Innovation for Scaling and Impact 1

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Innovation for Scaling and Impact: Social Innovations and Emerging Markets Essay 1

Grace Whitbeck

University of South Carolina, SCHC 374

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Innovation for Scaling and Impact

How has your thinking about innovation changed?

Originally, I imagined the concept of social innovation to be the implementation of any

new product, service, or information system in an underdeveloped community. Although I

understood that a social innovation is designed in order to offer aid for the society in which it is

introduced, I wasn’t aware of the differences between innovation and invention. An invention, as

is commonly understood, is a completely new designed and formulated product or creation.

However, an innovation (a social innovation specifically), is an emerging idea or shift in a

system created to cover the gaps unmet by the functions of the market. Furthermore, a social

innovation is not just a new idea, but it is a shift in the use of a possibly already created product,

a change in the societal value and understanding given to a certain system, and an overall

increase in the efficiency and spread of ideas.

Thus far based on the readings, my thinking has been shaped to understand and

conceptualize social innovation’s focus to be on the dispersion of an idea and desired experience.

Social innovation, in its development, harnesses entrepreneurship and social value in an

approach to shift society, address injustices, and introduce a solution to cover the gaps of the

societal needs unmet by the economic market. While doing so, a major focus of social innovation

is the quality and impact produced through engagement within a team of employees and beyond

in the world of consumers and communities targeted or affected by the innovation at hand.

My understanding of social innovation has changed majorly through the context of the

readings as I have realized that the key significance of such a model is found in its collaboration

with communities. Social innovation is not just the introduction of an invention that will better a

society, but rather, it is an opportunity to engage and value individual potentials as well as
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physical and societal resources. Social innovation is revolutionary in its goal to create a

movement and societal shift that shall empower and inspire, especially among populations

normally overlooked and left to a cycle of poverty and crime.

What elements of SI of the 4th industrial rev resonate the most as feasible processes? How

are the most innovative elements relevant?

The idea of a Fourth Industrial Revolution seems to be more of intrinsic aspiration: a

movement that inspires new forms of education and learning, unlocks a greater grasp of the

human brain and its potential, and a global goal for how humans want to live. Such an aspiration

involves harnessing digital, physical, and biological resources to maximize human well being

and includes certain goals: transforming cities to be more efficient, adding quality to quantity as

far as mass production and systems of growth, circulating products that are safe and healthy,

integrating energy throughout the global grid to make it available and reliable for every

population, creating equitable growth, fostering the enjoyment of development and freedom of

creative and diverse thought, and implementing technology at the scale and price necessary and

feasible. In sum, the overarching tone and motivation of the above goals seem to all fall on the

hope that “inequity will be invisible and less acceptable” (Toplink). In maximizing the efficiency

and life quality of humans, it is hoped that the Fourth Industrial Revolution shall bring about the

deliverance of basic human needs to every population.

Although idealistic and certainly worthy of all strivings and support, I am not sure how

feasible it is to eliminate all inequality and supply every basic human need among every nation.

Issues of scale, price, and motivation would still shift and distract human efforts that are toward

efficiency and equality. However, the aspects of the Fourth Industrial Revolution that incentivize

learning and creation through a market model appear to be the most viable and sustainable.
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Teams that work to create an atmosphere where knowledge is available and dispersed throughout

populations and individuals are free to think and learn differently increasingly rising among the

emerging self-motivated, entrepreneurial generation. An encouraging trend that I have been

recently noticing more and more is the growing desire to create a lasting effect and an effect with

a purpose, in regards to whatever skill or good an individual might be developing. With this

growingly common goal, the element of social innovation highlighted in the “Fourth Industrial

Revolution” video that resonated the most for me was the focus on the brain and its interaction

with technology rather than on technology alone.

With this innovative focus on the individual and the advancement of humanity, focus has

already been drastically shifted from previous Industrial Revolutions that were very much

centered around survival. More-so than lifespan, efficiency and equality seem to be the driving

factors of social innovation- and even more specifically, education. With a world hungry for

education equality, as I would say this world is, opportunities increase for every citizen to engage

in societal advancement, life quality improvement, and communal as well as environmental

sustainability. Reversely so, the innovative growth of technology demands the further education

of every nation in order to utilize and harness the expanse of technology. Thus, the possibilities

for human growth and equality also expand, and the overall acknowledgment of every human

being within every socio-economic class or ethnic group as an intelligent being worthy of

opportunity and growth is cemented.

