How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas (Hardcover)

Without question, many people are ready to roll up their sleeves and dig in to fix, or at least substantially address, the very problems that evade governments and established institutions.

Some folks, David Bornstein shows us, are doing that all over the world already.

This thoughtful, well-researched book serves up plenty of hope replete with case studies from around the globe. Dig in to this book and you will believe that people with imagination and commitment can make substantial contributions. (Though, despite the author's assertion, it still helps, in a major way, to have connections to those with money or power.)

The book makes the case that a few driven people (who, as Bornstein points out, are not selfless) can make a major impact when more powerful players are either not willing or not capable to do what needs doing.

STORIES OF SOCIAL ACTION

The tapestry woven by Mr. Bornstein is mostly a collection of enlightening biographical profiles of social movers (in India, Brazil, South Africa, Hungary...). You'll find chapters on Florence Nightengale (yes, the 19th century British nurse), Bill Drayton, the founder of Ashoka (the organization that provides much of the foundation for Bornstein's interest and research), and others who've made great contributions with little notice.

Interspersed with the biographical profiles are essays about the phenomenon of social entrepreneuring. There is a chapter describing the "Six Qualities of Successful Social Entrepreneurs" (placed between an account of India's movement to provide access for the disabled, and a profile of former Unicef head James P. Grant).

GRAND MISSIONS, A PRACTICAL OMISSION

Quite surprisingly, what's not to be found in the book is the content promised in its very title: HOW TO. For all the delights to be found in this far-reaching and well-documented work, that's a glaring gap. The title (probably the publisher's fancy) more accurately should have been: "Changing the World" or "People Who Are Making a Difference" or anything else that neither stated nor implied HOW TO.

The book's title is accurate in regard to its reference to changing the world. Bornstein's "How to Change the World" focuses on grand schemes that do demonstrably change parts of the world.

And that's a shortcoming for most of us readers. Profiling extraordinary social entrepreneurs -- whom the book describes as being "possessed" -- is a bit like using the biographies of Ted Turner, Richard Branson, and Bill Gates to make the case that starting a business can make a major impact on the world. You certainly must agree, but you don't really know what to do about it. (Unless the "HOW TO" is to hope and pray that more possessed people step forward to do good works rather than chase more lucrative traditional careers.)

"How to Change the World" definitely is not a primer on how to do good works on a modest scale. In fact, there isn't so much as a sidebar distilling lessons for the aspiring social entrepreneur (something such as "How to Convert Your Own Stirrings Into Social Action"). A quasi-practical-sounding chapter on "Blueprint Copying" essentially says that it's a good idea not to reinvent the wheel if you don't have to.

So I left the book as I started it, still hungry for actionable advice on how to give birth to my own nascent, modestly ambitious, do-gooding idea (creating a tradition -- and mechanism -- whereby every December 26th people donate their unwanted holiday gifts to charities that can redistribute them or otherwise mine them for value. "Gift Back Day" would be a charitable version of England's Boxing Day.)

CONCLUSION

Reading this book, I did come to believe that:

1) Exceptional people with neither high office nor deep pockets (but with unusual drive and maybe some well-placed connections) can accomplish great things -- and are doing that with very impressive results. And

2) The mass media, destructively obsessed with tragedy and failure, has ignored social entrepreneuring while lazily traipsing around the old, familiar bastions of power.

Interestingly, Mr. Bornstein notes in his Conclusion:

"To be sure, some social entrepreneurs seem hard-wired. But countless other people, perhaps less single-minded and obsessive in their focus, share the desire and possess the talent to build and support citizen organizations at all levels."

Yes. And we'll be here waiting for a book that addresses us.

[A related article on the social entrepreneur phenomenon
appeared in the New York Times, December 20, 2003.]

To quote Bornstein, "Across the world, social entrepreneurs are demonstrating new approaches to many social ills and new models to create social wealth, promote social well-being, and restore the environment." What is tremendously energizing is that so many of these change agents already exist and are moving mountains for you and me, and for our children.

The major contribution of the book is that it underlines that one doesn't have to be rich or powerful to alter the current reality. What is required is to feel empathy and concern in high doses, and to recognize and understand a problem. The stories trace how, if one is sufficiently charged, creative ideas for `getting around' problem areas -- be it public apathy or bureaucratic indifference -- flow naturally. The hallmark of a true social entrepreneur really shines through at the next stage, when these ideas are converted into reality.

For Bornstein, these illuminating stories are merely the fireworks display. What he goes on to do is to distill for us the factors that ensure success of any venture -- the do's, the don't's, the must-watch-out-for's, the how-to's. Everything that you ever needed to know about entrepreneuring, but didn't know where to start, is in here. What is the citizen sector and what have been its achievements thus far? What are the qualities of successful social entrepreneurs? What is so cutting-edge about their work that makes their strategy stand apart? Are they really effecting a systems change as against providing band-aid? What are the Four Practices of innovative organizations? Whom do you turn to if you want to become a social entrepreneur?

Bornstein attempts to answer all these, and more. For the very first time ever, we have been given a viable, highly sophisticated blueprint for pattern-changing social action. Bornstein has done the world a service by putting this into the easy reach of anyone who has a conscience.

Policy makers should make note of the book as it offers insights on how to look at problems and problem solving. It is particularly enlightening to note that all the social entrepreneurs in the book have facilitated some form of cross-sectoral partnership, be it with municipal-level governing bodies, state-level government departments, or businesses.

The book also spotlights win-win models of strategic convergence between social good and businesses. Original and ingenious examples of the entrepreneurship process, and its effectiveness of strategy, could serve the business sector well.

For academia, the book throws up diverse areas of social and economic concern that beg a relook and analysis.

The media, saturated as it is with reports of a world gone horribly wrong, could infuse fresh hope and energy with incisive stories on the work of social entrepreneurs.

And for young people, who hold the keys to the world's future, this book is a must-read. At an age when cynicism is almost a virtue, it will inspire them, and hammer home the realization that there is an alternative route to getting meaning from life. By changing others' lives.