WEEK ONE:  What is Social Innovation

 

Main Ideas and Topics of the Week:

This week we defined social innovation.  The definition that most resonated with me is from authors at the Stanford Social Innovation Review in a piece called Rediscovering Social Innovation it states that social innovation 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."  In breaking down social innovation to a more bite sized definition the authors defined innovation and social.  Innovation was much easier to agree upon one single definition whereas social is much more up to the discretion of the person defining the word.  Innovation is both a process and a product.  The processes that produce innovation are “creativity, organizational structure, environmental context and social and economic factors” as well as “an outcome that manifests itself in new products, product features, and production methods.”  Social can best be defined as Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once stated, “I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it.” But, if that isn’t specific enough there are two opinions from experts we reviewed.  First, Greg Dee delineates the difference between business and social entrepreneurs by saying that social entrepreneurs, adopt a mission to create and sustain social value not private value. Roger Martin and Sally Osberg state that, “It is important to dispel the notion that the difference between entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs can be ascribed simply to motivation with entrepreneurs spurred on by money and social entrepreneurs driven by altruism.” Sometimes the word social is used to describe a class of needs and problems.  One last way that some choose to define social is to “describe a kind of value that is distinct from financial or economic value.” This can be a creation of benefits or reductions of costs for society through efforts to overcome social needs and problems that “go beyond the private gains and general benefits of market activity.”

Reflection:

The resource that most got me thinking this week was found in the additional resources.  The video labeled Inside the Mind of a College Social Innovator presented the problems college students face after learning about social innovation.  They wonder what they can do, can they make any money, how do they get started, and how do they use the skill set they already have to make a difference.  Until this week I had no idea what social innovation was, and yet the more I learned the more I wanted to be a part of it.  The problem was I had all the same questions the featured students had.  The more I studied the more I saw social innovation all around me.  I remembered seeing a feature in between conference sessions from the church’s world report where they invented a mobile bakery that delivered bread to displaced people in Syria.   Then I thought about an Instagram account I follow where a high school government teacher saw a need for dispelling misinformation about the function of government on the internet.  She started making easy to understand videos about the branches of government and how they work dispelling fear that our country was falling apart, and our democracy was dwindling away.  Despite both of my examples being complete opposites, I believe they both fit into the category of social innovation.  The mobile bakery doesn’t earn a profit whereas the social media influencer does.  Both saw a need and creatively filled a need that has a positive impact on the world.

Writing Prompt:

Explain why social innovation is more prevalent today.

I am sure as the semester progresses I could answer this prompt more studiously. However, the first thing that came to mind is there is a greater need today than ever before to help those who can’t do for themselves and God has provided us with the technological advancements to reach more people to make a difference.  Being members of the church we often hear messages of charity but we also are taught to be self-reliant.  I think social innovation marries those two ideas.  We can find ways to look beyond ourselves and still use that path to provide for our families. 


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