To conclude, it seems that the innovative elements surrounding the desire for education is

the most relevant to me through a lens of social innovation. I support this claim because it is

necessary for ideas to spread and snowball in order for creativity to occur, education is

demanded as a solution to many of todays injustices among lesser developed nations, and
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adolescents of todays age seem to be progressively more and more self taught as they take

initiative to learn about their interests immediately. Finally, it may also be assumed that global

innovations to use resources more efficiently and naturally reside as the most feasible and

relevant progresses in today’s society. I would claim that persons of middle-upper socio-

economic status are very concerned about supporting modes of living that harness efficiency and

benefit the environment for two reasons: 1) they have the financial means to be the consumers of

innovative and new technology and 2) they lead lives where there is margin enough to worry

about and enjoy the natural environment more-so than an individual fighting for survival off of a

day’s wage. Alternatively, it is evident that lesser developed communities in the midst of

transformation have no choice but to rely on efficient and environmentally friendly innovations

because the supplies and finances are not available to outsource. Thus, existing physical and

social resources must be used and protected before the point of depletion. In such a manner,

populations at the very top and bottom of the hierarchy seem to be increasingly encouraging

innovations toward efficiency and protection of the environment, making this element of the

paradigm a very relevant and feasible process.

Write an executive summary on text.

Although passion and creative innovation are not lacking in today’s market and society,

endurance and long-term mapping of risks, limitations, and scaling tactics seem to stop short in

regards to what Seelos and Mair (2016) identify as “overoptimistic discourses on innovation”.

According to their writing, a collective lack of understanding about the definition of innovation,

the community that is being served, and the necessity of scaling all add to a detrimental limit on

the creation of social impact.

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The introduction of this piece begins with Seelos and Mair (2016) operationalizing key

definitions: innovation is explained as “a process by which organizations create and develop

ideas under conditions of uncertainty”, scaling is any action used to “establish products, services,

or interventions to serve more people better”, and social enterprises are understood to be

“established organizations that cater to important social and environmental problems of

disadvantaged people and communities”. The authors of this text begin by addressing an initial

frustration toward the general population’s focus on success rather than risks and progressive

learning, innovation over incremental change, and over-optimism about uncertainty rather than

decisions about long-term strategizing. Innovation and Scaling for Impact was written to clarify

the gap between excited innovation and creating impact, specifying what “we think these

organizations do and how they really do it” in order to emphasize the crucial and often

overlooked role of scaling in socially innovative movements (Seelos, Mair, 2016).

Correcting common assumptions, Seelos and Mair (2016) explain the importance of

evaluation over pure glorification of new ideas, the managerial importance of a shared

understanding of the mission and strategy within employees, the transparency of company

characteristics throughout the targeted audience and affected community, and the awareness of

risk and its direct impact among a developing environment with scarce resources.

Provide a brief analysis of the themes presented.

In such a tone, the main theme of this text is found in the emphasis and explanation of

impact-creation logic. Seelos and Mair (2016) repeatedly explain that there is no one recipe for

success within social enterprise, but rather, a framework can and should be built to act on

accumulated knowledge. Such knowledge includes the 1) targeted needs of the area affected, 2)

the mission and strategy of the company, and 3) the resources and capabilities available for
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exploitation (Seelos, Mair, 2016). With a growing body of knowledge, the potential of social

impact increases with the extension, challenges, improvements, and developments of the product

or service innovated. To achieve such development, social innovation must be supplemented

with the key themes of deep communication and understanding of the local community and

needs targeted. Secondly, another key theme is the necessity of running a diagnostic and

understanding the inner-workings of the company itself: its design, limitations, risks, and

expected outcomes. Overall, the roles and themes of innovation and scaling must be thoroughly

understood so that outcomes and goals become more clear and collectively attainable for

employees, followers, and investors.

Consistency is a major key term among social enterprises, since uncertainty is the

indication of a risk, a limitation for investors, an inhibitor of deeper and more strategic decision-

making, and an obstacle in the alignment of predictable positive impact and an organization’s

specific mission statement and values. Successful businesses ought to have as little uncertainty as

possible in regards to their mission, the environment of impact, and the capabilities needed to

satisfy the desires of the market. These three areas are pivotal points in the foundation of a social

enterprise and explained as necessary for the growth, quality, and productivity of the

organization.

