getty When it comes to tackling the world’s grandest challenges, most people look to the public sector for answers. A recent Gallup poll found that 54% of Americans want the government to solve more problems.
Conventional wisdom suggests two reasons for this mindset. The first factor is “bigness.” Few organizations can match the resources of the state, which limits the ability of the private sector to address massive global challenges like those identified in the United Nations Millennium Goals .
The second factor is motivation. Multinational corporations sometimes grow sufficiently large to make a difference, but thorny social issues often lack a clear path to profit. People assume that such organizations will have a callous disregard for suffering when they can make easier money elsewhere. Thus, governments must act because the private sector is unable or unwilling to do so.
The executives in my courses often get mired in this way of thinking. As I discuss in a previous column, they sometimes assume a dichotomy between profit and purpose . But another recurring theme in our conversations is reflected in their question: “ What can one person do? ”
Framing the issue as one individual working to solve problems in the world out there can indeed be paralyzing. An alternative is to create more defined boundaries, focusing on your world—the people you meet, the places you go and the things you do that are meaningful to you.
Forthcoming in the Strategic Management Journal, my new research with Audra Wormald and Serguey Braguinsky at University of Maryland and Sonali Shah at the University of Illinois identifies how such a focus helped change the world for the unbanked poor.
Thanks to the creativity and perseverance of a handful of business leaders, financial access in many developing countries today only requires a cellphone. Each of the pioneers who made a difference followed at least three steps in their personal journeys.
Start With Your Own World
Hannes van Rensburg, chief innovation officer at Sanlam, a large life insurance company in South Africa, was charged by his boss to scout for new internet-enabled businesses in 1999. He began his quest by revisiting a hand-picked set of individuals. Choosing strong-willed experts in different knowledge domains willing to challenge him was key. Coalescing these insights into the idea of mobile payments, van Rensburg created Fundamo in 2000 when he was unable to convince his employer to share his newfound purpose.
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