Building and sustaining Impact Organizations to nurture innovation

Building and sustaining Impact

Organizations to nurture

innovation and positive change

Presentation given at ESADE, September 2012

@ChrisSandbox

Impact

entrepreneurs

Generation Why?

Profit

Social

Impact

The Profit Orientated Organization

Social Impact

Profit

The Socially Orientated Organization

Esteem Needs

Emotional Needs

Safety Needs

Material Needs

Self-ActualizationMaslow’s

Hierarchy of

Needs →

An "Enlightened

Circle” of Needs →

Social

Impact

Financial

Impact

The Impact Organization

Our Definition: “An impact

organization creates social and

financial impact via a process of co-

creation. Governed by a logic of

lateral accountability, it reconciles the

inherent tension between social and

financial aims.”

An Impact

Organization KPIs /

Incentives

Genuine

Values

Lateral

Account-

ability

Enlightened

Leadership

Impact

Mission

Enlightened

Leadership

KPIs /

Incentives

“Accelerate young leaders

and help them have a

global impact before they

become 30.”

Impact

mission

Enlightened

Leadership

KPIs /

Incentives

Impact

mission

How can you create/sustain it?

•Answer the “why?”

•Hire committed & aligned people:

(Pay off the others – see Zappos)

•Co-create with stakeholders wherever possible

Genuine

Values

Impact

Mission

Enlightened

Leadership

Genuine

Values

Impact

Mission

Enlightened

Leadership

How can you create it?

•Flatten your hierarchy/build leadership teams

•Embody the key values of organization

•Reward talent/success with opportunity, rather

than only money

•Allow Karma- and reputational capital- building

Lateral

Account-

ability

Enlightened

Leadership

Genuine

Values

Lateral

Account-

ability

Enlightened

Leadership

Genuine

Values

How can you create it?

• Create framework of trust

• Write pledges

• Write an organisational manifesto

(See HOLSTEE.com)

• Make your values tangible

(See IfWeRanTheWorld.com)

• Create shared experiences

KPIs /

Incentives

Genuine

Values

Lateral

Account-

ability

KPIs /

Incentives

Genuine

Values

Lateral

Account-

ability

How can you create it?

•Democratize your workplace and processes (see Worldblu.com)

•Co-create products/services (see Quirky.com)

•Set-up a fun/informal Twitter leaderboard and co-

tweets (e.g. Zappos)

Technology

Curated

diversity

Lateral

account-

ability

How can you create it?

• Combine standardization with contextualization

• Empower locals

• Institutionalize ambassadors/local curators

Impact

Mission

Lateral

Account-

ability

KPIs /

Incentives

Impact

Mission

Lateral

Account-

ability

KPIs /

Incentives

Impact

Mission

Lateral

Account-

ability

KPIs /

Incentives

How can you create it?

•Non-Monetary Measures of Success

(See Aravind Eye Care)

•Pet Projects for Team

(See Google’s 20% Rule)

•Be Flexible with time & location

Leveraging technology

- Understand tech as platform, not as solution

- Complementing, not substituting, offline

interaction

- Accountability frames (as above)

But…

…does this work beyond start-ups?

YES!

SO WHAT ? …

☐ Increased innovativeness

☐ Improved employee motivation

☐ Increased credibility

☐ Increased responsiveness/flexibility

An “Enlightened Self-Interest”

Model of Capitalism

Individual /

BusinessSociety

The Virtuous Cycle of

Enlightened Self-Interested

Capitalism

“If we take man as he is, we make him worse;

but if we take man as what he should be, we

make him capable of becoming what he can be.”

–Goethe

Twitter: @ChrisSandbox