Hosted at Hollyhock, June 8 – 12, SCI brought together a group of 55 remarkably diverse individuals, each of whom is working on one or more of the most significant challenges we face: From the need to rethink our organizations and how they’re structured, to unification of distinct generations in service of challenges bigger than each of them, to the recognition that adaptation to climate change will be as challenging as reversing it, the questions posed at SCI required both widely expansive thinking and deep, personal engagement. And it is precisely there that the greatest lessons of SCI 2011 began.

To engage our biggest challenges (global climate change, violent revolution and conflict, urban poverty and degradation, and so many others), each individual must engage far beyond themselves—and far beyond their individual organizations. For no individual or single organization has the answers. Yet to engage others and to develop coalitions and collaborations, we must first be intimately connected with ourselves: We must know our own strengths and limitations; we must be ready to evolve, change and learn; and we must be aware that important, powerful work requires energized, objective perspectives. It’s all too easy to get lost in the big picture.

The ‘excruciating joy’ of SCI came from the conference’s remarkable design: Over the course of five days, the cohort moved from abstract, theoretical, big picture thinking to strategic discussions of organizational capacity and design, to focused ‘inner work.’ The alignment of purpose and passion in these successive layers of complexity was exciting and inspiring but also challenging. The expertise and dedication of conveners Stina Brown, Joel Solomon and Cara Pike made possible rare conversations and connections. Putting the personal into the organizational context, and the organizational into the global was a massive shifting of perspective for some. Many left Hollyhock humbled beyond belief, inspired beyond words, and ready to take up new modes of thinking, working and collaborating.

Collaboration itself was another key theme. In the face of the most complex problems mankind has ever confronted, simple answers don’t exist. Instead, effective resolutions require careful study and sensitive responses; “emergent practices” will present themselves as they percolate up out of wide-reaching collaborations. Yet, collaboration itself is elusive: As western mindsets continue to push for control of leadership, management and strategy, we simultaneously forestall inclusive and appropriate adaptations. As we explored together what those adaptations might be, we explored history, philosophy, management practices, group psychology, and so much more. The vast integrations made for densely scheduled days, and long, energized nights.

Sometimes, the adaptations we need will appear in enduring organizations—the ‘red dwarves’ that burn long and bright, fading only as their energy expires. (A metaphor presented in the opening plenary by Purpose’s Alnoor Ladha.) At other times, they’ll flash into being like ‘super novae,’ momentarily catalyzing massive change and evolution, before being shuttered, and allowing the energy that created them to move on to the next big thing. The very recognition that our organizations may or may not be required to endure—that strategy can be short term or long term, and indeed is stronger for this perspective—was a vital lesson for many at Social Change Institute.

As I return from Hollyhock into my work, I’m struggling to reconcile the seemingly boundless capacity of the SCI delegates with the every day minutiae of running a company. But I’m inspired and energized by the ‘Positive Mammals’ who showed up, and I’m grateful for our community.

It’s been nearly three years since I first visited Hollyhock—for Social Venture Institute, an experience about which I’ve posted before. Then, I was amazed and grateful to find a deeply like-minded group of individuals who were driven to unite the value of business with the business of values, to use our companies for the collective good. On returning from SCI this week, I have encountered (or realized) a new version of myself—one infinitely more comfortable in complexity, and spectacularly more effective. As is often the case, we knew when leaving Hollyhock that ‘reentry’ might be difficult. It is. It’s excruciating. Excruciating and joyful.

Octopus Strategies is proud to sponsor Social Change Institute and Social Venture Institute. Join us at Hollyhock in September for what promises to be another breakthrough gathering of visionary leaders and social entrepreneurs.

Junxion Strategy principals, David Kuefler and Peter ter Weeme, are back. They’ve returned to Canada following a six-month sabbatical in Asia. During their sojourn they visited several countries including two of the world’s fastest growing economies, China and India.

David and Peter are sharing what they’ve learned through blog postings and a highly-visual presentation they’ve developed for interested audiences. They look forward to bringing their insights to clients and colleagues alike over the coming months.

I put it a slightly different way: “Traditional business is a flightless baboon,” I said. (It’s a long story!) “I’m interested in the evolutionary next step.” And I believe it’s social enterprise.

The nature of ‘social entrepreneurship’ is as diverse as the individuals who adopt the moniker. Each of us can choose how we’ll build our organizations, but what we all hold in common is a purpose beyond profit, and an open, collaborative approach to resolving issues of sustainability. Yet it is the diversity that makes this burgeoning sector so hard to pin down. And so fascinating.

Consider the speakers and panelists in attendance at SEE 2009:

• Ray Williams, Co-Founder of Success IQ University.
• Elizabeth Lougheed Green, Founder and former Executive Director of Potluck Cafe & Catering, and now Manager of Social Enterprise at the Vancity Community Foundation.
• Ken Lyotier, Founder of United We Can.
• Mickey McLeod, Founder of Salt Spring Coffee.
• Donovon Wollard, COO of Offsetters.
• Janice Abbott, Executive Director of Atira Women’s Resource Society, and CEO of Atira Property Management Inc.
• Brian Smith, Social Enterprise Developer at Building Opportunities with Business.

Diverse, talented, successful and inspiring, each of these speakers had the rapt attention of an audience of undergraduate students from no fewer than six post-secondary institutions—and one noteworthy high school student already fascinated with social enterprise.

So what is it that’s bringing social enterprise to the fore—finally? After so many years of markets watching and waiting for pioneers to try and fail, it seems that overnight, ‘social enterprise,’ ‘social ventures,’ ‘sustainable enterprise,’ and numerous other buzz words seem to be top-of-mind.

We point to three distinct trends that have aligned to push business to a tipping point: First and foremost is the climate crisis. While many have been warning for decades that we are on a collision course with serious ecological trauma, it was clearly former US Vice President Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth catapulted climate change into the centre of consumer awareness. But it may not have been sufficient to ignite sustainable enterprise.

The second trend is a direct result of the past year’s financial meltdown: Consumer spending patterns have shifted in a way that’s atypical for post-Depression recessions. According to a recent Harvard Business Review article, even the affluent have cut their spending during this recession. Is the consumption economy seeing a backlash?

Third is the incredible sweep and scope of Internet-enabled social networks. Whereas a decade ago, firms who fell afoul of consumer opinion could ‘spin’ their way out of trouble, the Facebook generation moves way too fast for companies to get away with anything less than totally forthright operations and communications.

Put these three together, and we arrive at a phenomenal opportunity to redefine the social license by which businesses operate.

Smart companies see the opportunity in the change. And more than 70 sharp minds had a first hand Social Enterprise Experience of their own on November 21.

We enjoyed MC-ing the day. Primarily because it was so gratifying to see young, energetic minds opening up to the possibilities of a sustainable economy.