‘Stop idolising individuals; real social innovation is collective’

It’s awards season, and that means our social media feeds are awash with profiles and interviews on the visionary founders changing their industries through sustainability, inclusion and innovation. 

Awards undoubtedly have an important role to play in driving social innovation development. Putting the spotlight on those driving change creates critical conversation about the work being done – and the work that needs to be done. And of course, it rightfully acknowledges the huge efforts of those going above and beyond to catalyse better outcomes for people and planet.

• Read our Pioneer Interview: Jeroo Billimoria: 'You have to be bold enough to shut something down'

But among the achievements, ceremonies and acceptance speeches, I wonder whether the sector is telling the right story about how social innovation actually works. Yes, changemakers should be celebrated, but in our increasingly parasocial society, a fixation on entrepreneurial ‘saviours’ risks obscuring the true collaborative nature of change.

The early-2000s obsession with founders as lone trailblazers is increasingly outdated, and we’re all familiar with the Hollywood trope of the visionary-hero-turned-bad-guy, with the big, inspiring ideas falling foul of logistical, financial or operational realities. But any framework that continues to laud success on single entities – be they individuals or organisations – risks diverting attention away from what sustains impact at scale. And that’s collaboration.

Collaboration is key

Social change is made by whole ecosystems – policymakers, communities, civil society, business, funders, media, culture and creatives – working together to smooth the pathways of innovation. No single entity can be all of these things, lest they fall victim to inevitable self-interest undermining wider shared goals. 

We need to build the infrastructure to ensure social innovation thrives. This requires action across the whole ecosystem that brings together diverse stakeholders, pools resources, and creates practical, scalable solutions that single organisations cannot achieve alone. 

We need to build the infrastructure to ensure social innovation thrives

This is applicable at all levels. Governments must move from command-and-control habits to facilitation, learning and partnership. Businesses must move from a narrow compliance view to a broader understanding of stakeholder value and long-term system health, and finance must move from sidelining impact to seeing it as a key part of risk, resilience and public legitimacy.

Countries need social innovators in every part of society. That includes civil servants who redesign public services, mayors who bring departments together, corporate leaders who align business models with public value, researchers who build practical learning systems, community organisers, and journalists who help us to imagine new possibilities.

The success stories already exist; witness the work of organisations like Aflatoun International, which I founded and which partners with governments and NGOs around the world to provide education to millions of young people, giving them the tools to run their own social and financial enterprises. The result? Socially and economically empowered children and young people who act as agents of change for a more equitable world.

But although social innovators are all around us, they need the opportunity to make change.  Scaling up collective action requires a widespread mindset change whereby the objective of social innovation isn’t the solution itself, but rather how the entire approach to it is understood.  

Understanding that true social innovation can only be realised through a socially innovative approach means changing the route through which policy becomes action, bringing problem definitions closer to lived reality, working across sectors and creating space for experimentation and adaptation. Lone visionaries typically keep a close rein on these processes, but change is often complex and untidy. 

The role for individual changemakers

Individual changemakers still have a key role to play here as conduits to this step change. Firstly, by positioning themselves as social innovators they have an opportunity to help prospective partners, funders and policymakers understand this change. Despite many ESG-based pledges about collaborative working, this kind of social innovation approach will still represent a departure from the norm for many of them.  

Secondly, true social innovators focus on building connections and sharing narratives across diverse and often unlikely groups, enabling participants to find a common cause while still allowing for flexibility in goals and approaches. Forging bridges across disciplines and geographies also means best practice is understood more widely, which in turn helps to support more effective policies and financing. 

Thirdly, social innovators develop collective pathways that keep groups working and learning together, seeing their work as part of an ongoing and coordinated, rather than isolated, effort.

Finally, social innovators leverage their influence where they can to empower grassroots voices. An economy that prioritises people and planet will not emerge through the same top-down methods that have led to so many of today’s failures – collective action is built on bottom-up direction from real world experiences. This approach shifts entrenched power dynamics and nurtures networks of communities to create lasting change.

One of my favourite sayings is: If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, take your ego, flush it down the toilet and start

Collective approaches have been used throughout history to bring people together to solve problems, develop resilience and create change, and no one has the monopoly on this. One of my favourite sayings is: “If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, take your ego, flush it down the toilet and start.” And I say that as an award-winner myself! 

The five Cs of collaborative systems change

I urge everyone to follow the five Cs of collaborative systems change: Convene, Connect, Co-create, Celebrate and Calibrate. 

In other words: unite key stakeholders, work together on impactful solutions, celebrate achievements – while remaining humble about what remains to be done – and use the insights to drive the initiative forward. 

Change starts with an idea, but lasting impact doesn’t come from individual heroics. For change to actually happen that idea needs to be shared, scrutinised, reworked, developed and empowered. 

Social innovators – not visionary founders – are at the heart of this, so we must turn our attention to investing in and nurturing the systems around them.

Header image: Jeroo Billimoria at the World Economic Forum in 2020. Photo courtesy World Economic Forum / Boris Baldinger. Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence.