CONSCIOUS INNOVATION

by Servane Mouazan

If you want to learn about culture, listen to the stories

If you want to change the culture change the stories.

Michael Margolies

As I was invited to speak at the recent TechInclusion event in London on the Inclusive Investment Panel, I looked at what the ecosystem of investors, accelerators and entrepreneurs needed to rethink and apply, to develop diverse and inclusive portfolios and investment models. 

The background was technology but I think the reflection around what needs to be done applies to the majority of companies, public services and communities.

It requires a total mindset overhaul, yet it’s very simple:

As I read on a poignant Facebook post written by Antonio Dejada, a grieving father: “Inclusion is not a whim, inclusion is dignity”.

In each community, someone needs to go the extra mile to develop empathy, care, and above all, make space.

The TechInclusion event has prompted me to reflect on various conversations and interactions in my networks and draw out 12 insights, and great behaviours that exemplify inclusion in practice. If you’re serious about changing people’s worlds for the better through your work ask yourself, “how many of these traits can my organization demonstrate?” .

By Servane Mouazan

Confidence = capacity to overcome obstacles and gain assurance (in a particular area)

“Lack of confidence” is the mantra that drags us down and defines us in times of uncertainty, like the crash from a bad synthetic drug.

Confidence issues pop up when you start-up, when contracts are refused, when you can’t measure your impact in ways that you would have liked. Confidence is shattered when someone else does it better than you, or when your health is breaking you apart.

Confidence questions also touch you when you are growing, when you are in front of investors, when your business expands, or when you no longer know if you are fit for purpose.

Our goal at Ogunte is to work with women so that they recognise themselves as genuine agents of change, exercising power and influence to change people’s worlds for the better.

We’ve found out that confidence is a volatile currency. When it is damaged, we must look deep inside ourselves to assess what is really going on and rebuild it.

One big mistake though is too believe that you are “someone who lacks confidence”.

It’s impossible.

The truth is most of you, your brain, your body is confident about something. What may drag you down is one area (or two) in your life, and that makes you feel… maybe not at your best. But it is not definitive. And it certainly shouldn’t define you.

This is why in our sessions with women in social enterprises, we include exercises that enable you to explore your personal foundations and grow that confidence.

Servane Mouazan

Viability and ongoing sustainability: the capacity for living, developing, or germinating under favourable conditions.

In a recent interview for Ogunte, Chinwe Ohajuruka, founder and CEO of Comprehensive Design Services, says that the struggle for many social entrepreneurs is to, “deliver a socially impactful service profitably”. 

If you are not on top of this struggle you are not leading a social enterprise, but a generous project that – if not robustly addressed - will eventually have a sustainability crisis, putting your beneficiaries at risk of no longer being supported, and you at risk of burning out and having to go and sign on.

At Ogunte, we facilitate interventions that help women contribute to welfare in the community of their choice. We also help women to review their design and operational practices in order to be more sustainable.

In our support programmes (for groups or individuals), we focus on the elements you need to put in place for a viable and sustainable venture. Here is a list of questions that we share with our clients, it is not exhaustive! Check through the list and see whether you’ve got everything covered:

By Servane Mouazan

‘A ten-year plan is absurd. A ten-year commitment is precisely what’s required if you want to be sure to make an impact’ Seth Godin

 In our #5Pillars series, we are highlighting elements of the roadmap that make women in social enterprises succeed and more likely to deliver. But success is not just about impacting positively upon your immediate beneficiaries, or clients, it also means paving the way for future generations. It’s about triggering lasting change, shifting attitudes, and accepting that eventually your social enterprise should be made redundant. You are working 24/7 to make yourself disappear.

So how can you define successful leadership in this context? What strategies do you need to singlemindedly promote your cause whilst also engaging with the rest of the world?

How can you talk about your achievements whilst staying humble and acknowledging that you are only been contributing a part to the solution, not solving it all? Or not yet, at least.

How can you align your actions during the day, with what is going through your head, and your actions in private?

By Servane Mouazan 

“There is nothing more negligent than attempting to address a problem one finds on a branch than by censoring the leaves.” 

Saul Williams

I was asked one day: why do you talk about a “sense of connectedness”? Isn’t it about your networking skills? Get good contacts for your business, know when and where to show up, and grow your business with all the knowledge, the wisdom and the opportunities you have gathered?

There’s that… and much more.

by Servane Mouazan

There are opportunities even in the most difficult moments.  Wangari Maathai

As many countries are experiencing tough and uncertain times, there is no self-indulgence in taking a step back to explore how you can learn better, grow your impact, and take care of yourself (yes, take time for yourself) and others (the people you support) better.

It’s worth remembering that social enterprise ecosystems flourish when:

1) there are many issues in the community that need solving. Places with optimal well-being and prosperity (though they are rare) see fewer social enterprises popping up, don’t they?

2) individuals take focused actions, professionalize their activism, and use economic tools to create viable solutions.

3) there is a will among various stakeholder groups, including the state, to reduce red tape, break silos, and push for creative solutions on the ground.

In this interview on Pioneers Post, Servane Mouazan, CEO Ogunte CIC discusses with June O’ Sullivan from London Early Years Foundation and breaks down the arguments.

“Because investment panels are not supposed to be ‘dude fests’!  Let’s reframe the question: why would a panel that is supposed to make a judgment on the capacity of a company to make future financial and social returns base its decisions solely on the views of an unrepresentative sample of the population?