?

One of the things people talk about social entrepreneurs needing is passion. Although it's never entirely clear what is meant by that: something to do with being able to see it through the hard times (can't give it up because you feel so strongly about it), something to do with how you communicate what you do (and why it's needed), something about it coming from personal experience (sometimes), something about loving it....etc.etc

Stanford Social Innovation Review points to a forthcoming research article about understanding 'passion' a bit more in the entrepreneurial context. It differentiates between 'affective' passion (surface passion: facial expressions, gestures, tone of voice), 'cognitive passion' (revealed in your preparation, thoughtfulness, logic etc) and 'behavioral passion' (how have you demonstrated your commitment: investing own money, time; taken personal risk / responsibility etc). Their take on it is that 'affective passion' is not particularly successful at attracting funding and investment or gaining support. Rather it is the 'cognitive' and 'behavioral' passions which are more likely to do so.

Now the cynics may say that this is just a jazzy way of saying: you should really do your preparation and analysis and/or (in the case of the behavioral stuff) we want to see your commitment demonstrated. But I think there's something interesting here for social entrepreneurs, in that passion is not just about rousing, inspiring speeches...or moving people with the intensity of their story. It's also about turning up on time to meetings, preparing thoroughly, consistent commitment, being rigorous in approach to measurement and analysis, and so on. Indeed, for many, these are things they find difficult, so will only do if they are really passionate (in all the above meanings) about the organisation they are establishing and leading.

Benjamin Franklin said that "If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins"; what this research might say in addition, is that passion can be shown through rational thought and actions, not just emotional ones.

Interns, enterns and the ripple effect

One side-effect of the recession / rising unemployment might potentially be a rise in the number of graduates seeking work experience, as fewer will be going straight into work. Whether this begins to correspond to a rise in internships at different organisations will be interesting to see. Interns have been on my mind of late, since Jamie Veitch's excellent blog post over at New Start: "Interns: make tea for free, get a job (maybe)". The crux of his argument is as follows:

"It always struck me as ironic that an organisation devoted to social inclusion should perpetuate a system whereby only those with the means to work for free could gain the experience they needed to get a proper job in the sector."

I would pretty much agree with this. From an organisational point of view, though, as I commented on the post, the flipside is that if you hold rigorously to this value set (around social inclusion) you can actually lose out on fresh thinking, additional capacity etc etc. in comparison with other agencies in the field.For an organisation like SSE, with a core staff team of around 10, one person can make a substantial impact. The person who's set up the interesting Enternships site (Rajeeb Dey) clearly agrees.

We've dipped our toe in the water, as regular readers of the blog will know, with an intern-ing relationship with a college in Minnesota, St Olaf....particularly with their Center for Experiential Learning, because it shared a focus on action learning, entrepreneurship and social innovation. For the last two Januarys, we've had an intern from St Olaf (Thor and then Hannah), and I think it's been a mutually beneficial experience in terms of learning, contribution to SSE, and development (on both sides). Both utilised the university's travel fund to make it happen.

As the person managing them internally, it's been great to maintain the relationship afterwards and to continue conversations about where they are heading job and career-wise. Both have influenced the development of things back at St Olaf, and also kept in contact throughout. Thor is coming back to work for us this summer for 3 months (and we're paying him this time...), whilst Hannah is applying to work with a large US non-profit financial institution, Thrivent Financial. Both of which I'm delighted about, and happy to support with references or advice or whatever.

Are we helping perpetuate disadvantage by taking internships in this way? I don't think we are in this case, and there is also the broader point that, as Matt Stevenson-Dodd has written recently, this movement also needs to attract the high educational achievers. But we similarly can't be complacent about using processes that reinforce advantage and inequality. Perhaps there is room for a supported internship scheme, or sponsored internship bursaries, in this sector to ensure that doesn't happen.

