To Change the World, Learn the Practical Solutions

This week, a Millennial Generation friend who works in London's non-profit sector e-mailed me with a heartfelt and lamentable frustration. "I am so tired of badly run charities. I no longer seem to fit. I am looking to move into the private sector and come back later on."

The knock on non-profits, charities and governmental aid agencies ranges from badly-managed to corrupt. In some social entrepreneurial quarters it is all but chic to trash talk non-profits.

Typically, an unfavorable comparison is drawn with the private sector which, we are led to believe, is bristling with paragons of efficiency and market responsiveness. Ignoring whether or not a non-profit, with its larger, intangible and more ennobling mission, "should" be run like a for-profit enterprise, the orthodoxy is a wrong-headed urban legend.

Lehman Brothers, AIG, British Petroleum, the LIBOR scandal, too big to fail, government welfare checks, not to mention (wink, wink) subsidies for Big Tobacco, Big Oil and the Romney Olympics. Let's just agree that some private sector enterprises are very well-run. Some are not.

On the other side of the ledger, we can fact check Columbia professor and Nobel Laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz's claim that "one of the sectors in which the United States is still most successful is higher education and... all of its first-rate universities are either state-owned or non-profit." Again, some non-profits soar. Others sputter.

A pioneering, innovative, well-managed, client-responsive company, non-profit enterprise is the Graduate School of International Policy and Management at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, led by Dean Yuwei Shi.

Shi is the educational architect of Frontier Market Scouts, a field classroom in social change. Jointly developed and managed in partnership with Sanghata Global and Village Capital, the program trains up compassionate, capable students into talent scouts and investment managers to work in low-income and weak-capital regions of the world.

Shi is a self-described "rational contrarian." He warns against the bogus image of the lone entrepreneur who single-handedly invents, builds and scales game-changing social enterprises. "Build teams to fill in your talent gaps," he teaches.

"Look for the crowd that shares your goals. Be a social learner."

"Don't go with a big ego. Go with big meaning for yourself."

For my frustrated friend in London, and for the thousands of young professionals looking for a graduate education grounded in a globalized world, check out grad schools that, like Yuwei's Frontier Market Scouts, ditch ideology and dig idealism.

"Don't fixate on a particular theory of change," cautions Yuwei. The world doesn't need non-profit OR for-profit solutions. It needs the solutions that work.

 

Follow Jonathan Lewis on Twitter: www.twitter.com/iOnPoverty

Comments

[Mrim Boutla]

04:51 PM on 08/30/2012

Thought provoking post Jonathan! I think that how entities are legally set up (for profit or nonprofit) largely depends on who will be willing to invest money in them. Now orthogonal to that is the ability of the entity to wisely manage its resources to maximize its impact. Strong management skills are needed to maximize results in both for profit or nonprofit entities.

For emerging leaders, finding the types of organizations that run well and will include both the types of colleagues they will like to work with and the procedures that will enable them to get things done the way they like to get things done is central to job satisfaction, whether one chooses to pursue a career in an impact-driven for profit or nonprofit entity. In sum, the same job can be a dream job for one person, or a nightmare for another person. It all depends on one's fit with the culture present in the organization.

Mark and I created the Career Significance Navigator (CSN) Assessment (available for free through the Net Impact website - http://netimpact.org/careers/get-started/self-assessments) to help emerging leaders articulate their priorities so that they can then investigate which organizations would be a better fit for their own unique career goals and life priorities. It is our hope that our CSN assessment will make a dent in helping emerging leaders make better decisions about what mission-driven organizations are a better fit for them.

[m e426]

07:19 PM on 08/08/2012

As someone who formerly worked in higher education, I applaud Yuwei for illustrating the power of teaching and guiding budding social entrepreneurs. In Lara Galinsky's recent blog post titled "Not Everyone Should be a Social Entrepreneur" she highlights the exciting statistic that 65% of Millennials want to make a difference in the world through their work. However, as she states, " too few of these students know the kind of difference they want to make, and how to make it. And that is the real opportunity." iOnPoverty.tv does a great job of showcasing the many ways you can make a social impact through your career - across many sectors!

[m e426]

01:57 PM on 08/08/2012

As someone who has worked in higher education, it is great to see Yuwei illustrating that educating and guiding people with social entrepreneurship dreams is just as important as being the entrepreneur. Lara Galinsky wrote an HBR blogpost called "Not Everyone Should Be a Social Entrepreneur" in which she talks about the exciting statistic that 65% of Millennials expect to make a difference in the world through their careers. However, as she points out, "too few of these students know the kind of difference they want to make, and how to make it. And that is the real opportunity." iOnPoverty is a great resource for Millennials to learn about the different ways one can make a social impact in the world - and making a difference can happen in a variety of sectors!

[Frances Hesselbein]

03:07 PM on 08/07/2012

Peter Drucker, father of modern management, advised us that "the bottom line of every social sector, nonprofit organization is changing lives." Good intentions will not do, it is is the results that matter. That is why, when we talk about leaders of the future managing for the mission, managing for innovation, managing for diversity, young leaders must take the lead in embracing all three as essential if the organization is to be the organization of the future.

[Jonathan Lewis]

06:59 PM on 08/07/2012

Frances: I am so honored that you commented on my blog. You are a legend in this field. As you so clearly point out, good management and good execution matter – an important lesson for everyone, but especially social entrepreneurs. On that topic, do check out www.iOnPoverty.tv and let’s talk offline about collaborating. Send me an email: [e-mail]. Thanks.

[mchrist2]

05:29 PM on 08/06/2012

As a past participant and current staff member of the Frontier Market Scouts program, I am admittedly 100% biased in my views. But FMS is, with a doubt, a game-changing program for investment professionals and social entrepreneurs alike who truthfully, humbly, and without agenda want to do some meaningful, long lasting good in the world. I am thrilled to see it profiled so positively by Mr. Lewis.

Coupled with the "beyond its time" education at the Monterey Institute, The Frontier Market Scouts program can truly open not just doors, but flood gates of opportunity for its clients and participants. The network of professionals and organizations that support FMS is also invaluable, and it would not be the program it is today with social movers and shakers like the team at iOnPoverty, Village Capital, the Sanghata Institute, or any other of the wonderful organizations we work with.