Meghan is the CEO and cofounder of the social organization Dare to Innovate. They are tackling unemployment youth problems in West Africa. Meghan knows that it is impossible for government or private sectors alone to solve these problems, and she is trying to help youth to go from job seekers to job creators.

Dare to Innovate is helping youth to see the potential in new ideas or businesses. For Meghan, calling things by their name is fundamental. She says that if we name “youth as a problem, they’re going to be a problem, but if we name them innovators they are going to be innovators” (talking about self-fulfilling prophecy, right?).

How is Dare to Innovate tackling the opportunities in West Africa? The first thing has been creating the compelling need for new businesses to measure both financial and social impact. And the second is that they focus their training and conversations around a human-centered ideation process. This latter step helps entrepreneurs and innovators to understand a problem they are passionate about and want to be working on and “dedicate their careers to fix it”, as Meghan says. This approach empowers youth to become problem solvers.

Dare to Innovate’s program has a very, very interesting component: it includes mindfulness at the beginning of each session as a cornerstone of the learning process. Meghan says that they send the participants of their programs “to spend one hour in nature to reflect about what they’ve learned”. Fascinating!

Also, the program includes people from very different backgrounds. As Meghan says, “the way ideas come into this world is bringing different perspectives and skillsets together… and it’s the unique combination of these elements what helps create something new…”.

You can contact Meghan McCormick via her LinkedIn profile. And click here to visit Dare to Innovate.

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Did you recently take a selfie? Or a groupie? Say thank you to Steven Sasson, one of the engineers who created the early versions of digital photography. Steven is one of the inventors who truly transformed the world. My conversation with him in the podcast shows how innovation and invention are rather a long-term journey that requires a lot of patience and resiliency. Steven says that you have to “believe in your idea and pay attention to the challenges”.

There are many entrepreneurs in the same place where Steven was 41 years ago: working on something they love, without any certainty about future success. Steven says that even though he couldn’t be sure about the future of his invention, nobody ever told him why it wouldn’t work. And so, he says to believe in your idea and its potential. That is actually the first takeaway of my conversation with him: believe in your ideas. “Nobody is going to believe in a new idea if you don’t” says Steven.

Steven also says that inventors need to be open-minded and always listen to things and people challenging the ideas. It is very likely that with every development of a product, the initial idea would have evolved into something better, and different from the original version. Entrepreneurs need to be comfortable with that. It’s a combination of believing in your idea, and being open-minded to see it evolve and become better.

The third idea is that entrepreneurs need to persevere. Steven says that very often entrepreneurs will have face roadblocks, and they won’t have an answer for them. He also comments that all around the world there are many people inventing something somewhere, even in different fields. And that one of those inventions could remove the roadblock ahead.

The fourth takeaway is about building patience. Steven says that “perseverance is absolutely critical and that you to have the evangelist of your idea”. He also says large organizations are inherently uncomfortable with new ideas. He says that innovators can’t expect an organization to embrace a new idea right away. Together with patience, innovators need an understanding of the culture of the organization or the industry they are working with. Steven suggests presenting ideas in the simplest way possible, making them as “culturally palatable” as possible, in order to make them more familiar.

Steven also suggests to enlist help. To find people that resonates with idea. People who can be early supporters of the idea, knowing that there might not be enough data to validate it.

Finally, Steven explains that selling idea for which there’s not supporting data requires understanding of the audience, paying attention to their needs and crafting the message accordingly. He mentioned how he used the title “filmless photography” when he presented digital photography technology to Kodak Eastman’s Executives… a company that depended 100% on filmed photographs!

