Category Archives: Social Entrepreneurs

Public service delivery over Demos breakfast

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Having returned from Estonia (of which more soon), SSE launched straight back into the deep end with a breakfast roundtable discussion at Demos on ambition, social enterprise, the third sector and public service delivery. Luminaries attending included senior policy people of NCVO and ACEVO (Nick Aldridge, soon off to be CEO of MissionFish), Ben Metz from Ashoka, Cliff Prior from UnLtd, and Stephen Sears from ECT.

Once coffees were downed, people clicked into gear and the debate began, albeit with relatively few sparks flying. In fact, reading between the lines, there was significant agreement between those present. Diversity, and government understanding of, was one key theme: that it is impossible to decide whether "the sector" should a) aim to deliver a greater percentage of public services or b) transform capitalism or c) innovate at the grassroots or, indeed, d) all of the above…..rather, each organisation decides what it does to achieve its goals, giving a complex, diverse, rich picture.

There was also significant agreement about the need for more thought-through commissioning (an old and well-worn chestnut…if you can have a well-worn chestnut), that it should be outcome- not sector-based. This is very much in line with our feeling that, increasingly, the boundaries between sectors are becoming blurred and what matters is the quality/value/impact of activity, and how transparent an organisation is about the way it operates (and in how it communicates).

A social enterprise or charitable structure doesn’t guarantee quality, particularly if what differentiates them (aka the values/mission at their heart/inception) is no longer there…which is a possibility if organisations are formed to respond to sector-based commissions. The powerhouse that is ECT started as a small voluntary community transport organisation by people passionate to see that need to be met.

There were some interesting points about innovation too: I made the point that social enterprise was meant to be about new solutions, risk, innovation etc, but that it was difficult to commission innovation or procure entrepreneurship. And that social entrepreneurs, particularly in their early years of activity, are responding to what is NOT being met, rather than aiming to deliver a public service that is already recognised. The ramifications for funding, support, devolving power and money are clear. Nick A. added that research had shown that the sector was involved in more incremental innovation now, rather than "disruptive" innovation, and that this was to be welcomed.

Further interesting points came around user-led services, whether it will make a difference if Cameron/Brown get in (general feeling: not really, though we won’t know until either of them do, and they’ll both have less money to work with…), and how Ben/Ashoka will bring down capitalism. Or something. ;0)

Best of all, a roundtable discussion that didn’t attempt to define social enterprise or the third sector once: marvellous.

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Preventing entrepreneur burnout

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It seems appropriate to write about avoiding burnout whilst working from home (sorry, ‘telecommuting’) due to a heavy cold that has now done the rounds of the office. I was reminded of the perennial subject by this extensive post by Britt Bravo, entitled Do-Gooder Burnout: How Do You Beat the Burn?. It reports that most young entrants to the third sector leave because of a) low pay and b) burnout. I think something similar could be found with social entrepreneurs (a leadership subset of those new entrants), though it might be phrased as a) no pay and b) overstretching. These relate directly to the entrepreneurial characteristics we seek in our students: risk and responsibility; on our current programmes, there are people who have given up secure jobs, and even sold homes to do what they believe in.

What this means, though, is that looking after themselves is absolutely crucial: to refer back to the leadership advice from the event last week: problems at work often relate to ones at home, and support networks are key. This is written through what SSE does like a stick of rock: indeed, the first act on joining the programme is to meet 15-20 people going through the same thing. Action learning sets, tutors and mentors all provide routes to seek support and advice as well…and the personal no less than the organisational.

Interestingly, much of Britt’s post focuses on what the individual can do in terms of direct actions (learn to say no, learn to let go, do-delegate-or-dump, etc), a lot of which is worth reading. It does also mention “intensive self-care” and encourages “nonprofit selfishness” time….but seems to miss out that developing support networks at work and home should be central for any entrepreneur. Sometimes it can seem like a mantra, but no one person (despite the ‘heroic individual’ myths) can do everything alone, nor be everything to everyone. Talk to people; share problems; eat well; turn off e-mail in the mornings; and cut down your to-do list to the three you can do today. ;0)

Now having ignored all of those, it’s back to work….

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(Slightly less) Patient Opinion

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Interesting article from Paul Hodgkin, SSE Fellow and founder of Patient Opinion, in Wednesday’s Society Guardian entitled "Conversation Peace". On the face of it, this is an interesting diversion into how new technology might have ramifications for the NHS (video footage of mixed wards, unclean areas, bed shortages on YouTube etc.), but it is also the story of how the NHS is giving mixed messages about independence.

