The School for Social Entrepreneurs

The Life of an Intern

Hey everybody, it's Ryan the intern!  I just wanted to take a few minutes and write about my experience here at the SSE so far.

From day one, it has been fantastic working here.  I've never had an office job before, although I do have a bit of other work experience.  What I thought was going to be a month of being bored to death, cooped up in an office with a bunch of old people turned into being one of the most inspiring, exciting jobs with the greatest bunch of people I have ever worked with (and they aren't even old, or at least you can't tell)!!  

Business, for me, has always been something I've studied only because it seemed like a practical way to get a job in one of the worst economies that the USA (yes, I'm American so excuse my different spelling of words) has ever seen.  I don't know whether it's the English charm in this office, the fact that I feel like my work has meaning, or just the overall vibe in the office that we are all helping other people, but whatever it is, coming to work is a great part of my day and I'm sad to say I will have to leave at the end of the month to go back to school for my final semester before heading out into the real world.  That said, I must repeat the first thing I learned in this office and that was where the tea is.  How English! :)

Specifically, I'm working under Nick doing things like contacting the press, working back and forth with fellows and current students to finish up certain jobs, and organizing/analyzing (not analysing haha) data from evaluations and such.  It's been great fun as every day is a bit different, so it keeps me interested.  

Finally, it's just really interesting seeing how a non-for-profit works; it's neat how we have to go about different strategies to keep things working like obtaining grants and the like because the SSE doesn't rely on its program as its only source of income.  

Well, that's all from me for now.  I'll be back next Monday with another update of sorts, I'm sure.

Cheers! 

Yin and Yang: the top 5 balancing acts for social entrepreneurs

It feels like such a busy and fast-moving time at the moment, that it's been difficult to take time and reflect, and get the head up to look around, meerkat-like. Which has got me thinking about balance, and the different areas that social entrepreneurs need to balance.

1) Passion and pragmatism:  I was speaking at an UpRising event recently, along with Young Foundation Director Geoff Mulgan, about the Big Society and how to react to it. There were some passionate reactions in the room, and those encouraging direct action and activism rather than engaging with the movement. I made the point that engagement with policymakers was about understanding their perspective, holding true to your values / principles / opinions, and seeking a constructive way forward. Sometimes a constructive way forward requires disagreement (and constructive criticism), but when that blurs into anger or aggression, the dialogue isn't there...and any opportunities dwindle. That line between passion and pragmatism is always key.

2) Self and organisation: The balance that gets talked about most in this context is work-life balance, which tends to ignore that for many social entrepreneurs (indeed, entrepreneurs of all types), work and life are not that easily divisible. It might be that this is more about ensuring time is portioned off for non-work, for friends and family, for rest and reflection. Inevitably, it's at the busiest times when this gets squeezed, and it's at those times when it is most valuable. Focus requires concentration and good health; somehow it's never easy to drink more water, sleep enough, eat well and do a bit of exercise. But we all know it works. And we also know that people need to earn a living, even if it's a job they've created themselves.

3) Mission and money: Very much the core of social enterprise + social entrepreneurship, the balance between mission and money is crucial: especially for decision-making. Some now talk about it as "impact-first" and "finance-first" (particularly in the realm of finance), but even just having that level of awareness about different choices is important. Some opportunities might bring in money that allow you to cross-subsidise activities that would have more impact in line with mission. It's the awareness of where the decision lies and why it's being taken. [see slides 9 + 10 in this powerpoint which has a mission-money matrix + the same matrix in tough economic times]

4) Attention to detail and big picture: I find this a tough one, personally. It's easy to get bogged down in the detail of things that aren't really important (as with the cartoon above) or to get very focused (rightly) on delivering to the highest quality; but sometimes that comes at the expense of looking a little long-term and thinking strategically. That's particularly true right now, when the climate is forcing people to act hand-to-mouth and day-to-day. But those who can think about thriving in 2-3 years as well as surviving the next 6 months, will be in an advantageous position. Having said that, I also have huge admiration for those people who in the midst of intense periods of activity, still remember to reply to a (less important) e-mail, write a letter of congratulation, or make an introduction they think might be useful. Well, I did say it was tough....