Some of Steven’s ideas that I loved the most during our conversation are:

“…not everybody is against you… it’s just that everybody wants to see what the limits of your idea are. So, be comfortable working at the limits of your ideas…” And

“most inventors spend most of their time being wrong… Inventors know more about why don’t work than why they do, because they usually explored all the ways something shouldn’t work before they find the one that does…” and my favorite one

“experts know the limits of an idea, they know the limits of a technology on an area of expertise… what you are proposing is something that goes over that fence and lands considerably in the field beyond it… The expert to some extent can tell you why you can’t get over that fence right in front of you, but they can’t explain to you why you can’t make progress once you are over that fence… And to some extent you’ve listened to the expert, but also you’ve balanced that with your own belief in your idea…”

Alejandra Lopez and Nisma Elias are young entrepreneurs working in social innovation and development. They and other colleagues created an initiative sponsored by the World Bank called Connect to Implement Development (C2IDev). The initiative started in Uganda by providing support and business training to 27 entrepreneurs. They targeted youth, since 77% of the Ugandan population is young, and youth unemployment is high. Their focus on women was especially relevant in the project.

The goal of C2IDev is to tackle youth unemployment through entrepreneurship, technology and innovation. They have a special focus on targeting women and marginalized youth. Its aim is to empower youth to grow their ideas into jobs through training, mentoring, and financing. Exciting features of the project included hosting a “Shark-Tank” inspired pitch competition. Finally, they also used design thinking to push the young entrepreneurs out of their comfort zone.

I asked Alejandra and Nisma what was unique about their project. One of the unique factors was their partnership with Stanford Design School and local development organizations. Most importantly, they implemented a “multiplier” effect. That means that every entrepreneur participating in the program had to train at least two more of their team members. Therefore, this would ensure knowledge and information reaching out to more people. As a result, they expect increased collaboration and ideas.

Nisma Elias is a Junior Professional Associate at the World Bank. Alejandra Lopez is a Consultant at the Inter-American Development Bank.

Check out these links: Short video on the project, Featured Article at the World Bank, Website, Blog and Facebook. You can contact Alejandra or Nisma via their LinkedIn profiles.

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Note: The Cooling Hut project was not done by Grameen Intel, but another team.

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Marcelo Cabrol is close to turn 50, and with more curiosity than ever for the ideas that can transform the world. He is especially interested in the ideas to solve the many compelling social issues that our world faces. I asked Marcelo how to achieve transformation in the world in order to solve social issues. He says that there are two fundamental elements: understanding the problems we are trying to solve and listening.

Marcelo tells the story about how the conversation about development has dramatically shifted over the past ten years. There are more participants in the dialogue around poverty and that’s a huge opportunity to enrich the conversation. That is why “everyone interested in development must become a student of the problems”, says Marcelo. And that means deeply understanding the causes of those problems. There’s no substitute for deep understanding of the problems when entrepreneurs are getting ready to sale their ideas for development. Then, the ability to listen is essential to find a solution, together with an open mind to the many ideas that are sprouting everywhere to solve the problems.

In Marcelo’s words, achieving social transformation is a combination of deep understanding and deep listening. He uses one of his dearest fields, education, to explain how this powerful combination can transform an entire sector and adapt it to the new demands and needs of the 21st century.

You can connect with Marcelo via his LinkedIn profile or email him at [email protected].

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Richard Hull says that real social innovation needs empathy and understanding of the people and context upon which we want to make a difference. Richard is the Director of the Master’s Program in Social Entrepreneurship at Goldsmiths in the University of London. One of the things that I found most interesting about his program is the motto of thinking of social entrepreneurship “outside of the box”, which Richard explains during the podcast.

Richard describes the strong connection that exists between creativity, which is the foundation of the program, and social entrepreneurship. Particularly, even though there’s a lot of innovation, creativity and technology that is very visible, Richard says that there’s a lot of work going on quietly in the background and it is important to understand its lessons.

Richard talks about the example of participatory market development approaches, where the design of innovation revolves around the poorest and most marginalized people. He mentions how some western technologies are dumped in developed markets, becoming totally inappropriate. Richard highlights that it is fundamental to create the innovations with the people who are going to end up using them, rather than imposing on them.

Richard mentions that real social innovation comes from immersing into the context in which we want to work and that we want to change. Social innovation requires the full development of empathy with the context in which we want to make a difference.

If you want to contact Richard, you can find in him in Twitter or Goldsmiths at the University of London.

