On the topic of social ventures, many of today’s innovation are around networks.... all kinds of networks from system to social networks. There is a lot o garbage research on the commercial side of social networks which I am read you have come across. We all know that the behavior of these networks basically depends on whether they share a common interest or a cause and vision of what’s possible. Through these and networks and relationships, people slowly develop the new knowledge, practices, courage and commitment that lead to broad-based change. I think networks can be a powerful change catalyst.
Take a look at Kiva, the most notable example of social innovation. The non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through loans for the sake of alleviating global poverty. Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of micro-finance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as US$25 to help fund small businesses run by low-income entrepreneurs around the world. The most unpredictable part is that all loads made on (0% interest loans) and have a historical repayment rate of 96%.
Kiva demonstrates the power of the innovation and made possible by the networks and communities. But networks is just part of the story, as networks grow and transform into active, influencing, collaborative communities, we discover how life truly changes, which is through emergence. What next for these networks to become?
All living systems begin as networks, shift to intentional communities of practice, and evolve into powerful systems capable of global influence. Social innovation can be taken to scale and provide solutions to many of the world’s most intractable issues and difficult to solve problems whether it is health, ecological sustainability and economic self-reliance. In a few years, these “trans-local” active community will become the most powerful entities beyond goverments and large corporations. They will have the most influences due to the nature of connectivity and virality. I'd like to see a day when these "trans-local" can come together and get have economic influence over corporate policy and behaviors. The questions h
Look outside of today's social networks such as MySpae or Facebook, I am convinced that (social) networks are the new form of organizing and will be so in the future. We see evidence of self-organized networks is everywhere: social activists, web-based support groups, political groups. Today we know so little about how network behavior evolves and what have no idea of what the future of network-based organizations (commercial or special interest of non-profit) would look like? There are many questions to explore such as:
- What are the conditions that support their creation and what trigger any acceleration?
- What keeps a network alive and what keeps members connected?
- What type of leadership is required and why do people become leaders in these networks?
- What types of network-based leadership iare effective and how does networks converge?
I wrote a book on emergent systems and its application on business strategy development ten years ago, I was trying to explore this subject but was struggling to find case studies in business. This aspect of emergence has profound implications for social ventures and entrepreneurs. Instead of developing them individually as leaders and business people, we would do better to connect them to like-minded others and create the conditions for emergence. What would the right place to connect thee like minded people? The skills and capacities needed by them will be found in the system that emerges, not in better training programs. I think we can expect more and more social entrepreneur stars. It won't be long when B-Schools started focused programs such as MBA Social Ventures. That would be a wonderful thing. Come on, let's see which B-school's dean has that vision and the courage.
