Ashoka | Santiago Bilinkis l Risk and Reward

Talk with social entrepreneurs at UdeSA

At the end of last week I gave a talk to social entrepreneurs who are part of the Youth Venture program from Ashoka, organized by the Center for Social Innovation at the University of San Andres. In addition to the fact that it was nice for me to return to UdeSA after so many years, it filled me with excitement to see so many of these youngsters so devoted to launch their social projects.

Posted by Santiago B. at 10 Nov 08 | Leave your comment

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The Clover

Uruguay, January 1980

She was 17. He was 19.

In the middle of Summer they decided to take a break from their jobs as a secretary and a bank employee and spend a few days camping with friends close to Cerro del Toro in Piriápolis. The weather was good for a few days of rest at the beach.

On January 7th they decided to take his motorcycle (a Gilera 150) and head to El Chuy, a small town in the Brazilian border, to do some shopping, replenish the camp and, at the same time, spend some time alone. It was a very hot day, they were wearing sporting clothes, shorts, running shoes.

After the visit was over, they headed back to camp. Exhausted by the heat, they stopped at a bar along the route to drink some fresh water and had a small argument because she, overheated and with her hair down to her waist, did not want to use the helmet anymore. Very decisive, he simply said: “If you don’t wear it, I leave you here”. And with that determination his decision defined the fate of her life.

A couple of few hours later, around 6PM, the sun was still shining high. When they got to a crossroad called El Trébol de Piriapolis (The Clover of Piriapolis), they suddenly saw a bus coming out of control in their direction. They tried to stop, but the crash seemed inevitable. And then the miracle happened.

Posted by Santiago B. at 15 Sep 08 | Leave your comment

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Bye Bye Pareto: The new “20/60/20 rule”

Most of you who studied Economics or other social sciences are likely familiar with the “Pareto Rule” or “80/20 Rule”.

The rule was invented when an Italian economist of the 19th Century called Vilfredo Pareto noted, while analyzing the distribution of Income in Italy, that 80% belonged to the richest 20% of the population. The rule was then extended as the “Pareto Rule” to any situation where 80% of the effect can be traced to 20% of the causes and is used in many different fields

All this introduction serves as background to a breakfast I attended a week ago, organized by the Ashoka Support Network. There we attended a presentation by an amazing social entrepreneur called Alberto Croce from Fundación SES.

I could talk a lot about Alberto, but in this post I want to focus on one single aspect of his speech. He mentioned that when someone is trying to promote a social change in a group of people. 20% are very open to it and embrace it easily. Another 20% is completely resistant, no matter how much effort we put. But the secret is in the 60% in between, that does not jump in easily, but can be attracted with the right approach and effort.

What is the catch? That tempted by the Easy 20%, we tend to concentrate our efforts there, not where we can really make a difference.

Posted by Santiago B. at 25 Jul 08 | Leave your comment

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