Acting like an entrepreneur
Innovators must act like entrepreneurs, looking for the opportunistic moments.
By Rowan Conway, Jeff Masters and Jake Thorold.
Follow Rowan and Jake on Twitter @RowanEConway and @thorold_jake .
This article is an extract from the RSA report From Design Thinking to Systems Change: How to Invest in Innovation for Social Impact
If there is a critique of systems thinking it is that in its quest to understand complexity it gets stuck in theory. To progress to practical action, innovators must use the system analysis as a platform for action as opposed to paralysis. Here they must mimic the habits of entrepreneurs, looking to spot hungry markets, understand available funding and the “social moments” that will lead to their innovation gaining the greatest traction. Opportunism is key.
Having clearly defined the problem through the systems mapping process, innovators can then identify routes to change, testing innovations in a live small-scale environment or through scenario modelling in real time. In these experiments actors continuously seek feedback and iterate the prototypes to assess if they are helping or hindering change.
Acting entrepreneurially isn’t just about spotting the best opportunities for change, however, it is also about maximising the possibility for an innovation to navigate through the barriers to change and make an impact at scale. This requires a hacker mentality. Hacking the system means finding the counterpoints to the barriers to change and creating ways to turn them around.
This might mean engaging with key stakeholders with powers of veto to convince them of the shared benefits of allowing a new product or service to pass through. Or creating workarounds that mean that an innovation fits policy parameters. Alternatively it might mean involving certain actors in the process, or using social movements or media campaigns to elevate the legitimacy of the need for the innovation and change policy. The entrepreneurial actor is defined more than anything by an attitude that constantly asks ‘what can I do now to create a better possibility of success further down the line?’ In a fashion similar to the way in which market innovators look to create demand, socially-oriented innovators should plough every furrow to generate adoption and social impact.
If we return to our original system immune response diagram this can helpfully illustrate how acting like an entrepreneur can cut through the barriers to change, by seeking out the circumventing hacks. This is about being agile and responsive both when challenges present themselves and opportunities open up. It means being able and willing to iterate both product and strategy in response to circumstance. While the correct response is entirely context-dependent, the central point is that linear, non-adaptive thinking won’t do. If your proposed change sparks a media backlash, don’t hide your head in the sand. Rather, use the tools at your disposal to navigate the situation. Innovators are rarely powerless against barriers, but will likely have to outthink them.
When entrepreneurs take risks, they know they can fail. But these downside risks are balanced against the large upside possibilities of success. It may be harder to lose it all within the public sectors, but there is also little financial incentive to take the kinds of risks that innovation sometimes requires. So those within the public sector who take risks are the change makers — the ‘intrapreneurial’ talent that government want to attract. New guidance for effective behaviour for senior leaders includes “seek[ing] out opportunities for innovation and hav[ing] the courage to take risks and make step changes in how things are done.” It is also in line with the openness to experimentation embraced with the Government’s 2017 Transformation Strategy.
We explore SBRI as a catalyst for human centred innovation in our next article.
For full references and bibliography please visit the RSA website to download the report.
