ONE: number of people needed to change the world

Coming to class by Metro, I was surprised by an advertisement from an NGO that states exactly what I chose to be the title of this post. And it is because I actually believe that only one person is needed to bring change and improve the world we live in. Maybe I can be criticised for this naïve philosophy of life, but I do not think I am the only one who believes in this stament. It was not a coincidence the fact that this advertisement also reminded me one phrase from our Social Entrepreneurship lectures at EOI that really inspired me:

“Forget how things are;

Think how things should be”

After seven years I left High School, I still remember one of my economy lectures. The teacher explained us different definitions and figures but I kept the figure of Schumpeter and his theory regarding the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship for economic development. Even though he explained these (apparently new) concepts and economic theories at the beginning of the twenty first century, nowadays, innovation and entrepreneurship are also at the stake for growth. They are at the stake of bringing change to our societies.

What do I mean by bringing change? What does change mean? Its polysemy made me choose one Oxford definition that states change as “an act or process through which something becomes different”. It is clear to associate entrepreneurship and innovation to a process through which something becomes different, something which improves regarding an identified problem or challenge. Behind the words entrepreneurship and innovation there are people. People with passion and willing to contribute their bit to make things happen. These people can be individuals, citizens or can be organized in companies, NGOs and other kind of institutions, such as the Public Sector. These groups form heterogeneous societies and systems which we are part of.

Once we arrive at this point, it is key to distinguish between two ways of building a meaningful and impactful career: social entrepreneurship and social intrapreneurship. To make the story short: while the first term is related to create your own social business the second concept is about working as an entrepreneur in an already alive corporation. How?

First thing to make clear is that the figure of a social entrepreneur differs from the traditional entrepreneur and also from an entrepreneur that opens a “green business”. According to Ashoka, the largest network of social entrepreneurs worldwide, social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems. They are ambitious and persistent, tackling major social issues and offering new ideas for wide-scale change. In other words, they are change makers.

For the second term, in 2014, also Ashoka made a contribution in Forbes magazine. The article was titled “The most valuable employee: the social intrapreneur” and states the following definition:

“Social intrapreneurs are right now sitting within existing organizations at the intersection of innovation, social good, and entrepreneurship. They can be found at all levels of the organization and from any generation, working under the radar and struggling against bureaucracy to launch new programs, products, and initiatives that leverage the changemaking ability of established institutions. By acknowledging the value of social intrapreneurs, large companies create narratives on how their employees are making a difference in the world. For the social entrepreneurs struggling to scale their impact and lacking the resources and network for high level impact, finding or becoming the intrapreneur can change everything”

Reading the two definitions it is clear to see that the aim is the same, what is different are the means and the framework. But what do these terms mean in terms of driving change?

Coming back to Schumpeter, his traditional view can be complemented with the fact that there are more inputs needed to be a sustainable business beyond the money. The traditional decision making processes based on financial information is falling behind, and sometimes profit is not an end but a mean to be sustainable. Therefore from my point of view this new approach far from the Business as Usual scenario, is what can make the difference in a global and interconnected world. No matter where you are: if it is Madrid, a coastal village in the north of Spain, an isolated region in Africa or an island in the Pacific… The world is full of challenges to be addressed, but also people willing to make our Earth a better place to live in.

Though, the systems are made by people, they are the product of a process and also the corporations are made in this way. The fact that something is established does not mean that it cannot be done better, and this is where you can find the spot for change. Somewhere in a big corporation, somewhere in a small one, or even in the form of mere ideas at a very early stage of curiosity in someone’s brain.

No hay comentarios / 19 May 2016 por Fátima Enríquez Lago
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