Reframing social innovation: Collaboration by Design wrap-up

That an enthusiastic group of Changemakers had the opportunity to engage with Charles Leadbeater at an intimate event just over a week ago was an exciting enough addition to Australia's social innovation calendar. Add to that the fact that it took place on a glorious Sydney morning, with views of the Opera House from the Quay Restaurant, and it was an event not to be missed. In the opening address, ASIX Chairman Martin Stewart-Weeks stated that innovation happens at the collision of the unfamiliar. In Australia right now it seems like we are in increasingly unfamiliar territory as specialists in many fields with a passion for social issues all converge to see where they can add value. To these inspiring changemakers, and for the many who could not be there, Charlie Leadbeater explored a number of key things to keep in mind. Social entrepreneurship identifies an unmet need in society, and aims to frame these issues in a new way. In order to achieve the change required: - Look at the idea from the point of view of society as a whole, rather than an individual or specific group. Spend time with the people at the core of the issue, but question why this same situation works for others. What are the variable characteristics? The real answer to social issues lies in exploring how people create solutions for themselves. - Spend time 'segmenting' the social innovation need - break down your individual markets or stakeholders and address the concern differently for each viewpoint. Before solutions are determined, a set of principles should be developed as guidelines for how to move forward. - From sustaining to disruptive, formal to informal - there is value in all types of innovation. The key is to understand the quadrant of the innovation diagram that you fit into, so you can appropriately predict the effect of the outcome. - Value and measures are key to successful social innovation. Without a benchmark to begin with, we won't know how far we have come. Likewise, without a metric for the desired results, it will be hard to gauge success. First, audit the current system - then establish the measures for future innovation. - In terms of scaling social enterprise, it is often that the founders themselves can not see the pathway to scale and spread the innovation. It is important that we cultivate 'implementers' and 'developers', not just the 'creators' of these ideas. Their success depends on it! Within these pointers is an excellent framework for any developing social innovation. To really change the sector, we need to apply a level of rigour that ensures these innovations will stand the test of time and the challenges in our emerging social innovation market. Charlie's knowledge and experience was invaluable to our Changemakers and I have no doubt the conversation will continue. I would invite everyone who attended Charlie's Collaboration by Design event to comment on their takeaways and share other ideas that came up throughout the morning - namely some of the questions people shared throughout the morning. Through keeping this dialogue going, we collaborate in designing the future of Australia's social innovation sector.