+ think design change -

Generating Social Innovation: Design Methods

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This is a short presentation by Geoff Mulgan, economist Robin Murray and Julie Caulier-Grice from The Young Foundation for the Social Innovation Exchange' Festival of Ideas in Lisbon this year.

This process of Social Innovation is discussed from different perspectives putting special attention to the design methods as a means to achieve innovation in the social sector.

Platform for Collaboration in Social Innovation

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In this article from the Stanford Social Innovation Review, management expert Satish Nabisam identifies three kinds of collaboration platforms. The paper analyse each type and breaks them down into approachable methodologies for different organisations to successfully foster social innovation.

Catalytic Innovation: In the pursuit of real social change

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In this article published by the Harvard Business Review in 2006 the authors Christensen, Baumann, Ruggles and Sadtler explore the effectiveness of the traditional versus innovative approaches to drive real social change. Their sharp, logic and concise proposition dubbed as catalytic innovation is based in the creation of services to address the people ignored by traditional social sector organisations. 

Implementing strategies to address and improve the most basic social needs will improve our chances to step up and enable us to approach the more specific needs without compromising the wellbeing of the community. The article points out the difficulty of a business minded approach to the innovation in the social sector. Thus catalytic minds must differentiate themselves from the rest of the innovation approaches. Catalytic innovators share five qualities:

1. They create systemic social change through scaling and replication.
2. They meet a need that is either overserved (because the existing solution is more complex than many people require) or not served at all.
3. They offer products and services that are simpler and less costly than existing alternatives and may be perceived as having a lower level of performance, but users consider them to be good enough.
4. They generate resources, such as donations, grants, volunteer manpower, or intellectual capital, in ways that are initially unattractive to incumbent competitors.
5. They are often ignored, disparaged, or even encouraged by existing players for whom the business model is unprofitable or otherwise unattractive and who therefore avoid or retreat from the market segment

There are many successful examples of its application in sectors like health care, education, economic development. Identifying the opportunity for catalytic innovation is a crucial aspect for successful results, the article defines a set of guidelines to promote the investment in social innovations worth to endorse: To look for signs of disruption on the processes; focus on innovative solutions that meet a significant underserved need; analyse the feasibility of the project and asses the business model.

The full article is available for purchase here.

Southwark Circle has launched!

Southwark Circle is an extraordinary project run by Participle that enables its members to participate in programs to reinforce the community by matching people offering services with those who need them. The project is a great example of the redesign of public services and the application of design thinking in the social sector. It has been recently launched and promises to bring very valuable insights on the shift from 'project' into a financially sustainable and scalable model.

One of the smartest things and a personal favourite about this program is the way they communicate with their stakeholders and target audience. The first thing I realised after reading the project brochure is that there is no mention whatsoever to the age of the members, not even in the website. This is not a random decision but an expression of how they address the real problem: our perception of ageing and its effects on our behaviour towards the elderly people. This project focuses not only in the solution of the sympthoms (the real need of assistance and help) but in educate the younger generations about how to approach the ageing process with more care and respect.

Congratulations to all the team behind this amazing project!

think + design + change

think + design + change
When I decided to start a blog as part as the research for my thesis in design thinking + social change I spent a couple of days deciding on the name it would have.

I tried different combinations but none of them work completely. thinksocial, we think social, social thinking, design change, we think, social think, think design, thinks social, think social change, think change, design change, think think think….

Cogito, ergo sum
The very first instance of any project in any field comes when we think and realise about the existence of an issue, an idea that inspires us to take action, a motivation, a problem to solve, an opportunity that challenges our imagination… When we think is when the magic starts…

‘Planning is everything, the plan is nothing’
Once we have chosen our opportunity or challenge we need to define how we are going to reach our target, who are the best people to team up with, the best tools to use… we need to design our strategy, to create a plan that will allow us to achieve our goals and discover the most effective way to do it and when. We need to design…

Change is inevitable
Whenever we discover an opportunity that challenges and puts us in motion the most obvious consequence is to change. Whether it is the situation or ourselves but once we have opened our eyes and the curtain has been unveiled there is an inevitable change in the course of the facts originated by ourselves.


These are the three words that resonated the most in my head. They work back and forwards because the only way to reach the change we look for is to design the solution for the problem we think there is. In today’s world we need to design to change no longer the situation but ourselves.

Design is the bridge between the ideas and change and think + design + change is a brief statement that presents the main points of my thinking and what I am aiming to achieve in a concise form.


ditto

Papenek 35 years on

“There are professions more harmful than industrial design, but only a few of them.” So far I can only think of advertising! Victor Papenek’s words are as relevant now than 34 years ago when his book Design For The Real World was first published. This is an essential reading for any designer or anyone in the creative industry willing to go back to the sketchbook and find a meaningful life-changing experience.
Shirari Industries does a great job in this review of the book, recommended!