Why should you scale up?
by Chacko Jacob
Growth is inherent in everything around us. The universe is constantly expanding. Most lifecycles of organisms involve mitosis which leads to an increase in size and strength. Humans refer to striving towards personal betterment as growth. Increased revenue through expanding geographical area of operations and customer base among other things is also referred to as growth in the corporate world.
What does it mean for those of us in the business of social change?
(Note: The term social change refers to work that focuses on mindset shift and excludes charitable and humanitarian work – work that is immensely important, but there is a clear distinction)
You would be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn’t stand for growth in one way or another. But there are massive obvious differences in the purpose and drivers of corporates and NGOs.
For the former, profit is the primary motive where changing people’s mindset is a means to that end. For the latter, changing people’s mindset towards a more open, free, inclusive, and empathetic society is the ultimate goal; the tools used to achieve this could be grass roots initiatives, the arts, social entrepreneurship, innovative strategies/products/concepts, activism etc. The reason for highlighting this fundamental difference is this: governments, consultants, donors and other stakeholders often have a traditional approach to growth, and through no fault of their own, might think of growth in terms that are not only unapplicable but even harmful to NGOs.
The Hindu ran an article a few years ago titled ‘NGOs not able to scale up activities.’ This was the conclusion of a government representative. She goes on to say that when NGOs are asked to scale up from a pilot project, they rarely succeed due to ‘failure to enhance one’s capacity before expanding the area of work.’ I agree to some degree, but to me this is a failure on both sides. Doe-eyed founders jumping at the first chance to go big, skipping many steps in between are certainly to be blamed, while governments who have the welfare attitude might not understand social change correctly to be able to provide the right kind of support. “Scaling up” with governments carries other risks as well, especially in politically unstable regions where a regime change could spell the end of your NGO if you are dependent on them.
Founders who refuse to increase the size of their operations, number of activities, or expand their geographical area are often accused of having “founder’s syndrome”. What the consultants or donors that make this conclusion are often missing is a connection with the vision and mission. The vision is the key driver here to keep advancing the NGO in a very determined direction. We have seen many who stuck to their vision despite all the “advice” from outsiders take their organization to heights they never imagined. Do they have thousands of beneficiaries? Millions in funding? Multiple locations? No. But these founders started from painful baby steps; they “grew” to where they are because of the amount of thoughtfulness and dedication that is poured into a project, mindful of its unique cultural context, to effectively create mindset shifts. This would not be possible if the organization starts opening up locations everywhere like McDonalds, promising quick and ready services through some process refined by a lean six sigma expert.
Growth must come in the form of a spread of unique ideas. All such ideas need constant care by a person or a team with the right attitude and skills to see it to completion in a new setting.
At kanthari, the leaders that are trained here come from the margins, having been affected by a specific problem that they have overcome and are now working to empower others to do the same. So, they are already in a niche position, and they refine their solutions to be even more unique and effective. Hence our saying ‘a true kanthari has no competitors.’ This means that if there is an organization in your area already doing everything you want to do, then your organization isn’t required. Do not stop growing, but grow in the quality of your work, responsiveness to changes in your target and beneficiary group, and in building stronger network with likeminded organizations where knowledge and skills can be shared.