Action-Learning

This week I had the opportunity to sit in on one of the workshops with the SSE students. It was a great way to gain some insight into how SSE’s model works in action. As children we are generally encouraged to answer our own questions by experiencing something for ourselves. The SSE workshops encourage students to answer their own questions by experiencing something for themselves. By taking the time to question and reflect we can intentionally change our behavior and recreate our reality.

 

Similar to the approach taken at the Center for Experiential Learning at St. Olaf, action learning is not just about learning by doing: you must reflect on that experience in order to identify exactly what it is you have learned, internalize the lessons and devise action plans so you can take effective action in the future in a new situation, however similar or different. Through practice, SSE students learn the ability to ask the right questions at the right time and take action when necessary.

 

One of the interesting consequences of action learning is that learning starts with not knowing. We only become open to learning when we admit what we don’t know. There are no experts in these situations, and therefore there may also not be any right answers. What is important to note is that in situations where there are no right answers, it is important to act in order to learn. This ability to act (or be prone to action) is a fundamental quality of an entrepreneur. In an action-learning setting, learning takes place by posing useful and discriminating questions in conditions of uncertainty. Learning is about trying out unfamiliar ideas, and involves risk and taking actions which might not work out.

 

Economic downturn: diamond in the rough? New opportunities for change

It has been a busy first two weeks for me here at SSE. The staff members here at the school are all very dynamic individuals, each with much to add to the conversation surrounding social entrepreneurs. One of the interesting conversations I’ve picked up on here, is one about the challenge of finding funding for small to mid-size non-profit organizations. With the recent credit crunch, there will inevitably be cut backs in government spending, and the endowments of various foundations and investment trusts have already begun to subside. Many people suggest that the private sector should pick up the slack, but corporation’s are experiencing their own economic hardships, and are not likely to increase their financial support to the sector anytime soon. Meanwhile the competition among various non-profits for the available funding is ever increasing. There is constant pressure to reinvent ideas so that they appear fresh and new. This proposes a demanding, however potentially extraordinarily stimulating environment for the avid social entrepreneur.

Nearly everyone is looking to make ends meet, and non-profits are no exception. In the past decade, the solution to lack of funding resources in the non-profit sector has seen a move towards being socially enterprising. Social enterprises aim to construct alternative methods for generating revenue to support mission-based programs. A regressing economy ushers in increasing social tension and disparities. Higher unemployment rates cause individuals to seek self-employment or reinvent their careers in order to regain control of remaining resources.

People tend to take fewer risks and become less creative when the commercial sector undergoes rampant downsizing and reorganizing. Creativity requires trial and error, and no one knows what happens to those who experiment with a new approach and then fail. It takes a real leap of faith to become a test case. The irony here is that this tendency to avoid risk comes just at a time when creativity is most needed in the workplace. However, fortunately, challenging and dodgy conditions are often the type of circumstances in which entrepreneurs thrive. When times are tough, people are more willing to find deals, strike partnerships, or work towards new negotiations.

It seems as though in the current climate, attitude is everything. An optimistic outlook will likely open more doors and sustain enterprises much longer than a negative narrative. Defining oneself as an entrepreneur can take time and involves gradual building of confidence. However once someone begins to see the positive outcomes of their actions or innovative solutions, they begin to feel more passionate about identifying themselves as a social entrepreneur. Perhaps the changing economic environment will create entrepreneurs out of some individuals who may have never considered dreaming up and testing out their own solutions to persistent problems. In his 2007 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Al Gore pointed out that in Chinese and Japanese, the word “crisis” is written with two symbols. The first symbol stands for “danger,” and the second stands for “opportunity.”  A new premium has been placed on vision and strategic planning instead of short-term financial risk taking. Ultimately this type of constructive thinking will benefit everyone, even as some will suffer now.

