Lessons on Social Innovation - B374:02

Week 5 is here! Our lessons this week focused on mission statements, measurements and impact. There were a number of readings and a couple of videos, but the one that I found most interesting was the Standfords Social Innovation Reviews article titled Getting Results: Outputs, Outcomes, and Impact . I feel this article explained well the ideas we were focusing on this week including how outputs and outcomes are very different and only a small part of the impact you are seeking to create. We were also asked to watch a video of Kevin Starr titled Lasting Impact where he delved into the topic of impact and why seeking that above all else is the most important. I particularly appreciated his four questions we should ask ourselves about our products: "Is it needed? Does it work? Will it get to those who need it? Will they use it correctly when they get it?"  The last two questions really stood out to me because they address the meat of why a product would fail. Of course, many pr...

Hi again! This semester sure is moving quickly. I know that is something I always seem to say during semesters, but it always amazes me at quick time passes. This week we discussed Design Thinking and how to use that to address issues. I found it interesting that we can have such a thing as design thinking. It seems to me to be a bit of a formula of how to solve a problem. Sure, some steps are a bit circular until you get to the right solution, however, what comes next is still the next step. I like this little bit of step by step process because I feel it helps to offer a bit of order in a place where things can spread out in so many directions. In particular, we read an article that took a good hard look at using this method to address poverty creation. When we think of poverty, we don't always think about how or why it is there and what factors go into the creation of it. For some reason, we tend to think of poverty as something that happens after a bad situation, not a result o...

This week we learned about researching root causes of our social issues by using either the fishbone tool or the five whys. We also watched a video of a man who created a business rescuing kids from being sex trafficked. He had previously been a navy seal but under the direction of the US government, he was limited in what he could do when he saw these types of things happening. So, after his time was up, he started this project to rescue these kids. It was so encouraging to see that, especially because we see so often how these things are happening and how hard it is to stop it. I love how he remembered something terrible he had seen during his service and committed to doing something about it when his time was up. He took action to make a change in some lives and battle what seems like an endless endeavor. This week’s prompt is: What are you most looking forward to in regard to your social issue? I am looking forward to understanding this issue better so that I can find ways that I...