On the one hand, the NHS is being encouraged to commission and work with social enterprises to deliver services, and substantial sums of money have been made available for this. So, on the one hand, the NHS is being encouraged to devolve services to social enterprises and the volutnary sector. On the other hand, in the case of Patient Opinion, it has decided to develop its own solution in-house (NHS Choices), albeit with a slightly broader remit. And in an area where, as Paul points out, trust is absolutely paramount:

"Running Patient Opinion has convinced us that the state or public
sector providers themselves are likely to be poor hosts for these
conversations. Citizens are likely to instinctively distrust government
websites, suspecting them – rightly or wrongly – of spin. They may also
be reluctant to give email addresses to a feedback platform owned by
the NHS when they may be users of its services in the future. And, of
course, health abounds with controversies, be it hospital closures or
herceptin rationing.

In our view, the NHS will find it easier to
handle such firestorms if they are hosted on a platform that is clearly
independent of the main players."

Now obviously, innovation is welcome and new models may bring different benefits. Patient Opinion will also have the benefit of years of operation, building its credibility and refining its model, whilst the new site has to build that from scratch. But NHS Voices may well, as the article points out, bring interesting new slants, open data to be used, interesting ways of gathering collective experiences and so on.

Still, even if this NHS IT project goes smoothly in development, there seems (admittedly from a distant standpoint) to be something of a divergence here between rhetoric and reality. Others have voiced concerns over health/social enterprise with regard to a) lack of social enterprises able to deliver; b) need for sufficient support and c) opening up commissioning to private sector (if not the first time, then after 3 years). There’s some validity to these, although there are good, well-informed people at the DoH working through the issues, but my concern is more of a cultural one: will the NHS really let go?

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Third Sector Leadership event: nuggets of leadership gold

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The Third Sector Leadership Centre’s inaugural big event took place this week at Vinopolis in South London, and there were nuggets of gold to be had. Given that social entrepreneurs are often instantly leaders as well, and often the next generation of third sector leaders, I thought I’d try and capture a few brief highlights from some of the speakers and presentations:

– Digby Jones, recently DG of the CBI, started us off with the keynote, and he had some good leadership advice, including:

  • lead by example (if it’s uncomfortable, do it first)
  • ensure people take their holidays
  • put the hours in, but…
  • …if it can wait till tomorrow, go home tonight
  • problems at work often stem from problems at home
  • communicate at all times: foster a culture of openness and honesty
  • look out for others: "good leaders are unselfish people"
  • have a sense of humour
  • remember QED: Quality (of organisation, brand, the work), Environment (workplace, politics) and Dosh (has to be right; "if there’s room in the budget, give it to them not you…then tell them you have")

Inevitably, he also banged on about the need to educate people about risk, about the low levels of literacy and numeracy, and that there are winners and losers. To quote directly, "If they can’t do things, let’s put an exocet up their chuff". And he ended with another pearl of wisdom: "It’s very diffficult to give a bollocking to a cheerful person"

[In theory, this led on to a "big debate" but actually we just had a series of speakers (something of a shame for those of us expecting/hoping for sparks to fly)….]

Stuart Etherington of NCVO started with a generous tribute to Stephen Bubb of ACEVO for having the original idea, before moving on to what was distinct about leadership in the third sector, namely governance, measurement, more/more diverse stakeholders, combining delivery and policy, and multiple funding streams.

Shaks Ghosh, ex of Crisis and now at the controversial Private Equity Foundation, talked about leadership being about:

  • reaching down into communities, and understanding how to lead within communities
  • the challenge of remembering where we came from, and retaining that contact with the grassroots
  • fearlessness (in pushing boundaries, grasping opportunities…and saying no)
  • good management, as well as energy and passion

Stephen Bubb, chief exec of ACEVO, reciprocated the tribute from NCVO’s boss (who said they didn’t get on? ;0) and  gave his insights:

  • best leadership lessons are learned on the job
  • "tipping point" leadership: you don’t always need everyone with you…sometimes you are  ahead of them, seeking opportunities and reading trends
  • whingeing: a CEO should never do it, but point out the way forward (there was a  swipe here at whingers in the sector, methinks)
  • "You don’t cross a chasm one step at a time" (from Lloyd George)

Finally, Campbell Robb, the Director General of the Office of the Third Sector, shared his insights (the first of which was not to speak fifth, as Digby Jones walked out as he started….!), starting with an anecdote in which he referred to an exercise on a Harvard programme about the power of silence. Having chatted to his partner, she asked if NCVO had "sent you to Harvard to find out you talk too much", before adding that she could have done that much more cheaply. The lesson from this was to look to those who know you. Others included:

  • keep mission and values at heart
  • have empathy and humility (and a willingness to learn at all times)
  • create space for fearlessness

Add all of those up and some sort of perfect leader may emerge…and more still came out under questioning. Campbell Robb had a neat summation of the independence issue (govt: "why don’t you do what we pay for?"; sector: "why don’t you pay for what we do?"), while Stuart Etherington talked of the "uniqueness of managing people who don’t have to be there" (volunteers). Stephen Bubb called for boldness over paying for the best people, and being professional and passionate (and that the two are possible in tandem).