Made To Stick: why some ideas take hold

Back in the summer, my role switched to Policy and Communications Director here at the School for Social Entrepreneurs, which has meant a) that this blog is now officially part of my role and b) I've been reading about communications....in the form, most recently, of Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. It's a book all about what makes some ideas 'stick' (i.e. memorable) and, ultimately, about how to communicate ideas effectively. Inevitably they have an idea to help make their ideas about ideas memorable...if you see what I mean:

Simple

Unexpected
Credible
Concrete
                            Emotional
                        Stories

You'll note the (near) SUCCES(S) acronym. And it is successful, because I finished the book a couple of weeks ago and have just done that from memory. That boiling down into 6 words gives you the essence of the essence, but there's much more in the book to enjoy, and there's much that lies behind those six words. Particularly relevant to me, given that I head up our evaluation and impact work, was the aspects of how you can use statistics to create credibility...and keep it interesting. For, as the Heaths put it, "Statistics tend to be eye-glazing. How can we use them while still managing to engage our audience?"

No set answer, but different ways of expressing them, through analogies and stories, seems one method (which is presumably why journalists measure things in numbers of double-decker buses and multiplications of the size of Wales).

In the Emotional chapter, there's some interesting research for those seeking direct donations on why people give. And how stories are better than statistics (and better, in many cases, than a combination of stories and statistics) for making an emotional connection that engages. It's interesting to consider, in the context of the rise of philanthropy brokerage, how people who are primed to feel are much more likely to give than people who are primed to calculate. Of course, it's about tailoring to your audience (the geek donors love those metrics, presumably), but the fact that being analytical "hinders our ability to feel" stayed with me.

Most of all, though, I will take away much from the chapter about Stories. Particularly, stories as a means of making people act (while a credible idea makes people believe, and an emotional idea makes them care, stories can inspire and simulate...and lead to action), which is really at the heart of SSE's practitioner- and peer-led methodology. At times, I felt the Heath brothers were writing our material about why we use expert witnesses: "The story's power, then, is twofold: it provides simulation (knowledge about how to act) and inspiration (motivation to act). Note that both benefits, simulation and inspiration, are geared to generating action". Which is something to quote when we get asked why we don't use teachers and modules, and why the students have to have a project they are working on (so they can act!).

There's much here to ponder, and to push you towards action in your own communication...  "Stories are like flight simulators for the brain", "Avoid the curse of knowledge", "If all the stars in the Milky Way were grains of salt they would fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool" and so on. Some might seem obvious, but the book frames this stuff really well and, as you'd hope, communicates it effectively. It's been on my shelf for a while, but will now be transferring to the office shelf, which is high praise....

The Hub: a great space for social entrepreneurs

So SSE attended the launch of the Hub's new building in King's Cross last night, which was great. As you can see from the website photos, the building's a really beautiful open space (from floor to ceiling), and has a great vibe to it. It's intended to be different from the first Hub: less hot-desking / shared office, and more event, bar, cafe, meetings type of space. And, arguably, more aspirational and ambitious in feel.

Which fitted well with founder Jonathan Robinson's address, which focused on the possibilities for social innovation, social business and social entrepreneurship that are opening up as a result of what he called "system failure" in the commercial world. I'm a born cynic to Jonathan's idealist, but it was inspiring to hear him speak with such passion and purpose. Particularly, as I remember working with him in the pre-Hub days, and remember visiting it when the floor was being sanded down......to see the development since then is amazing, and I know that SSE will be keen to use the space, informally and formally. And the next Hub, and the one after that. Indeed, I may be heading out to Canada soon, and intend to meet up with the people from the Toronto version (the Center for Social Innovation, aka CSI).

A big congratulations to Jonathan and his team, and a big hello to all those I was chatting to last night (including Nick Aldridge, whose name label ingeniously just read 'CEO': there's a man unafraid of responsibility above and beyond MissionFish; Richard (Alderson) and Pooja, who run UnLtd India and Careershifters; Alex Bellinger from SmallBizPod; Jason and Dave from SE2; Ceri from SEC et al).

