The Social Innovation Imperative: Create Winning Products and Services That Solve Society's Most Pressing Challenges

“This book is a must read for anyone who cares about the well-being of humanity in our modern world.”
—Jake B. Schrum, President Southwestern University, Georgetown, TX

“The Social Innovation Imperative advances a best practice framework to solving the world’s most pressing social issues. This is a foundational guide to changing the world that will be referenced for years to come.”
—Michael Reynolds, Vice President, Product Development and Management, Cigna Health Care

“Advancing the works of Clayton Christensen, Tony Ulwick, and others, Bates gives us a systematic approach for addressing critical human needs and the ecosystems in which they persist. This book is a blueprint to help us solve the ‘right’ things—the ‘right’ way.”
—Joe Grieshop, President, Chief Innovation Executive, netTrekker, Founding Partner, Knovation Lab

“Bates lays out a comprehensive, needs-driven approach for creating a social innovation road map. The detailed templates she provides offer particular insight for large, complex challenges.”
—Sarah Miller Caldicott, author of Innovate Like Edison and Inventing The Future, great-grandniece of Thomas Edison

“Bates shows how to create comprehensive innovation strategies using a six-step framework, and she gives the reader detailed ‘how to’ instruction for each step.”
—Ellen Domb, Ph.D., President, PQR Group, Founder of The TRIZ Journal

About the Book:

In recent years, business leaders have been investing unprecedented amounts of time and money pursuing innovation to drive profits and growth. Although far from perfected, the innovation best practices they follow are by now well established.

But when your expected ROI isn’t measured in dollars but in social good, the game is played very differently—which is where The Social Innovation Imperative comes in.

Sandra M. Bates has spent the last decade helping major corporations create new markets for technology, consumer goods, and services. Now, she turns her attention to the social sector. The Social Innovation Imperative begins by explaining why innovation in social sectors, such as health care, conservation, and education, is unique and then provides the framework and tools that create a best practice for driving innovative change that will impact our world.

Bates organizes the process into action-oriented steps you can follow to meet your goals effectively and in the most efficient manner possible. Learn how to:

Investigate the Needs—define the social challenge, determine unmet needs, and examine opportunities for achieving them
Innovate the Solution—devise a workable solution and develop a powerful social business model
Implement the Solution—ensure the solution creates shared value and discover techniques to make certain that it does not become an orphan innovation

In The Social Innovation Imperative, Bates combines everything she has learned as a high-level business consultant to offer a refreshing new approach for developing breakthrough products, programs, and services to meet society’s needs.

The Framework for Social Innovation outlined in this book removes the mystery from innovation success and provides a systematic approach anyone can adopt. The Social Innovation Imperative offers essential wisdom for innovators everywhere—whether nonprofits, NGOs, foundations, government agencies, or corporations—who wish to generate meaningful social value.

Sandra M. Bates has worked with more than 50 companies, spanning dozens of industries, and more than 100 innovation initiatives, helping executive teams launch award-winning products, services, and programs. She most recently founded The Innovation Partners, a group focused on generating social impact through innovation. Bates was also the executive director and cofounder of the Strategyn Institute, where she engaged and trained hundreds of executives in the Outcome-Driven Innovation methodology, allowing her to enjoy both consulting and teaching others.