5) Objectivity and subjectivity: This takes me back to the Big Society and that debate, and also a little to the line between self and organisation. It's about judgement, and trying to take the 'personal' out if it. Thinking about the organisation's best interests and taking out personal feelings and interests as far as possible. Not easy when your contract or grant has been cut, or someone else wins the contract over you; and not easy when that organisation is "your baby", but important. To be ready for the next opportunity, to be on the front foot (not dwelling on what's just happened), to maintain relationships, to think about the intentions of those making the decisions, and to put things in context. Judgement isn't just about what to do and when to do it, but about what you say, how you communicate, and your ability to empathise. Which gets tougher at tough times.

So what's the advice? Take time to reflect; be a bit selfish (otherwise it won't happen); have people near who put things in perspective; keep money + mission at the forefront at all times; look ahead. Which is all a lot easier to write than do.

 

 

Another day interning at the SSE...

...and it was the most interesting and inspiring yet! Today I pounced on the chance to attend the hands-on program side of the School for Social Entrepreneurs, witnessing how they educate and work with their students through guest presenters, group workshops, and peer-to-peer action learning.

The eventful day began at a well-established IT corporation with a social focus called Happy (once called Happy Computers).Through a riveting hour-and-a-half discussion-based presentation from Founder and Chief Executive Henry Stewart, the students and I were able to learn from a variety of his own experiences of formulating and developing his own successful social enterprise. Henry’s presentation focused on the different ways to evaluate your own organisation, as well as constantly looking for areas of improvement within your organisation. One aspect of his presentation that changed my perspective on social enterprise was his discussion on profit, even within the not-for-profit sector. It was interesting to see how careful social enterprises need to be financially to ensure their sustainability and growth. Other tips that Henry included in his presentation included reflection on the passion and cultural attributes of the organisation, how to use awards not as a marketing tool but a tool to compare to other organisations, and how to celebrate mistakes, not only our own but our fellow co-workers and employees (using them as learning experiences).

After this wonderful presentation, we made haste to the SSE to catch a quick lunch and head off to the students’ reflection period and weekly learning session. After the reflection period, which had the students discuss Henry’s presentation, the students were given the opportunity to investigate their projects, the cultural attributes within their projects, and how they want their projects to be shaped in the end. I was happy to join the discussions and activities.

The first activity was to compare our organisations to a specific animal and describe why we choose that animal to represent our organisation. Without hesitation, Director of Learning Marcia Roswell-Joseph put me on the spot and insisted that I went first. Unfortunately, the closest animal that I could link to my social franchise (which is based on youth peer-to-peer mentoring) was a tapeworm and its ability to break apart in fragments and grow into new tapeworms. I knew my major in Biology would pay off somehow. Regardless, it broke the ice and led the way to a variety of answers to the activity that included tortoises representing durability and integrity to ostriches representing an organisation without blind spots. All in all, it was a successful activity just to hear how different individuals understand their own projects and how they want them to develop in the future years.

The next exercise was slightly more difficult for me – it no longer involved animals or any biological aspect. Marcia had us all break up into groups of two to discuss and expand on the issue of cultural attributes that currently exist within our projects, cultural attributes that we hope to exist within our projects, and how we want them to manifest within our organisations. I was fortunate to have been paired up with an individual who had a very different project from my own, which tied in a variety of different perspectives on the importance of different cultural attributes. This individual focused on ensuring there was a democratic process within the office space ensuring decisions were made as a collective group while tying into her project of creating “Green” or sustainable housing developments. I, on the other hand, focussed on keeping the passion towards a common goal within the organization, which is currently self-manifesting as a volunteer organization (those involved are only there because they want to be there, not because there is money).We also had the chance to discuss how our cultural attributes change with the growth of the organisation and how they would have to change to ensure that the organisation was operating effectively and efficiently within set parameters.

To be frank and honest, the sessions were exactly what I was looking for: an opportunity to discuss issues within our projects, and how to ensure that we are not forgetting or being ignorant of any one idea or perspective.(The whole experience also reminded me of my Smart Step workshops, except it was adults enjoying the positive learning environment, not teenagers – very interesting and refreshing). Summarizing my thoughts and feelings, I wish I could spend a year here at the SSE attending workshops and guest presenters. It would give me a world full of ideas, while ensuring that I stay focused on achieving my goals and turning my dreams into reality. In other words, it would be a phenomenal experience.

[Ed. - Please comment on what animal your organisation is most like and why below....!]

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.

Human bandwidth

Human bandwidth is a new term for me, which somebody used in conversation yesterday. They meant it specifically in relation to being able to deal with the amount of information that flows into our inboxes, TV sets, radio stations, newsfeeds.....but I think it's a useful, more general way of thinking about our own personal capacity to do things, or process them. Or, as this post puts it, "what can you eliminate from your routine?"

