Re-Designing the Social Sector

There is a gap between much of the social sector & the field of social innovation

I have a lofty vision of redesigning the social sector – creating new ways of serving people – new systems and structures rooted in innovation and collaboration. Creativity and the social sector are not usually thought of together, or they are designated for certain offshoots like social entrepreneurship or technology. I want to inspire and contribute to the redesign of the social sector by guiding and coaching those in social impact roles – creating space for people to reflect, brainstorm, and create new patterns of thinking. 

Innovative solutions are being created regularly but certain sectors or specific geographic regions of the world are not adopting or utilizing new approaches for many reasons such as remoteness, ease of doing things the way they have always been done, not knowing where or how to keep up with emerging ideas and solutions. This is especially true if we work at organizations that do not emphasize learning and experimentation. Without creativity we have stagnation. This limits our ability to serve and affect change in our communities. Unless we are in a field that we deem “creative” we do not always think of our work in that way. What I hope to challenge is that creativity is essential for social professions.

• Do you think of your work as creative?

• Do you think of yourself as a creator at work?

• Why or why not? 

Social impact professionals are those working in any field that impacts society

This includes those:

• in helping professions such as social work, nursing, counseling, education, advocacy, and public health; working in extended fields such as ecology, sustainability, firefighters, EMTs, etc.

• in tune with social issues and working to provide assistance and solutions in various ways; passionate and empathetic for people, place, and plants, and dedicated to serving, researching, and creating for the betterment of society in all its facets. 

As a social designer, I design for social systems and services. I do this by working with nonprofits and NGOs. What I see in my field is a disconnect between what is happening on the ground, in universities, and within the field of innovation. Much of the design work geared towards social impact is heavily centered within Silicon Valley-esque corporations or innovation labs. It is usually technology and engineering-focused, which isn’t negative, but many of the design principles and practices being utilized are not making their way to direct service providers and implementers. 

The social industry is in desperate need of curiosity, creativity, and strategic principles.

There are approximately 1.5 million nonprofits in the US alone. Globally, millions are employed by NGOs and hundreds of millions of people are served by them. This is a huge number of people committed to service and social change and yet how many have been trained to design projects, programs, services, structures, and systems? In the US, I would venture to guess a fairly small number. I think about my own field of social work where I see social design and social innovation rarely being a cornerstone of curriculum or practice. 

The social sector, which I love and am committed to, has considerable issues around redundancy and stagnation. There are silos and blinders resisting collaboration, learning circles, and consortiums. The sector lacks creativity, innovation, and reliable evaluations of impact; except at the largest institutions where we do see shifting patterns. Two of the core reasons for this, as I have experienced and observed, are due to secondary trauma and a scarcity mindset. Social impact professionals see humanity’s worst, darkest pieces alongside the best and brightest. Trying to hold space for both in a time of breaking news, rapid reactions, and constant connectivity both aids and obliterates our ability to stay present.

Many NGOs/nonprofits are underfunded, understaffed, and under-resourced making it a Bermuda triangle of burnout and toxic work environments. We don’t take care of ourselves or our teams well and thus limit our ability to design with and serve others well. Many within this industry are also women, who are consistently still primary caregivers in their homes, persisting the double and triple shifts that govern many working women globally. 

But academia also plays a role in not preparing those entering social service careers.

I once taught a virtual social design course at a university in Illinois and loved it because there were majors from different programs such as architecture, landscape design, sustainability studies, user design, and more; however, the course was in partnership with the social work program and no social work students signed up for the course. 

• What if all students in social work, nursing, and education had required courses in social innovation and design?

• What if these professionals had curricula centered around design principles and best practices?

• What would some of our key services look like? 

What if NGOs and Nonprofits functioned more like tech companies?

It is essential for us in helping or service-oriented professions to bring creativity into our professional spaces or we are going to be hamsters going around the wheel ad nauseam while having little or no long-term impact on the communities we are dedicated to. Nonprofits and NGOs of any size can create creative and innovative cultures within their organizations. It can seem like an extravagance at first, especially for those with ingrained scarcity mindsets, which is a cultural norm of many small, grassroots organizations. 

• What would the social sector look like if we emphasized creativity and innovation at every level: training staff on design principles, prioritizing budget for testing and trying new ideas?

• What would it look like for large international NGOs and small grassroots organizations to have more language around social design and carve time out of staff schedules for play or to work on fun new ideas like Google and other companies?

• There has been a big push over the last few years for nonprofits to operate like businesses, what if they operated more like tech companies? Prototyping, testing, adapting, using feedback loops, and so forth?