The Lost Generation

We think that this is pretty close to brilliant...
A palindrome can be read the same way in either direction - however this video reads exactly the opposite in each direction - opposite in reading and meaning all at once.
It was submitted into a contest titled 'U @ 50' by a 20 year old and won second place.

We at On Purpose wonder what came in first as we think this is clever, simple and stunningly executed - and do you think the 1st place piece has had over 13million hits?

Social Entrepreneurism

What does the future hold for social entrepreneurship?  UnLtd, a foundation for social entrepreneurs, is known for its broad definition of who those social entrepreneurs are:  people who lead positive change in society or the environment.  Cliff Prior, CEO of UnLtd, shared his views with the Associates, culminating with the 4 biggest debates in sector:

Is a social entrepreneur defined by the act of starting a social enterprise?

According to UnLtd, this approach is too narrow!  What about those people who start social businesses or at the other end of the spectrum, community organisations. How about people starting social projects within other organizations?  Or projects which do not classify as enterprises?  Should they necessarily be excluded from the term ‘social entrepreneur’? This is about people being entrepreneurial for social value, everything else is a detail.

What legal structure is best?

Some think that it is better to make stuff happen as quickly as possible and favour using equity-sharing companies to generate the most impact in the shortest time.  A second view is that an asset-lock is essential in ensuring that no person privately gains from the existence of social ventures.  A third view explores the question of beneficiary ownership of the entity (most commonly seen in the co-operative model).  UnLtd’s view is to be open!  People will choose the right model for their purpose.  Often, equity investment is necessary to achieve scale.

Is scaling UP or OUT better?

Scaling up through franchising and replicating social ventures may prove the way of the future, but we need to also consider moving towards a “scaling out” model where a lot of passionate people do a lot of little things to sustain working models of social enterprise.

Should great innovators be more highly regarded than replicators of innovation?

Some schools of thought truly believe that a core element in the definition of a social entrepreneur is the proven ability to innovate and in so doing, change the terms of the sector and society.  However those who replicate innovation manage to take those ideas and carry them out more efficiently.  They represent that small group of people who make things happen as opposed to just thinking about them.

Cliff also spoke to us about the funding options available for early-stage projects.  UnLtd’s funding program resembles a pyramid, providing small grants to many people, and only backing a few of the best ones with large sums and in-kind support.  Other organizations follow the incubator type model of funding, picking a few people as potential high flyers and focusing intensive support on them as a cohort.

Cliff left us with a few words of inspiration for the budding social entrepreneurs in the room:  Have a lean design, learn from your competitors, and don’t wait until you’re ready because you never will be.

Putting a spring in our step…

As ever, we were welcomed with open arms at the recently (re)christened ‘Spring’. Fuelled by the bounty of the Vauxhall Garden Community Café, we set about further developing the quality of our relationships within our immediate On Purpose ‘family’ (Tom, and the Associates). Facilitated by the ethereal Darius (CEO of Real World Magazine), intent on nudging us from our ‘over-educated, analytical minds’, to a state of experience and instinct. I doubt any of us had anticipated how he would tease out our approach to: future personal development sessions, or; how the Associates could better support each other.


The constructive tone was set by each of us contributing one thing, from both our professional and personal lives, that had recently gone well. Having enjoyed this quick-fire check-in on how everyone’s doing, we agreed this practice would be adopted whenever we met in future.


It soon became apparent; practice was the name of the game. An array of possible techniques were presented to us by (Sofia, Matt Darius), including story telling in the first person, The Work, ritual rites of passage, meditation on personal strengths and weaknesses, Action Learning (Clore Foundation Social Enterprise Fellowship approach), group exercises around ‘I’m brilliant… You’re brilliant…’, feedback, Aikido, and ‘I’m pretending…’. It was emphasised, only through the concerted effort of practice would the learning from these interventions become purposeful to our personal development.


While peer feedback was requested by all the Associates in monthly reviews, and future personal development opportunities pay heed to the variety of techniques outlined above, the afternoon was spent with two particular practices: Aikido and ‘I’m pretending…’.


Aikido: playful arm wrestling ‘unbendable arm’ demonstrated the first four stages of achieving outcomes with increasing ease:
-Against (opposing the force of another, and straining in the process);
-In spite of (opposing/ ignoring) the force of another, while focusing your energy on your own aim);
-With (using the energy of another, to further your own aim);
-Aiki (combining with the energy of another, to create something new. The plank extension exercises looked at applying our learning to following, leading and collaborating to greater effect.


‘I’m pretending…’: create sincere intention among the group, enabling accumulative declarations by each individual.


The accrued intimacy over the course of this session will no doubt stand us in better stead to both ask for, and anticipate support requests of our fellow Associates.