In conclusion, in the authors’ attempt to un-fog common beliefs that constant radical

ideas are always good, success ought to be focused on more than barriers, and innovation is more

relevant than impact, Seelos and Mair (2016) ascertain the importance of standardization and

constant engagement and improvement for the growth of a social enterprise. With a grounded

foundation, it is stressed that the act of collaboration, process of learning, and effort in scaling is
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often more valuable and will leave a greater impact than the single most radical or innovative

idea.

Provide brief analysis of how social innovation and scaling are related to uncertainty

utilizing the concepts of green and red zones. Relate this to your own understanding of the

social imperatives for the global economy in the decade ahead.

Concerning the concepts of innovation and scaling, Seelos and Mair (2016) identify

sources and risks of uncertainty in each context. While operationalizing the term innovation, it is

explained that the essence of innovation is a generated change and challenge to the original

system that shall produce an outcome of uncertainty- either of positive or negative impact. In

contrast, the term scaling refers to the increase and bettering of what the organization does well,

expanding and improving an organization’s current activities to produce positive and predictable

impact. Thus, although innovation (and consequentially high uncertainty) is required to begin the

process of scaling, uncertainty in the scaling phase ought to be as low as possible.

Furthermore, the green zone is where organizational scaling and impact creation occurs

(Seelos, Mair, 2016). This is the space where the company should push themselves to do the best

they can do and deepen and strengthen the understanding and knowledge of their mission, the

context and needs of the area of impact, and the resources and capabilities available for

exploitation. Reversely, in the red zone, innovation is encouraged and uncertainties are more

acceptable; the potential and consequences of each new idea is uncertain, the capabilities,

resources, and mission of the company is not well understood, and the problems and solutions

may not align perfectly yet. In sum, the red zone is where radical innovation is born while the

green zone is where incremental innovation and scaling is developed. In each zone, innovation is

explored and appreciated, however, the amount of uncertainty in the red zone is much higher.
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Red and green zones are equally important and imperative during different phases of the

“innovation and scaling gradient”, as introduced by Seelos and Mair (2016). Phase one involves

creation, communication, and evaluation of innovative ideas, phase two develops an idea through

experimentation, design, and piloting a general innovation, and phase three emphasizes the

scaling process, efficiency advancement, and adoption of a successful innovation. Within the

entire process, risks and diagnostic tests of failure must be made aware within the management

and dispersion an innovative idea. Such risks include the strength of a business’s “immune

system” that may shut down an innovation either before it has the chance to be considered, when

it is too early or too late, when resources are allocated toward new innovation rather than toward

productivity, when resources are added before the organization has achieved a steady level of

maturity, when the organization replicates itself before resources allow for such safe growth,

when complexity turns to chaos by not replicating when necessary, or when an attempt is made

to transfer and disperse knowledge but the adopting organizations are not able to integrate the

knowledge efficiently. Among each phase of progression and possibility of failure, the authors of

this text emphasize the necessary balance of innovation and scaling, recognizing that scaling is

often overlooked- a trend that leaves the full potential of an innovation underdeveloped,

ungrounded, and unexploited.

In turn, acknowledging the expanding economy of the coming decade, I foresee social

imperatives residing majorly in the appreciation and utilization of available resources. Going

back to the general idea of the Fourth Industrial Revolution serving to advance and dispel

services and basic human needs across the entire globe, the social imperatives for the coming

global economy might shift from a heavy focus on innovation, to an equal inclusion and

expansion of scaling. Such imperatives include sensitivities to ethical practices, prevention of

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slavery or harsh labor conditions, environmentally safe and efficient practices, and the adoption

and translation of medical and societal advancements within developing countries. In the coming

economic decade, innovations might become significantly more incremental as political and

economic equality is increasingly demanded. Conclusively considering Seelos and Mair’s (2016)

examination of innovation and scale, global imperatives and focus seem to be concentrating on

the dispersion of rights and education. Reflectively, it can be predicted that this sort of

movement requires greater efforts at scaling, efficiency, and full exploitation of available

resources in a sustainable, humanistic, and eco-friendly way.

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Sources

Seelos, Christian, Mair, Johanna (2016). Innovation and Scaling for Impact: How Effective

Social Entrepreneurs Do It. University of South Carolina: Stanford Business Books.

https://toplink.weforum.org/page/aboutPublicTM

https://toplink.weforum.org/knowledge/insight/a1Gb0000001RIhBEAW/explore/summary