Monday round-up: capitalism, Cumbria, kilts, confusion

OK, so this was meant to be a Friday round-up, but Capacitybuilders expressions of interest defeated me. And what a sunny weekend it was, unless you work at a bank / building society, or use one....or prefer watching telly.

- And starting on that subject, after my contributions, a cavalcade of apocalyptic now-is-the-chance-for-social-enterprise-in-this-time-of-capitalist-collapse articles and posts from the social entrepreneur blogerati: Craig Dearden-Phillips, Rob Greenland and Rod Schwartz; would love to hear your views on whether this is challenge / opportunity....

- In connected (ish) news, the European Venture Philanthropy Association had its fourth conference in Frankfurt last week. Philanthropy UK's report included a call for philanthropists to "keep the faith", and the interesting comment that "In the current economic climate venture philanthropists may need to help charities merely to survive rather than to grow or replicate"

- ECT update news from TheLawyer.com (a first for this blog) from the law firm who helped dispose of its various subsidiaries, after what they call a "disastrous diversification". Ouch

- Can the effectiveness of third sector organisations be measured and compared? It's an old chestnut, but that doesn't mean people will stop trying to crack it....see Intelligent Giving's take on a new US initiative, the excitingly-monickered Portfolio Data Management System.

- Social Enterprise Ambassador news: Daniel Heery of Cybermoor fame is also heavily involved in using technology to improve healthcare in Cumbria with some really innovative practice. See this piece on Alston Healthcare

-  Every blog in the world is covering this, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't: Google's 10 to the 100th, a call for ideas to change the world

- Social Enterprise Magazine, currently mid-refurbishment at their new offices, have a good overview of the goings-on at the Social Enterprise World Forum in Edinburgh a couple of weeks back; with only a couple of mentions of kilts.

- Co-operatives UK have released a new publication on community investment by sector expert Jim Brown; it is, the blurb tells us, "The most comprehensive guide to undertaking community share issues to date"

- FOOTSEY no. 7 is taking place in Yorkshire this October 16th. Promises to be the biggest ever and, based on last year's event, I'd say it's well worth a visit. Unfortunately, it coincides with SSE's residential, but I'd encourage all those in the area (and outside) to attend.

- How is social enterprise like a mammoth with no memory? Because it's "woolly and confused", of course, according to the sector press' take on the OTS research I reported on previously. There may be momentum building behind the South West's Social Enterprise Mark....though SEC has started its own identity project. No mammoths involved as yet.

- And finally, following Alex Bellinger of SmallBizPod calling Shine 08 "one of the best entrepreneurship conferences I've been to all year" and exhorting people to attend Shine 09 (now being planned), there are also some more photos and videos emerging from the event.

More Shine 2008 Flickr photos:

And check out the Dutch Kaos Pilots video of their trip over....

Credit crunch analysis part 43

Last week, I discussed whether the credit crunch would have an impact (positive or negative) on the world and field of social entrepreneurship. In a post before that, I'd asked if CSR would be the first thing to be cut in times of trouble....

And the analysis continues to flow: on the one hand, there are those who claim the credit crunch will encourage more social entrepreneurs to look at their financial viability first; on the other, reduced business spending on this sector is described as 'inevitable' by Business in the Community, whilst others point to the lack of available credit for any type of enterprise.

Is there a 'perfect storm' coming for social entrepreneurs where public sector spending will be cut (due to national debt, downturn in economy, new government) and private sector credit / sponsorship will be radically reduced, and trusts + foundations will give less because of the declining value of their endowments....oh, and the public will have less to spend on retail if that's your model.

Or has the movement made enough traction in enough areas for the majority to make it through and access the funds and support they need? Will the persistent, committed, resourceful, innovative, dynamic social entrepreneurs survive and even thrive in the hard times? Possibly....and it is they who will benefit if (and when?) this holed tanker starts to turn round. It is the time for the hard-headed side of the social entrepreneur, not just the high-minded side.

