Rediscovering “Social Innovation”

In this article of the Stanford Social Innovation Review of 2008, James A. Phills Jr., Kriss Deiglmeier & Dale T. Miller try to redifine the notion of “Social Innovation”.

Over the last 20 years, we have seen Companies and Governments bringing new ideas, concepts and practices, to create social value and to answer social problems. But their vision was too reductive.

Through this article, the 3 authors try to give a larger and consistent meaning to the notion of Social Innovation, including the role of free flow of ideas, values, relationships and money and how to dismantling the barriers between the different sectors of the society (non-profit, public and private) to propose lasting solution to our-time’s problems.

They redefine well-known terms as “Social”, “Innovation” (they define 4 distinct elements of innovation), “Social Entrepreneurship” (resources, organization and qualities of the leader), “Social Enterprise” (organization) or “Social value” (creation of benefits or reduction of costs for society) from past studies and personal work & observations.

“Social Innovation” implies analysis and methods to discover the process, strategies, tactics and theories of change that produce lasting impact, and also implies to find more social entrepreneurs and to train them. The goal is to understand the conditions that produce social problems’ solutions.

Their new definition of S.I is: “A novel solution to a social problem that is more effective, efficient, sustainable, or just than existing solutions and for which the value created accrues primarily to society as a whole rather than private individuals”.

A social innovation can be a product, production, process, or technology but it can also be a principle, an idea, a piece of legislation, a social movement, an intervention, or some combination of those elements.

Then, they explain the mechanisms of Social Innovation (exchange of ideas and values, shifting roles and relationships between the 3 sectors — dissolving the boundaries - , integrating private capital with public and philanthropic support and implication of social innovation).

To them, the most important thing is the role of cross-dynamics. But every communities are fragmented by roles and tomorrow’s actors of the social change need to use each mechanisms of Social Innovation to create social value.

My point of view: After all of those changes (economic environment, technologies, new management tactics…), the last definition of Social Innovation is very dense and complete. To me, breaking the barriers between the different sectors to answer to a general need (or problem) seems to be hard to achieve and a little bit utopian for the moment. But I agree to say that it can be an efficient solution to answer to social problems, which are more and more numerous.