FOR GETTING AN IDEA OF THE FIELD, FOR THE PRACTITIONER AND GENERAL READING.

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Murray, Grice and Mulgan ,2010, The Open Book of Social Innovation.

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According to the authors, this book ' describes the hundreds of methods and tools for innovation being used across the world, as a first step to developing a knowledge base.'  A good read to gain perspective on tools and methods and best of all, it's free!  Download here.

 

 

Schwartz , 2012, Rippling: How Social Entrepreneurs Spread Innovation Throughout the World

 

Schwartz is an Ashoka person (if you don't know what Ashoka is, look it up, this is one organization you must know about if you want to do anything socially entrepreneurial. Whether you think they are useful or not, Ashoka is a big player in the field and you should know about them!!). This books stems from her exposure to Ashoka fellows (social entrepreneurs). The author makes significant effort to demonstrate that when passion, empathy, creativity and persistence comes together, amazing things are possible.

 

You can read more here

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Bornstein, 2004 How to Change the world: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas.

 

This book has now become a classic, with plenty of basics and examples. A must read to get a broad understanding of issues and to read about a range of socially entrepreneurial ventures and ideas. Full of examples, but again heavy emphasis on Ashoka and its fellows. See some reviews here and decide if you want to read it. We'd still say yes, esp. if you are new to the field or are looking for examples and at the more practical side of things.

 

 

Baghai and Quigley, 2010, As One: Individual Action Collective Power

 

The authors share their lessons learnt from a two year flagship project at Deloitte, examining the meaning of 'As one'. Has a global focus and has a rich set of resources from a host of countries around world. It is about cooperation, conflict and collaboration. You can read more about it here.

 

 

 

Steidle ,2017, Leading from Within: Conscious Social Change and Mindfulness for Social Innovation

 

This book aims to be a road map to those that want to drive change in society on fundamental, transformative level. It talks about empathy and mindfulness as a driver for change. The book highlights the necessity for personal development through self-awareness to ultimately bring about 'conscious social change'.

 

 You can read more here

 

Senge, 2006,  The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization

 

We recommend this book for one and only one reason: The author makes it clear, that to sustain and succeed in the long run is for an organization to learn faster than the competition. The new edition contains information distilled from several companies, for and nonprofit. Reader reviews here.

 

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Vasan et al. (2013) Do Good Well: Your Guide to Leadership, Action, and Social Innovation

 

'Practical, wise, and witty, Do Good Well is a groundbreaking book that offers a comprehensive and readily adaptable guide to social innovation that not only captures the entrepreneurial and creative spirit of our time, but also harnesses the insights, wisdom, and down-to-earth experience of today's most accomplished young leaders.' says Amazon. It is a #1 best seller on Amazon.

 

You can read more here.

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Jason Fried,  2010, Rework

 

We threw this one in to mix it up a bit. This book is about how everything we've been taught about doing business is wrong or unnecessary! The author argues how making plans, bringing in investors or even having an office is not really necessary (the last one we all know now!!). The point is to 'stop talking and start working' as the foreword says. Not an earth shattering book, but might be something you'd want to give a read.

 

Read more reviews here.

 

Kahane, 2017, Collaborating with the Enemy

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This one is not about innovations per se, but about the speed bumps that happen when innovating.

 

If you want to know about the struggles of collaborating with larger stakeholder groups, international groups and generally understand the human side of collaboration, this is the book. Kahane, of Reos and Partners talks about his own firsthand experiences about the human side of collaboration. How, even though everyone is interested in the issue on hand and want the same thing, personal and parochial  considerations, as well as personal bias and barriers prevent optimum outcome. It is a light read written simply, you cannot miss the point!

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See reader reviews here.

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Chang, Lean Impact- How to Innovate for Radically Greater Social Good

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This book shows how social change is complicated and what is needed is better listening and a wide array of stakeholders. It offers tools and ideas from customer-centric, rapidly iterative data driven approaches. It drives home the point that no innovation is 'perfect' and rapid adaptation is imperative. A useful read, especially for those wondering how scientific approaches mesh with this field of social innovation. See reader reviews here.

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Keohane , 2013, Social Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century: Innovation Across the Nonprofit, Private, and Public Sectors

 

“In her book ‘Social Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century’, Georgia Levenson Keohane provides a great insight into the emergence of social business and entrepreneurship. Her work provides a clear-sighted analysis of the many different dynamics at play as we test new models and solutions for global economic change” says Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Laureate, author of ‘Banker to the Poor’.

 

 The book can be helpful for policymakers, nonprofits, academics and researchers, as well as investors that are in search of methods and solutions to attain the triple bottom line.

 

See reader reviews of the book here 

 

Goldsmith et al. ,2010, The Power of Social Innovation: How Civic Entrepreneurs Ignite Community Networks for Good

 

This is more a guide than book, and is useful in understanding how to develop ideas, strategies at a community level. The guide covers various case studies and best practices of various social innovations in the fields of education delivery and social service.

See reader reviews of the book  here │

 

 

Manzini , 2015 Design, When Everybody Designs: An Introduction to Design for Social Innovation (Design Thinking, Design Theory)

 

This book attempts to show the interconnectedness between design and social innovation. The author argues that collaborative efforts between designers and innovators can yield larger impact on societies. Again, the book highlights several case studies to make its point. This book gives you a good understanding of both social innovation and design thinking, this is a recent find and an excellent one at that!!

See reader reviews of the book here 

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FOR A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE FIELD & FOR THE RESEARCHER 

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Nicholls et al. (2011) Social Innovation: Blurring Boundaries to Reconfigure Markets

 

The book provides varied perspectives from leading professionals in the field. This is more research oriented and is a must-read for anyone intending to do any kind of research on social innovation. The three main areas it tackles are: meaning strategies and logics, performance measurement and governance and sustainability and the environment. This is not a beginners book and you need at least a basic understanding of the field before reading this.

 

See reader reviews here.

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Nicholls et al. , 2015, New Frontiers in Social Innovation Research

 

 

‘Interest in social innovation continues to rise, from governments setting up social innovation ‘labs’ to large corporations developing social innovation strategies. Yet theory lags behind practice, and this hampers our ability to understand social innovation and make the most of its potential. This collection brings together work by leading social innovation researchers globally, exploring the practice and process of researching social innovation, its nature and effects. Combining theoretical chapters and empirical studies, it shows how social innovation is blurring traditional boundaries between the market, the state and civil society, thereby developing new forms of services, relationships and collaborations. It takes a critical perspective, analyzing potential downsides of social innovation that often remain unexplored or are glossed over, yet concludes with a powerful vision of the potential for social innovation to transform society. It aims to be a valuable resource for students and researchers, as well as policymakers and others supporting and leading social innovation.’

 

Reader reviews here.