“Innovation without accountability is arrogance and greed.”[Innovation] It has become an academic exercise. ” “Chasing the latest shiny object distracts us from the work we know is effective.”
That’s what I heard at a recent staff meeting when I asked PolicyLink’s team of researchers, policy experts, and advocates what the biggest challenges are for social innovation. There’s a reason so many people in our industry are wary of the word “innovation,” and it’s not because they don’t have innovative ideas. That’s because the term is too associated with the ad hoc, short-term approaches common in Silicon Valley.
Let me be clear: the social sector has achieved a lot over the past 20 years. But as the world faces several crises, it is inarguable that our current understanding of innovation, and who innovators are, is no match for the scale of these challenges. it’s truth. Without a thorough review of our approach, we will miss the opportunity to advance the solutions we need to meet the current and future moments.
Social innovation began as a way to foster social progress, but now too often it has become a celebration of stopgap solutions. Attend any social impact conference today and you’re guaranteed to hear a conversation about how bold new ideas can solve all of the world’s problems. This Silicon Valley brand of social innovation, which celebrates invention, leads us to chase short-term impact and distracts us from the humble, steady work of creating a truly livable society for all. I did.
These are similar to the words Gil Scott-Heron sang more than 50 years ago, at a time of widespread social and economic inequality, after America’s first moon landing. “I can’t pay the doctor’s bills, but Whitey is on the moon.”1 Expecting immediate results from new ideas and thinking that every social problem has a business model solution is actively hurting the very people we claim to serve. Masu. This approach forces any organization working on social change into an unnecessary competitive environment that encourages short-termism.
Don’t get me wrong. We urgently need to transform our social systems towards liberation. In the United States, nearly 100 million people, one-third of the population, live in poverty, so destitute that a single medical bill, car accident, or missed rent can devastate an individual or family. may be lost.2 When we say liberation, we are talking about a future where everyone’s basic needs are met: good-paying jobs, clean water, safe communities, universal health care, and affordable housing. There is.
Our sector can help create this future, but only through accountability, humility, and honest conversations about the types of innovation we truly support. To that end, the crumbling system we currently have is actually a multi-decade system designed to improve the quality of life for some people at the expense of others. It starts with understanding that it is the result of careful and intentional innovation. The inequality prevalent today is not a design flaw. It’s a hallmark of American innovation.
We are a nation of innovators. We know how to achieve transformative results even in the face of enormous challenges. We have delivered powerful system changes. Now we must achieve it for everyone.
Consider our housing system. Our country knows how to innovate to build a middle class. Because that’s what we did for white families throughout the 20th century through innovations like the New Deal and the GI Bill. How to keep people in their homes is not a mystery to be solved. We accomplished that when we invested billions of dollars in grants to specific communities through fixed long-term interest rate and federally guaranteed mortgage loans.
The flip side of the housing coin is that many renters, especially people of color, are not protected from eviction. All they get is an app that helps them find apartments without paying brokerage fees. What if renters experiencing the worst housing market had the funds to think differently? What approaches would they come up with?
Are we missing out on the social innovations of the future by underestimating and underestimating the resources of the very communities that lead change but still struggle to make ends meet month to month? We have started the work to understand why inequality exists, but we cannot stop there. Solutions that we consider mundane are often effective and innovative. We just need those with power and influence to work together and allocate significant long-term resources to these solutions.
The evidence is clear what happens when you do this. For example, a growing number of guaranteed income programs are being created through partnerships between governments, philanthropy, and business, and are achieving tangible results by helping people pay their rent and support their families and communities. Masu.3 Another example is President Biden’s expansion of the child tax credit (now expired), which temporarily lifted nearly 61 million children out of poverty.Four
Achieving such results requires thinking differently. For example, to address the water crisis, the Water Equity and Climate Resilience Caucus’ Policy Link Indigenous partners are creating solutions that meet the needs of people at least seven generations into the future. . We support more of this kind of long-term, free-thinking, rather than short-term thinking that creates smart faucets, to ensure that the millions of Americans who currently lack water have access to clean water. need to do it.
Social innovation requires both short-term and long-term thinking. We will ensure that all Americans, especially those who face the burden of systemic racism, can participate in a thriving multiracial democracy, thrive in a fair economy, and live in a prosperous society. You need to balance these approaches while focusing on impact to achieve the desired results. opportunity.
The reality is that achieving long-term, transformative results for millions of people will take time and require responsible collaboration between business, government and civil society. This is what we need. And the good news is that more and more of us in various sectors are beginning to recognize this and are willing to support the social changes that the current crisis demands.
As the late James Baldwin wrote in his book: no one knows my name, “There is never a time in the future when we will achieve salvation. The challenge is in the here and now, and the time is always now.” They have proven that they know how to achieve transformative results in the face of unprecedented challenges. We have made powerful system changes in the past. Now we must achieve it for everyone. Now is the time to give justice to those who have been excluded from liberation. Our future depends on it.
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