Interestingly, as Servane from Ogunte points out in this comment, it may well be those who (contrary to efficient bottom lines) invest in leadership, in soft skills, networking and communication that do best. Never has there been a greater need to differentiate and communicate why it should be you / your organisation, and never a greater need for leadership, or strong relationships. Or, to continue the laboured 'storm / tanker' metaphor, for inspired captaincy on the bridge to hold it all together.

A new approach to regeneration

So we launched the monograph Sustainable Paths to Community Development yesterday here in the Michael Young room at SSE. It was a good turnout, considering that it was a rainy Tuesday evening, with a good mix of practitioners (including some SSE students and Fellows), sector chief execs, government departments, housing agencies, philanthropists, and research-y, think tank-y types. I was particularly pleased that Greg Clark MP, the Shadow Minister for the Third Sector, was able to make it and say a few words; he contributed a particularly lucid and thought-through foreword, which is not always the case when it comes to these things, so great that he could attend. CEO Alastair Wilson introduced co-authors Charlotte and Don Young, who then gave a presentation on the report, before Greg and Alastair wrapped up.

Here's a few photos from the evening for your delectation:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All went well and hopefully it will give impetus to the recommendations in the report. Greg Clark said last night that this was a "groundbreaking piece of work" that "should be influential across the political spectrum". I do hope that's the case, and that other organisations read and use the research to further their arguments, as this has implications above and beyond the work of SSE alone.

To contribute my bit to the cause, there's an article in today's Guardian concerning some of the central issues in the report: A real community centre, and coverage in Social Enterprise Magazine. More coverage to follow. 

News barrage: ECT, added value, the future of enterprise

One of the (few) benefits of the lengthy commute in to work for me is to do some reading / listening of relevant information on the way in. Inevitably, on Wednesdays this means Society Guardian. Sometimes, there's little of direct relevance, and then sometimes the whole thing feels like it's waving at me. Like this morning:

- Big article on ECT; I think it's a very good article. Though it doesn't clear up the precise details of the CIC stuff, it does give some reasoning behind what has happened and, rightly, emphasises the most important outcome: jobs secured for those in the company. I spoke to the journalist writing this, and am pleased that he interviewed Steve Sears directly and told it this way. Still unanswered questions about CICs (nothing from the regulator, and the legal person behind it could only say that it made being taken over much easier....as if that was a positive?), but the story is clearer.

- An editorial on the the lack of evidence / proof that the third sector is any better (or provides any significant added value). I'd agree with much of this, and the need to measure and demonstrate social impact....but am disappointed at the emphasis on cost ("The third sector says it offers "something extra". But extra will cost extra. Buying services from the third sector requires an uneven playing field or, as the MPs diplomatically put it, "intelligent commissioning", which could well raise unit prices") without a similar emphasis on the benefits. For example, a place on the SSE programme has a higher unit cost than, say, 4 Business Link advice sessions....but the benefits are of a completely different order (and there is proof). Also what about the savings in other areas (benefits system, health service, social care, crime etc) that result from the (minimally) greater investment?

- The third thing was Peter Grigg's piece promoting the new report from Make Your Mark and Demos called The Future Face of Enterprise. There's some interesting stuff here, though I confess the commute isn't long enough to have read all 157 pages yet. It ALL seems relevant, in different ways, though much won't be new to regular readers of this blog, namely:

• people (especially young people) are seeking more meaning / purpose from their work
• people (esp. young people) are seeking outlets for their innovation and creativity
• money still motivates, but (increasingly) so do other things: frustration, personal mission, inequality
• self-employment can be a route out of frustrations (and flexibility / work-life balance)
• unlocking entrepreneurial talent, regardless of sector / organisation, can be key to success
• there are significant problems in society that need addressing that government can't do (alone)

All of which leads to a growth in those interested in, engaging with and involved in social entrepreneurship and social enterprise. I'll try and get to read it all in the near future...