Which, given that there seems to be an increasing trend for deadlines around the Christmas period, resonates strongly with me at the moment.

Longer posts to follow when bandwidth increases.....

Clearing your head, and getting headspace

This great, rambling (in a good way) post from Sam Conniff, one of the Social Enterprise Ambassadors got me thinking about how a de-junking process can both bring things to light (that document halfway down the pile with URGENT! scrawled on it), spark ideas, and help clear the decks for a new beginning. The irony of this is that I am perennially awful at doing this, so my desk usually looks like an explosion in an origami factory. When I do clear it, it's inevitably more beneficial psychologically / mentally than in any improved administrative efficiency.

[my desk at its neatest; large piles to left and right obscured in photo]

Anyway, Sam's post is entitled "So I spent the day today clearing seven years of shit out of my office", but you could also end that with "....out of my head", and there's some great (and very funny) stuff in there:

- "now we have the case studies, the client base and proof of the business and social benefits of our approach, seven years ago we just had some really crazy folding, flapping cardboard props we’d produced in a moment of madness"

- "whilst there was no mention of ‘Social Enterprise’ in any of the old papers I was going through, the ideals, the ambitions and the emphasis of everything we were trying to achieve was clearly all heading towards the place we know are in"

- "to start a charity [the Livity Trust] that opened it’s doors with £50k in the bank from the UK music industry to fund disadvantaged kids to take on work placements at independent record labels was yet another seven year lesson that being ‘flexible’ makes business sense"

When I wrote "SSE will co-ordinate the Ambassador blogs" in our project proposal as one of the partners in this scheme, this is exactly what I hoped would be the result. Unfettered, direct, passionate, insightful communication from someone who wasn't much known in this world a year ago. And for Sam (who I'll ask in a few weeks time), I hope it's been equally beneficial: as an archive, a place to communicate freely, and as a way of clearing headspace.

And for me, I'm inspired...and off to tidy the desk.

Eco-friendly office printing

Inspired by Greenpeace's new EfficienCity, I have been trying to cut down on my printing in the office; although we do all the stuff you'd expect (double -sided, re-use of one-sided, recycling cartridges), my big problem was with widows and orphans...the unwanted few lines + images which cause you to print another page.

Delightfully, I can recommend GreenPrint World, a free bit of software (endorsed by a whole range of US eco non-profits) which you select as your default printer. It basically introduces on extra stage between pressing Print and the printer starting to whirr; at this stage it offers you the option of cutting off extraneous pages, removing images (great for website ads) and removing unnecessary text. Best of all, it keeps a running total of how many pages you've saved, and how much money this has saved you/your organisation. You can use it in your office if it's not for 'commercial' purposes, and use it at home as well.

Takes a bit of getting used to, but very useable once you get going. Their special font, on the other hand, I'm not quite as sold on....but you can't have everything.

Why SMART goals are MT

No matter what type of organisation you work for or lead, the acronym SMART will most likely have crossed your path several times by now. For me, it’s popped up in government tenders (“demonstrate how your deliverables are SMART for your programme of work”), funding applications (“your project outcomes should be SMART”) and several times within SSE, be that operationally or strategically.

So what does it stand for? Well, this is where the problems start, as there are a few variations. The most widely accepted seems to be:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time-based

But the A can also be for Attainable, the R can be Relevant or Results-oriented, and the T can also be Tangible, depending on which management bible or “how to act SMART” guide you read.

While investigating effective goal-setting in one-to-ones, I ran across the Manager Tools podcast, and these posts about goal-setting and why SMART is anything but. This made much sense to me, and chimed with some stuff I’d previously thought about this widely-used tool. Their objections include:

1)  You don’t need Specific, because if your goal/target is measurable, it must be specific (enough) anyway. Let’s get rid of the S.

2) Achievable and Realistic are virtually the same. If you make the R Results-oriented, that’s pretty much there in Measurable. And who’s going to set, or be allowed to set by their line manager/colleague, a goal that isn’t Relevant? That’s the R gone.

3) The same applies to Achievable / Attainable. If someone is setting a Measurable goal or objective, and they’re putting a deadline on it (Time-bound), then why would they make it unachievable? It’s in no-one’s interests to do so, either the person who has to achieve the goal, or the line manager who wants the organisation to achieve the goal. And so, A is gone.

