#BigIdeas2021: 5 big ideas on social impact that will transform us

Continuing the tradition of predictions from 2019 and 2020, in an incredible year, unlike ever before … Here is to a renewed sense of what it means to live ... as a part of a whole, unimaginably larger, and more beautifully complex and interconnected than ourselves. Social innovation and impact have never been more top of mind. In the spirit of greater focus, in tentative anticipation of 2021, this post covers 5 big ideas that will shape our long term futures.

1) All of the rhetoric and talk around corporate purpose will lead to some challenging conversations around what it actually means as well as who sets the agenda and how - only then will corporations achieve the authenticity required to truly elevate trust in business. 

Earlier this year, Danone said that it will adopt the French “Entreprise a Mission” legal framework, defining a social and environmental purpose beyond profit and bind itself to pursue specific sustainability goals, setting up an independent committee to oversee and report on its progress. The declaration or commitment, and accountability are key steps forward. However, for many companies, complexities arise in having an established and inclusive process to define priorities that give meaning to corporate purpose.  

Although the initiatives and organic activity within a corporate provide indicators of its purpose, they do not serve as a substitute for process with structure. The Principles for Purposeful Business by the British Academy lays out a generalized approach. It sets out eight principles for reform of business around: law, regulation, ownership, governance, measurement, performance, financing and investment, as articulated by Colin Mayer. Yet, very significant work lies ahead. 

Every time that we hear a corporate social responsibility / CSR function say “no” to a grant, investment, partnership, initiative, innovation, event, and more, that’s a statement. We need to be able to clearly articulate to stakeholders, including employees, why that decision was made and from whom or where the power to do so originates. And all the more important is the role that social impact value / outcomes play in business decisions about long term value creation, recognizing the link between ESG / social issues and corporate resilience / risk volatility as well as recognizing future generations as a key stakeholder.

For example, we need a deliberate mechanism for continuous employee feedback on purpose that incorporates every level of the organization without exclusion. If employees are, in fact, key stakeholders of a corporation, we must differentiate between protected “strategy” and yet another layer that limits the democratization of the internal business infrastructure to reflect new power.  McKinsey’s Purpose, not platitudes: A personal challenge for top executives highlights this need. In doing so, we increase the likelihood to capture important social issues around human rights (great example of an org: Rights Co-Lab) and equality (from different genders to the differently abled and youth voices) that are not adequately covered by ESG-related reporting options or the validation that comes with them. And we must extend our commitments to connections to the market or our customers, carefully listening to them as well (in true Benioff fashion). The incentives should match the purpose dashboard and pulse. 

Addressing leadership and board-level discussions or executive mindset will remain key (i.e. CECP). Enel and others go as far as to discuss tying ESG accountability to remuneration. At the same rate, EY CEO Carmine Di Sibio sets a great example or a more pervasive measure, “‘We have ingrained our purpose (‘Build a better working world’) into what every individual is doing on a day-to-day basis.’ For example, an auditor can look at his or her daily tasks and identify how each one makes the working world better.”  

It’s about a cyclone that accelerates human progress. — As put here, a sea change of collaborative engagement is the next best horizon lest we be faced with activism. However, only through some structure and process can we capture that energy productively. — That engagement needs a locus in the corporate infrastructure. Explicitly highlighting the business value of purpose supports this, and metrics that rest in valuation are essential for transformative and sustainable change in the corporate sector.

AI, big data, interpretative functions, alongside the use of more harmonized standards and financially material decision making (with the definition of material being dynamic) are promising tools yet they fail society without processes geared toward inclusion to drive momentum forward, as impact always occurs in context. 

The most forward looking companies will or should support a bottoms-up culture of continuous purpose-driven dialogue, led by corporate changemakers, rooted in human empowerment and knowledge of the actual impact actions have to communities on the ground, or transparency.  This combined with movements to legitimize purpose beyond profit, and top-down tone-setting, such as the B Corp movement, establish the role of corporations as movement makers shaping society for the better of all. Furthermore, leading corporations can also play the critical role of rewriting the norms or rules around doing business to set expectations across their value chains.

Ultimately, one can change the norms and rules but cannot change the fundamental economics of business. There are choices / trade-offs to be made in the near term, and there are finite resources today; hence, we need more mechanisms that encompass these basic truths and the realities of multiple stakeholders in our collective calculus. Case in point: The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a beautiful framework, but only via stronger corporate resource allocation processes and powerful solutions do they gain the momentum to propel progress - and we have an exceedingly long way to go before any such processes include some of the most vulnerable and hardest-to-reach communities across the globe.

2) Social impact businesses and social enterprises will be knocking on the doors of corporations and those who invite them in to stay will gain a competitive advantage through mutually beneficial bridges. 

Businesses have a responsibility to build their own ecosystem for good; this includes supporting smaller social impact businesses / start ups / social enterprises and local economies as well as prioritizing corporate social innovation. This may entail knowledge or mentorship, providing access to resources that only come with scale, and contributing across the entire capital spectrum (grants; donor advised funds; catalytic capital, which is especially important; impact investments etc).  Essentially, large corporations need to be in the “business / venture building business", acting as market makers, serving the dual motivations of profit and purpose (including SDG impact). This also serves as a mitigating factor against criticisms regarding their emerging monopolies. 

