In Defence of Social Enterprise
There was a recent stir on social media when TDi hosted a forum that challenged the current state of Social Enterprise. Within this forum, there was a sense that social enterprise is a failed idea and those who pursue it have become ‘self-obsessed’ and had left those trying to work with social enterprises feeling ‘disappointed’.
These remarks and the general attitude that social enterprise is a failure is what is truly disappointing. The generalisation that social enterprises are more interested in themselves rather than in their own impact is also disappointing. The narrow selection of a few representatives who have clearly made up their mind about social enterprise is disappointing further still. This forum, and the resulting articles have essentially attempted to throw the social enterprise concept under the bus.
If the attitude we should adopt is that social enterprise as a term is dead in the water, what are we to do? Do we adopt a new term, use it for a few years until its decided that it has become ‘niche’, ‘self-obsessed’ or ‘disappointing’? Herein lies the fundamental flaw with this argument, I am all for a constructive conversation about what changes are required for any sector to thrive and the profit-for-purpose sector is most certainly an area that would benefit from this discussion. However, using a broad brush to paint social enterprise in a negative way will not lead to positive change.
If I have learnt anything in my brief career it is that in any context, provocation feeds division and alienation, which ultimately leads to a less collaborative environment. Are the best results achieved when we take pot shots at each other and retreat into our silos? I don’t think so.
We need a constructive, inclusive and respectful debate about what we need to change about our sector, rather than getting caught up in semantics and generalisations.
I attended the Social Enterprise conference last week which spurred on many positive conversations and debate about what we do in this sector- this is how we achieve positive change and if I took anything away from last week it is that Social Enterprise as a concept is not going anywhere, so:
Writer and environmental engineer, recycling, regeneration to heal landscapes and people, forming community
6yWell said Evan. Too often these grenades are thrown in just to advance some self-interested cause. Quite the hypocrisy! Sure, let's talk about how we make every business "for purpose", or how we strengthen the industry so that it can deliver on its promise. But let's not decide that we don't like the term just for the sake of semantics and finding somebody within the sector to carve out and mock. Reminds of the Monty Python sketch in Life of Brian: "the People's Liberation Front of Judea - splitters!"