As the world grapples with increasingly complex and seemingly intractable challenges, a new answer is gaining momentum: systems change. But what is systems change? What are the qualities needed of leaders who aim to transform our economies and societies in ways that go beyond the reach of a single organization? Leaders who can build movements, and successfully engage all the stakeholders affected by an issue towards collaborative action?
Social entrepreneurs to tackle social and environmental problems?
Until now, conventional wisdom had it that social entrepreneurs were uniquely positioned to tackle social and environmental problems. By developing innovative models and drawing on entrepreneurial concepts and tools, they have come up with a range of proven solutions to tackle homelessness, water and sanitation, education, quality healthcare, and more.
In order to reach more beneficiaries, or protect vaster stretches of the environment, scaling was thought to be the solution. But even for the most successful social entrepreneurs, scaling through organizational growth has its limits. Most importantly, it can take a lot of time. And one could argue that on many fronts, time is running out.
Scaling a concept
Scale is not just about scaling an enterprise, but ultimately about “scaling a concept”. And that’s where systems change comes in. In the words of one social entrepreneur, systems change means to “fundamentally, and on a large scale, change the way a majority of relevant players solve a big social challenge, such that a critical mass of people affected by that problem substantially benefit.”
Social entrepreneurs learning to be effective “system entrepreneurs” make a distinction between organizationalscale and systemic scale. Organizational scale is about growing the reach of a prescriptive, organizationally-designed solution to a problem. But systemic scale is about shifting the rules, norms, and values that make up our social systems. This requires coalition building, such that a host of different stakeholders can come together to adopt a new model, roll out a new service, or modify their current way of operating, all in favor of a common social or environmental goal.
Ashoka
