BLOGSHARE: Convergence, Tribes and the Impact Revolution
Ben Carpenter Social Value International CEO reflects on the challenges of a growing movement. Impact thinking is being adopted rapidly across new sectors with new players. How do we react?
Imagine lots of people walking towards the centre of a circle. They all have different starting points but are converging into the middle and are starting to meet and collide. This is the scene described by Sir Ronald Cohen this week as he described the state of impact measurement and thinking. Convergence around principles and impact theory was a theme echoed by many this week at the OECD Conference #PF4S. Unsurprisingly, another re-occurring theme was the different tribes we all belong to and so this short blog is a reflection on what needs to happen as our tribes collide.
As human beings we are naturally tribal, we take comfort from belonging to a group of similar people with similar views. The impact world is no different. There’s the evaluation tribe(s) operating mainly in the non-profit/academic worlds, there’s the accountants mixing (occasionally) with the corporate sustainability professionals and there’s the policy makers, investors, the big data enthusiasts, technologists and many more.