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The sessions I was in were varied: the first was (in title) about leadership in local communities, but was really an introduction to an evaluation/planning tool, rather grandly titled Weavers Triangle. It’s basically a triangle with Overall aim at the top, Aims/Outcomes at the middle level, and Activities/Outputs at the bottom. Like this:

Weavers1

It was quite interesting, but caused lively debate as there was inconsistency in the way it was described at different times.The flaw for me is that there is no sense of "needs" in that equation: what unmet needs are trying to be met? As Ben from Bassac said to me afterwards, though, it’s just a tool…and people can do what they will with it.

The second session I went to was "leading a social enterprise". This was obviously more directly SSE’s field, so no great revelations, although it was interesting to gauge the cultural barriers from some voluntary sector organisations to trading and earning income. The Adventure Capital Fund gave a presentation about their work (which was very dry; some case studies would really have brought this alive) in terms of mixed loans and grants, and seeking a blended return + the type of support they provide during the length of their involvement.

There was also a social entrepreneur, Kevin from Pecan, an organisation in Peckham which had been revitalised through nimbleness and new innovations. He was a much more engaging speaker (almost all questions went to him), and covered important issues like risk, internal skills, shift in cultures, and the need to communicate the social impact of enterprise activities. He also gave a real sense of this being a people-driven change, rather than simply adopting a model or structure which would solve all problems.

[btw, it was great to see an SSE Fellow and current student in that session as well….]

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Other stuff: some decent networking, an interesting whistlestop session on integrative leadership (which I’ll come back to another time, methinks), and a final plenary which didn’t do much for me but others seemed to enjoy. There was one great quote from Susan Digby (or Susan Digby Jones as she was called in the programme!), founder of the Voices Foundation who said, in response to a question about leadership/gender, that she’d always been able to get any man to do anything for her! Her advice included:

  • learn on the job
  • absolute blind faith in the mission
  • strong support systems (at home and work)
  • display passion + work hard
  • work on the ground: it feeds and sustains the motivation

Final note to Tracy Beasley, Director of the TSLC (and congrats to her and her team on the event being a real success), who left us with the thought that "there can be no change if there is no learning", which certainly underpins SSE‘s work and has done since inception.

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Edge Upstarts winners event 07

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SSE attended the Edge Upstarts awards the other evening at St James’ Palace, no less. Having arrived slilghtly late, I found myself walking directly behind the royal party (our host was the Duke of Kent, President of Edge) into the venue, and it was a close-run thing not to walk straight up on the stage behind them. Thankfully, I settled in the audience and listened as the winners were announced (photos etc. available via this link).

No great surprises, to be frank…Tom Savage won young social entrepreneur of the year, Belu Water won social enterprise of the year, and Sital Punja (of Sari UK) won social entrepreneur of the year. Best speech came from social enterprise trainee of the year, Craig Watson ("Thank you, London!") who revealed to me later that this was the first time he’d ever been to the capital….and we agreed that receeiving a prize from a duke in a palace might not happen every time.

As ever, the networking is what it’s all about, and the organisers had done well to keep the awards/speeches section to a minimum. Some of those with left-leaning, grassroots backgrounds raised an eyebrow at the level of bowing and scraping, but the Duke’s speech was actually pretty good: he (or his researcher) had done his homework on the background to some of the award-winners, and he was frank in admitting his lack of knowledge of the movement up to that point. Another convert.

Other speakers included Geoffrey Robinson, who just about got through his MC duties (there seemed to be a degree of relief when handing over…), Ed Miliband (who had a nice line about Geoffrey knowing his father, bolstering his youthful credentials…), and Edge CEO Andy Powell. I confess the latter’s speech didn’t really resonate with me, and the problem with hosting an event in such rarefied surroundings is that it can seem rather stuffy and undynamic in contrast to the very movement we are there to celebrate and recognise.

On the flipside, there is also a sense in which being in such a place does make people feel ‘special’ in some way, as evidenced by Craig above. So I can see why it was chosen. Good networking areas in the palace, too, after the main section, chatting to Alan (Strachan, partner of one of the nominees Servane Mouazan from Ogunte), Cliff Prior from UnLtd, Simon Tucker from the Young Foundation, the lovely Louise Coward from OTS, and MT Rainey, founder of the mentoring website Horse’s Mouth (which Edge Supports) and is now open for use in beta..

Having called for celebration and recognition recently, the Edge awards are an important part of the social enterprise and entrepreneurshp ecology… and long may they continue.

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