Social What? You May Well Ask?
From the beginning I’ve described Reboundog as a social-impact network as opposed to a movement, an organisation or an association. So I thought it may be helpful to explain why I’m so fascinated by quoting from Connecting to Change the World, Plastrik P., Taylor M., Cleveland J., pp.5-6.
“generative social-impact networks – generative because they are designed to be a platform for generating multiple ongoing kinds of change, not just accomplishing a single outcome; social-impact because they focus on achieving change that results in social good.
Each of these networks is a set of people, typically numbering in the hundreds, whose connections with each other enable them to generate more & more collaborative effort over time. The members don’t just connect, share & collaborate online; they forge powerful, enduring personal relationships based on trust & reciprocity that are supported by face-to-face engagement as well as digital tools for connectivity. Nor do they come together like a coalition to tackle just one thing, like advocating for a specific government policy, & then disband; connecting makes it possible for them to undertake numerous activities, many of which emerge over the years. And they don’t just gather to pool their resources to obtain services they all want, like an association; they link to enable themselves, not staff, to do the work”
“A generative network is a social-relationship platform – a ‘human operating system’ - for spawning activities. It’s a unique & renewable capacity, & this makes it especially useful when taking on complex, unpredictable, large-scale problems like climate, homelessness, or education system performance, which won’t yield to a silver bullet solution.”
Plus, I want it to become a production network – CtCtW, pp. 34-35.
“Connectivity network – links people to allow them to exchange information easily, & often. To learn as a result of that exchange.
Alignment network – to help members to create & share a set of ideas, goals, & strategies.
Production network – to foster collective action by members to produce innovative practices, public-policy proposals, & other outputs for social-impact.”
I never said it was going to a breeze - CtCtW, p36
“Creating alignment & production networks requires members – organizations or individuals – to align around common goals; they must come to shared understandings about definitions, ideas & even language..........But conducting joint production by network members takes collaboration to a new level of complexity, because it requires members to specify the product or service, assemble the right set of capacities to perform the production, agree to responsibilities, & establish a production process with schedules, inputs, & coordination that have to be enforced."
Definitions & Resources
Recognizing and resourcefully pursuing opportunities to create social value & crafting innovative approaches to addressing critical social needs.
Social franchising is the application of the principles of commercial franchising to promote social benefit rather than private profit.
Connecting to Change the World: Harnessing the Power of Networks for Social Impact.
Social innovations are new social practices that aim to meet social needs in a better way than the existing solutions.
SumApp video, try from about 22mins for visual explainer.
How social entrepreneurs are catalyzing systems change.
Systems advocacy is focused on the change of systems. This includes areas such as collecting and using data to influence research, funding, and advocacy that help serve to be a collective voice, especially for those who are most vulnerable.
You may wish to check out a few of the brilliant minds who inspire my thinking.
Of course, it would be remiss of me not to mention ALL of our wonderful Reboundog Members
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