News on The Edge
As we prepare to launch into 2010, now is the time to reflect on the wonderful conversations and thoughtful debates the Social Edge community has engaged in during 2009. Here is your Social Entrepreneurship Top 10, the ten discussions that provoked the most passionate comments.
Five of these discussions were hosted by Rod Schwartz, CEO of ClearlySo in London, while our friend Charles (Hipbone) Cameron hosted three. Paul Lamb and Peter Deitz each hosted one.
Revisit your Top 10 now, because they serve as foundations for the difficult work you are trying to accomplish!
1. Are the Only Innovations in Social Entrepreneurship Anglo-Saxon?
In the most provocative conversation ever on Social Edge, Rod Schwartz wonders whether it’s true that the UK and the US truly lead in innovation in social entrepreneurship.
2. Partnering with Business
Is it like dancing with the devil? Is it exploitation or cooperation?
3. The Charismatic Entrepreneur
As social ventures mature, founders may stifle innovation and endanger the enterprise’s future. Rod Schwartz asks: is charisma a blessing or a curse?
4. Do we Really Need More Money?
Ask any entrepreneur, and the answer is always an emphatic “yes.” But Rod Schwartz thinks that we may be missing an opportunity here…
5. Is a “Social Economy” Really Possible?
Rod Schwartz wonders where the big success stories, the social sector equivalents of Google or Facebook, can be found –if at all.
6. A New Role for Government?
As US President Obama was being sworn in, Charles (Hipbone) Cameron asked whether governments should actively encourage social entrepreneurship. A year later, the question remains timely.
7. Who will build a more efficient marketplace?
Charles (Hipbone) Cameron wants us to identify who will be stepping up to make the sector more efficient.
8. Alternative Economic Structures
Always a lateral thinker, Charles (Hipbone) Cameron wonders how the moral insights of the world’s religions can be assimilated into the global economic system.
9. Religion and Technology Divide
Paul Lamb wonders what meaningful and impactful work might come out of a dialogue between spiritual leaders and technologists.
10. Competition or Collaboration?
In another vibrant discussion, Peter Deitz questions if it is really possible for social ventures to collaborate.