Social entrepreneur John Marks developed a set of eleven working principles that have become his modus operandi and provide the basic framework for his new book, “From Vision to Action: Remaking the World Through Social Entrepreneurship," from which a series of three articles is adapted. While Marks applied these principles in nonprofit work, he says they are also applicable to social enterprises—and to life, in general.
PART THREE
PRINCIPLE #8: PRACTICE AIKIDO. By nature, I am an impatient person, and I yearn for rapid solutions to problems that are tearing apart the planet. When I worked in the Middle East and the Democratic Republic of Congo, I witnessed widespread violence. Still, I understood that, even though Search was a comparatively large organization, it lacked the power to reverse events, and it was usually futile to take a confrontational stance. Literally and figuratively, screaming “STOP NOW!” only made matters worse. Instead, I adopted an approach rooted in the Japanese martial art of aikido: namely, when someone is attacked, they do not try to reverse the assailant’s energy flow by 180 degrees. That is the aim in boxing, where the goal is to knock the attacker backward. In aikido, the person under attack accepts the attacker’s energy, blends with it, and diverts it by ten or twenty degrees to make both people safe. For social entrepreneurs, this means accepting a conflict or problem as it is and working with it, transforming it one step at a time. Indeed, aikido makes a virtue out of necessity because almost no one has the power to win with adversarial tactics.
PRINCIPLE #9: DEVELOP EFFECTIVE METAPHORS. For social entrepreneurs, communicating compelling ideas is crucial to reframing reality. Extended metaphors in the form of captivating stories can play a key role in breaking up—and replacing—deeply held beliefs. Metaphors—short or lengthy—can provide a picture of what might lie ahead and why it is desirable. Social entrepreneurs should be adept at what advertising executives call content marketing.
I had a grand vision of global transformation, but to have an impact at that level I had to find ways to move beyond workshops and trainings that reached only small numbers of people—not the masses. I was inspired by a statement made by A. J. Liebling, the New Yorker’s longtime press critic, who said, “Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.” With that in mind, I started Common Ground Productions, whose core premise was that popular culture could cause enormous changes in attitudes and behaviors. So, my colleagues and I became TV producers who made dramatic TV series, reality shows, and documentaries that promoted peaceful conflict resolution across the Global South.
Our best-known series was The Team, and we produced versions in eighteen countries, comprising a total of 356 episodes. Everywhere, the plot centered on a fictional soccer or cricket team whose members reflected ethnic, religious, and/or gender diversity. The core message was that if players did not overcome their differences and cooperate, they would lose. In each location where we worked, we identified an experienced production house to serve as our co-producer, and we secured a TV network to air the series in primetime. Our proposal to prospective broadcasters was to offer a high-quality, entertaining, dramatic series at no cost.
Not every social entrepreneur needs to start a media production company, but all would be wise to develop ways to effectively communicate their core messages.
PRINCIPLE #10: DISPLAY CHUTZPAH. Social entrepreneurship is definitely not a good profession for those who are timid. Launching new initiatives and overcoming seemingly insoluble problems often requires chutzpah (a Yiddish word meaning extreme self-confidence—or nerve or gall). When bold solutions are called for, social entrepreneurs need to dial up their inner chutzpah.
Still, chutzpah should not be viewed as an unbridled quality that social entrepreneurs regularly unleash. No matter how worthy the cause, the ends do not justify the means, and it is not OK to be rude or obnoxious in the name of making the world a better place. Chutzpah needs to be tempered with discretion and wisdom. It should be a calculated response—and not one that is triggered by anger. I believe both good and bad chutzpah exist. Author Leo Rosten described the most familiar example of the bad: “Chutzpah is that quality enshrined in a man who, having killed his mother and father, throws himself on the mercy of the court as an orphan.” In contrast, good chutzpah is what the prophet Abraham demonstrated when he opposed God’s plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. By standing up to God, Abraham took a grave risk to save lives – even if the people spared were evil and corrupt.
PRINCIPLE #11: CULTIVATE FINGERSPITZENGEFÜHL. Fingerspitzengefühl is a German word that means having an intuitive sense of knowing at the tip of one’s fingers. This is what one-time basketball star and later U.S. Senator Bill Bradley was referring to—albeit in a sporting context—when he said:
When you have played basketball for a while, you don’t need to look at the basket. ... You develop a sense of where you are.
However, like chutzpah, fingerspitzengefühl is not a quality that should be relied upon in all circumstances. Instead, when social entrepreneurs make decisions, they should factor in—but not be overwhelmed by—what feels right. The key to social entrepreneurship is striking a balance between instinct and intellect.
PART ONE
PART TWO
In addition to founding and heading Search for Common Ground, John Marks is a NY Times best-selling and award-winning author, who most recently started the Pro Bono Litigation Corps in partnership with Gary DiBianco under the auspices of Lawyers for Good Government.