Furthermore, social enterprises and corporations have much to gain and learn from one another. This shared journey of changemakers - corporate changemakers and social entrepreneurs, together - is the future as we think about transformative societal change, especially given that local entrepreneurs have their ears to the ground about community needs and the relationships to make it happen. As Saskia Bruysten reminds us, "Over 10 years ago, the then CEO of Danone Franck Riboud met microfinance pioneer and Nobel prize-winner Professor Muhammad Yunus. The result of that meeting was the birth of ... a #socialbusiness which sells yogurts fortified with added vitamins and minerals in Bangladesh at an affordable price to families with children at risk of malnutrition." (Both this story and Bangladesh have a special place in my social impact journey as well.)

Additionally, investments in business or the business-enabling environment of markets is an excellent way to deepen global impact (i.e. Microsoft-Accenture commitment to social enterprises in India). (Danone provides another great example here with its ecosystem fund; SAP highlights social procurement; BCGDV’s ProjectTogether and some other examples.) One way corporations can achieve this is stronger relationships with labs, accelerators, and venture builders (ie Satgana; Creatella; a new cross-organizational initiative S-Grid). A regional approach toward strengthening workforce development and entrepreneurship ecosystems is especially important to global reach in the tech sector - establishing both brand and relationships in key markets poised for the future.   

There's a unique role for social entrepreneurship in opening global corridors wider as well; corporations leveraging the energy and passion of frugal innovations and ideas that emerge from necessity. Additionally, there's a chasm for VC to fill. This cross-pollination is essential for truly global innovation that brings markets like Asia and Africa along, building upon their creativity (give Paula Woodman's post a read).

Well-resourced organizations or forward-looking innovative players who have identified an impact- / metrics-driven approach must take it upon themselves to help disseminate the approach among smaller players - while adjusting it based on learnings from these very players. — This enables us to track collective progress, including broader representation, symbolic of a more egalitarian shared future.

3) As a result of the reflection caused by the pandemic, a greater focus on our own personal raison d’etre has emerged, which has put a spotlight on our individual and collective well-being. We will see the emergence of more products, services, and forums designed to enhance our well-being. And tech, in particular, will be recognized as a way to enhance empathy through connection, storytelling, and the visual and creative arts.

There’s talk of the emergence of the Chief Well Being Officer. It’s also been amazing to see companies like Salesforce innovate to get people back to work / school safely in the face of the pandemic (ie Work.com); and this effort also included a focus on mental health with a partnership with Thrive Global to offer wellness resources to employees. Corporate leaders will be key authors in how we write our shared narrative about the past year. And communications need to get more personal.

Yet, this activity in the corporate realm is but a signal of a deeper societal shift. Personal clarity, goal setting, and scenario planning are prominent themes in self-care and community-care articles. There’s emphasis on applying the same discipline we do in our professional lives to our personal and spiritual lives.  

It’s a matter of time before well-being frameworks also feature more in our conversations around impact - as we are forced to ask what a good world and life means.  Andrew Maynard refers to a broader shift around reimagining our relationship with the future. More specifically, the arts will rebound through digitization after the shock of the pandemic that has shaken its existence. And most importantly, beyond discipline, we are applying our creativity to reach out and connect with others in new ways, deepening our societal bonds (“The way we express grief for strangers is changing”).  Although this movement may still start or be more powerful locally, it represents a shift in tech for good.

4) A significant factor in societal well-being is each individual and family's ability to pursue their livelihood, which has been all the more highlighted with the pandemic. Job creation and workforce development will no longer be a choice, but a central tenet to the corporate license to operate in society. 

More impoverished communities and youth have been hit particularly hard by the current pandemic, economically. — Creating jobs is no longer enough. These jobs miss also be created to support an equitable system. Goals relating to this will be central to discussions around recruiting, career paths, and even what happens to individuals after they leave a company and join another. In the immediate future, Burning Glass has an insightful perspective on leveraging lifeboat jobs. In the medium to long term, the need for a greater collective effort for better skills matching has never been more apparent. And corporations mainstreaming talent pool without college degrees is key, says Byron Auguste, CEO and Co-founder of Opportunity@Work.

5) The time of the woman of color has come. We will continue to see more come into positions of power. 

As we herald a new era with not only Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, but also new cabinet members, it’s a new dawn for women of color (broadly defined). Another example: Starbucks named Mellody Hobson the new chair of its board of directors, the first Black woman in that role at the company.-- I am hopeful that this “mainstreaming” will continue. 

According to McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace study for 2020, are more likely to have been laid off or furloughed this year yet I view this as a barrier as an ironic catalyst (Harriet Green talks about finding opportunity). For one, now, more than ever, women will not sit silent. Just recently, female climate activists rose up against the unequal gender representation in COP26. This type of an outcry will no longer be a rarity, as women demand a venue for their voices. In honor of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, "Women belong in all places where decisions are being made ..."

The pandemic has highlighted a desperate cry for anyone marginalized by systems and society, as it stands today, to be heard (... a challenge that does not end, but only intensifies with vaccine distribution). This crisis has placed new and growing onus upon the listener, historically, those who have wielded disproportionate power. We are at a crossroads of decisions to be made on the type of future we would like for ourselves and our future generations / children. It is time for tough choices and trade-offs to be made between self interest and a greater good. Will we live in our truth, whatever that may be? How?

Views are my own and I'd love to listen ... and hear your feedback and comments. I can be reached at [email protected]. To a happy & healthy 2021 ...