RESOURCES:
1. ARTICLE: The Innovation Sandbox
To achieve breakthrough innovation, social entrepreneurs need to build a new capability by immersing themselves in the lives of their target market, accepting constraints, and collaborating with others.
K. Prahalad, “The Innovation Sandbox,” Strategy + Business, special issue, Autumn 2007.
LINK: www.strategy-business.com/article/06306?gko=caeb6 Links to an external site.
VIDEO: Aravind Eye Institute (6 min)
Today Aravind is the largest and most productive eye care facility in the world. Taking its compassionate services to the doorstep of rural India, Aravind’s stunningly effective strategies vaulted barriers of distance, poverty and ignorance to create a self-sustaining system that now treats over 1.7 million patients each year, two-thirds of them for free.
LINK:
www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&hl=hi&v=3cjnNPua7Ag Links to an external site.
ARTICLE: Rediscovering Social Innovation
Social entrepreneurship and social enterprise are popular rallying points for those trying to improve the world. The authors make the case that “social innovation” is a better framework for changemaking. They also explain why most of today’s innovative social solutions cut across the traditional boundaries separating nonprofits, government, and for-profit businesses. James Phills, Jr., Kriss Deiglmeier, and Dale Miller, “Rediscovering Social Innovation” Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fall 2008,
LINK: www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/rediscovering_social_innovation/ Links to an external site.
ARTICLE: Disruptive Innovation for Social Change
Clay Christensen, et. al., Disruptive Innovation for Social Change, Harvard Business Review, December 2006
LINK: Disruptive Innovation for Social Change.pdf Download Disruptive Innovation for Social Change.pdf
SELF-REFLECTION: Discover a favorite social problem “fix” on New York Times Fixes Blog http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/fixes/ Links to an external site.
Write a personal reflection for the following questions:
What is a story of you performing at your best? (100-250 words)
What are the times in your life when you are in the peak state of joy? (100-250 words)
What activities put you most in a state of enthusiasm and flow? (100-250 words)
What makes you most passionate, alive and engaged? (100-250 words)
What are the things that you do that give you the greatest returns on happiness, productivity, and contribution? (100-250 words)
What Social Problem aligns with where you may be at your best, inspired, productive, and a strong contributor? (100-250 words)
Detail how you can utilize your strengths to drive social change. Apply the characteristics, models, and strategy from the resources provided to share your rough business strategy for applying your unique strengths to set up a business model to drive social change (1000-1,250 words)