social innovation

A DesignJam presentation

How can we create and be part of business that is financially rewarding, socially responsive, and environmentally regenerative — flourishing business? In this workshop we will explore and experience a new visual studio approach to designing flourishing business.

Attendance is first come, first served, and registration is free (with a refundable deposit), via Eventbrite.
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Participants will explore a prototype visual design process for Appreciative Inquiry in designing flourishing enterprises and business models. The objective is to enable leaders and collaborative teams systematicallyto envision and design the factors necessary to facilitate transformation toward the flourishing enterprise. We introduce collaborative, visual sense making tools and processes developed at OCAD U by the Strongly Sustainable Business Model Group – specifically the Flourishing Business Canvas.

Come discover next-generation collaborative visual design tools for modeling flourishing enterprises in any sector. You'll be equipped to begin using the processes and tools to evaluate enterprises, and to envision new initiatives. Participants will:

• Learn and understand an innovative approach to co-creating business models for flourishing enterprises, based on economic, social, and environmentally-effective design principles
• Gain an expanded appreciation of the challenges facing leaders as they move their organizations toward flourishing, and a set of tools for managing those challenges
• Discover the next generation collaborative visual model design tools for modelling flourishing enterprises in any sector
• Be equipped to begin use the tool after the workshop in the evaluation of existing enterprises, and to envision new initiatives

Participants will explore the design and elements of flourishing enterprises by co-creating business model concepts with a new visual design tool that supports an organization’s inquiry and movement toward strong sustainability[1]. In small groups we will discover the challenges imposed on current business models by current socio-cultural-economic norms, and review some key future design principles required for flourishing business models.

We will then explore an expanded set of business model elements required to describe a flourishing enterprise included in the tool. Attendees will gain practical experience using a case study of a certified Benefit (B) Corporation. Such companies share a goal of creating a more environmentally, social and economically impactful enterprise, consistent with the aims of strong sustainability. In groups we'll envision a future business model – selecting a case to work on – using the tool and design principles to define elements that enable flourishing outcomes for all human and non-human stakeholders. Participants will take away their work as a case study and "leadership lens" for their own organization’s inquiry. All will be invited to share in an appreciative design critique of the tools, and offer feedback for its evolution and further development.

About the Facilitators

Stephen Davies is Managing Director of Transformation by Design, a business design consultancy based in Toronto. His practice is powered by 25+ years of management consulting experience across a wide variety of sectors. Mr. Davies teaches Strategy Development in OCAD University’s MDes Strategic Foresight & Innovation program. He is a Certified Master Designer and Facilitator for the Team Syntegrity process invented by Professor Stafford Beer, the founder of Management Cybernetics.

Antony Upward is a recent graduate of York University with a Masters of Environmental Studies in Business Model Design and Sustainability. He is a Certified Management Consultant with 26 years’ experience in the design and implementation of management information systems for companies such as Apple, Bell Canada, CGI and AT&T. Anthony is an OCAD University Industry Partner and a co-founder of sLab’s Strongly Sustainable Business Model Group. He is a Sustainability Business Architect and Principal of Edward James Consulting Ltd., a flourishing enterprise design consultancy in Toronto.

[1] Strong sustainability, a term defined by Ecological Economists, defines the conditions for a flourishing and resilient society. Resilient, strong, sustainable society is defined as “the possibility for human and all other life to flourish on this planet forever” –John Ehrenfeld.

When it comes to social innovation, who defines what’s a good outcome? For whom? What makes a good solution to a tough social problem? Is effective the same as good? How can we be explicit about the values underpinning solutions? What makes a good innovation team?

Are ‘us’ consultants, designers, innovators gaining more than end users? Are we creating a new professional class that perpetuates some of what we critique? How do we know? Sarah Schulman will guide a conversation to explore answers to some of these questions, all with a generous helping of stories and collected insights.

About the Presenter:

Sarah Schulman is a serial social entrepreneur the co-founder of InWithFor that was based out of TACSI for the last 3 or so years. There she led highly successfully lab initiatives: Family by Family (at-risk Families) and Weavers (Aging). Sarah is now temporarily based out of Kennisland in Amsterdam as a visiting scholar and recently organized and designed Lab2, a gathering of the top lab practitioners and thought leaders from around the world (this included folks from HDL, Nesta, etc....) that took place last week. She was recently in Singapore helping to set up a working lab there. She is now in deep reflection mode and has been blogging on her personal blog, NESTA and Kennisland. Sarah is working towards publishing her next book – tentatively called The Good, the Bad, and the Feedback. She is a graduate of Stanford University (BA Human Biology, MA Education) and Oxford University (DPhil Social Policy) and was a Rhodes Scholar.

Strongly Sustainable Business Model Group (SSBMG) At Strategic Innovation Lab (sLab), one group has chosen to explore sustainability from the perspective of business models. SSBMG focuses primarily on the middle and bottom of the pyramid of organizations including start-up, SMB and SME categories. The group includes industry practitioners, faculty and graduate students from OCAD University’s Strategic Foresight & Innovation program, as well as from York University.