I was pulling some stuff together for our new Social Entrepreneurial Initiative: For Impact YES (Your Entrepreneur Spirit). I came across an article I had set aside from Stanford Social Innovation Review (Winter 2011).
Titled Disseminating Orphan Innovations, Susan Evans and Peter Clarke, espoused that a great idea or program within the social sector requires CUSTOMIZATION… not REPLICATION.
They have 8 lessons for customizing innovations, including one of our favorite strategies, “Must find at least one strategically positioned person at each site to serve as their CHAMPION.” (My bold caps).
If you’ve got a great program, project or package that should be rolled out in as many places as possible, to effect the most people… think CUSTOMIZATION, not REPLICATION.