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Alison Gold is a cross-sector changemaker. She brings together people from different industries, areas of expertise and knowledge, because collaboration is fundamental to solve complex problems. Alison says that on tackling complex problems (also known in design thinking jargon as “wicked problems”) there are many things that need to be tried to understand the type of solution that can make a change, and that truly matters.

Alison tells us how one of her mentors once told her that “you have to start somewhere, and follow it everywhere” as a way to understand that problems are interconnected with many variables, and others problems. She says that it is fundamental to incorporate people with diverse perspectives in order to understand all of those connections, rather than seeing only one cause or perspective.

Collaboration is critical to successfully implement change and solutions. And Alison says that this type of high level collaboration is not only between the experts in certain areas, but also includes those who are actually living within the conditions created by those problems. Alison thinks that just building such a strong team is profound in itself. That is why building relationships is one of the fundamental steps in solving complex problems.

One of Alison’s role in Presidio Institute is helping individuals within organizations to develop their abilities and skills to build alliances and relationships in order to be able to collaborate more effectively. She explains that people in an organization with the task of solving complex problems must bring to the table other people and build a common understanding around that problem, regardless of why they came to the table in the first place.

I particularly love when Alison says that very often people see collaboration with a deficit mentality, meaning that when they can’t do something themselves they seek to collaborate. Collaboration actually generates more work, and at the same time more sustainable, well-thought and relevant solutions.

Alison is the Manager of Leadership Education, Presidio Institute at Presidio Trust and you can contact her via email [email protected], Twitter or LinkedIn.

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Amy Kaherl is the Executive Director of Detroit Soup, in Detroit. Amy started SOUP in 2010 as a place for connecting people, and a “safe space to explore what matters for the individuals and the community”. Amy calls it a place to practice real democracy. And she explains how Detroit Soup is helping transform a city.

Detroit Soup funds creative projects in the city of Detroit. Amy created it as a place for people to present ideas on how to solve the most compelling problems of the city. What makes Detroit Soup so unique and different from other crowdsourcing opportunities? Well, Amy explains that in the Soup people come personally to present their ideas, and give others the opportunity to ask questions. Potentially funders see the passion in them and decide whether to fund them.

Detroit Soup is a fantastic example of how it is possible to create safe, useful and creative spaces to connect people with people. Detroit Soup is the catalyzer of these connections, and Amy thinks that these connections are even more important than the money raised in the events.

Why is Detroit Soup so important and what can we learn from it? Amy says that is one of the initiatives of revitalization of the city. She thinks that people want to connect, participate and make their city a better place. Amy also says that Detroit Soup gives voice and a platform for exchange and empowers people.

When I ask Amy about her three top recommendations for entrepreneurs getting ready to pitch their ideas, she says: 1) be yourself; 2) be passionate and 3) know that you will be working harder than in anything you have done before.

You can contact Amy and Detroit Soup at http://detroitsoup.com/ or Twitter.

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Rania Anderson talks about her book Undeterred, The Six Success Habits of Women in Emerging Economies. Rania walks us through the habits. 1) to be undeterred, not to give up in the face of obstacles; 2) to prepare yourself with your confidence and courage, and externally through the skills; 3) to be focus, having goals and plans; 4) work and life integration; 5) accelerate, taking the actions that propel you forward and advance and 6) lead, from wherever you are and whatever you do.

For the book, Rania interviewed ordinary woman who in normal environments and circumstances are being successful. She purposefully wanted to showcase women from emerging economies who have overcome the challenges around them to build successful ideas. Rania wanted to share her findings and the ideas that apply for women in developing countries.

When I ask Rania if she could say the top three recommendations to advance women’s careers and professional development she says (hey, these recommendations apply for everyone, regardless of gender!!!):

* Have a 360 degree network: a comprehensive network with people who are more influential than you, less experienced and peers, inside and outside your industry

* Make sure that your experiences are leading you to the path you want to go on.

* To have results, something tangible to show and make sure people know about it.

Rania says that “women who make their achievements and their aspirations known by others get further faster”.

You can contact Rania through her website: The Way Women Work.

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