So where does that leave us? It leaves us MT, people. And full of clarity and focus. As long as we use Time-based (or Time-bound, which I prefer). Tangible makes little sense to me: a) because how can you touch your goal / achievement and b) because how can you have a goal that isn’t Time-based (i.e. without a deadline)?

So it’s Measurable and Time-based. And if you select a Measurable and Time-based goal, you’ll find it is pretty SMART as well. That’s because MT is the heart of SMART.

Intern-ment

Whilst reading about Derek Conway and the other MPs paying their own family for internships and work experience (even the Third Sector got briefly drawn in), I got thinking about how this related to the use of interns by third sector organisations, particularly in the fields of policy and research. As regular readers of this blog will know, SSE recently had an intern over from St Olaf College in Minnesota, which was pretty much an unqualified success. Using volunteers in this way can clearly make a substantial difference to an organisation like SSE whose capacity is still relatively small, if growing. And (I think) it can be a genuine win-win, with significant personal development, learning and contacts/networks for the intern in question.

The problem, which we have debated a fair bit internally, is how to ensure that this doesn’t run counter to our other principles: namely, the need for diversity in the third sector, the need for entrants and new leaders to come up from the grassroots as well as from the 'grad-routes'. For, inevitably, for someone to take a full-time three-month position at an organisation in (usually) London, unpaid with (possibly) some expenses, they have to have support from elsewhere. This is usually parental, either in the form of direct monetary support, or in the form of free rent & board. Or they are in university full-time and can afford not to work during some of their holidays. Generally (and this is a generalisation), these means of support skew the potential intake to those with a more privileged or well-off background.

So how can we ensure internships go to a real cross-section, to the best people regardless of background? Clearly, bursaries and sponsorship is one way: some universities arrange placements and support expenses, such as identifying cheaper accommodation or directly paying expenses. In Thor’s case, this meant that he could afford to not do his restaurant manager job for a month in the holidays, and come to SSE.

But how to also extend these opportunities further out? Our neighbours Operation Black Vote recently won an award for an interesting shadowing scheme which focuses on political internships / work experience, precisely to avoid the old-boy networks we see continuing in those establishments;  these might provide a useful model; or something along the lines of this scheme, Leaders Together. Maybe there is a case for something similar in the third sector: funded internships that take the burden off the organisation and the individual to find the money to make it possible, and allow for a broader, more diverse intern network. Happy to hear of any such initiatives or ideas: there could be a social enterprise in this....

Pre-Christmas social entrepreneurship round-up

Almost the last blog of the year, methinks, so a round-up of all the news and views from the past couple of weeks in the world of social enterprise and entrepreneurship....and general affiliated stuff. Long overdue, through a combination of ill health, deadlines and travel, so here goes:

- I was at SSE Liverpool last Thursday, and it was great to see the progress the students have made, and that the SSE itself is making, under the guidance of Sylvia Pearson and Claire Dove at Blackburne House. And, of course, I must report the news that Claire is the new Chair of the Social Enterprise Coalition: great news, and a real signal of intent from SEC.

- 5 tips for socially responsible start-ups includes "Don't let your mission cloud your vision", although being the Xmas season, there's probably a few other things clouding the vision right now...

- Rod Schwartz has some interesting reflections from Catalyst's latest conference for Social Business CEOs

- Can't remember if I mentioned this before, but Barack Obama called for a "social entrepreneur agency to make sure that small non-profits have the same kind of support that we give small businesses" in a recent speech; see you in Washington

- Bill Drayton of Ashoka is named one of America's top 25 leaders, along with Oprah, of course

- Stifle that yawn: the quest to be the new Facebook / MySpace / LinkedIn / social network of this sector/movement continues; see this article on Razoo, this article on MyCharityPage (the sector's Facebook apparently, although if the site was up and running, it might be easier to judge...) and UnLtdWorld, which is now opening up; reviews to follow in the New Year.

- Jeff Trexler is always readable, wherever he's blogging, and his post on Social Enterprise and the Recency Illusion is well worth your time: "What is new...is not so much the underlying structure as our awareness of the metaphor itself". Quite.

- Rob Greenland has kicked up a debate about bottom-up (in communities) vs. top-down (outside of communities) regeneration via a post on Ernesto Sirolli. Check out the comments....

- The Council for Social Action met for the first time....

And finally, for all those working with a miserable colleague this winter (i.e. anyone working with me this past week), check out Work Happy: 25 tips to improve your mood when people around you are miserable