Learning for Social Impact
Presentation for the
Social Impact Exchange Conference on Scaling
June 17, 2010
Begin to design assessments by clarifying an
initiative’s objectives
Service/ Capacity Enabling Policy
Behavior
Knowledge product enhancement systems and development
change
development development and skills infrastructure and
programs
development development implementation
and delivery
Frame the 6 types of social interventions
problem
Develop ▪ Each intervention addresses social needs in a
approach unique way and implies unique objectives for
4 stages of
the solution
that initiative
Demonstrate
and refine the ▪ Even within a given intervention, initiative
solution objectives differ at each stage of the solution
▪ Combining these two dimensions provides a
Scale and set of initiative objectives that reflects the
sustain universe of social impact work
McKinsey & Company | 2
The 6 types of interventions describe the range
of activities that address social needs
Service/ Capacity Enabling Policy
Behavior
Knowledge product enhancement systems and development
change
development development and skills infrastructure and
programs
development development implementation
and delivery
Description Discovering, Providing Helping Sharing Establishing Promoting or
developing, goods and organizations information systems and resisting a
interpreting or services to or individuals and providing infrastructure change in
sharing fulfill unmet strengthen motivation to that facilitate government,
knowledge to needs of their assist social change multi-lateral,
solve existing constituents capabilities individuals to or corporate
or expected change their policy
problems behavior for
positive social
benefits
Examples ▪ Medical ▪ Soup ▪ Vocational ▪ Seatbelt ▪ Networking ▪ Grassroots
research kitchens training campaigns ▪ Convenings campaigns
▪ Policy ▪ Performing ▪ Technical ▪ Drunk- ▪ Definition ▪ Lobbying
research arts assistance driving of common ▪ Litigation
▪ Traditional ▪ Anti-malaria awareness standards
wisdom bed nets ▪ Hand- ▪ IT systems
▪ Hybrid washing
seeds McKinsey & Company | 3
The 4 stages of the solution describe progress
in addressing social needs
Description Examples
Frame the
▪ Define and fully ▪ Conduct analysis to understand key
understand the drivers of childhood obesity in the
problem
problem United States
▪ Brainstorm ideas and ▪ Design alternative models for
Develop design solution vocational training programs
approach approach including implementation plan, costs,
benefits and drawbacks
▪ Implement approach ▪ Launch a new after-school program
Demonstrate
at limited scale to test and refine its operations
and refine the
and refine the solution ▪ Assess a bed-net distribution program
solution
that has been operating for 5 years
▪ Bring to scale and ▪ With federal government support,
Scale and embed social impact develop Children’s Zones in top 20 US
sustain in the status quo cities based on the Harlem model
McKinsey & Company | 4
We defined the universe of initiative objectives
Service / Capacity Enabling Policy
Behavior
Knowledge product enhancement systems and development
change
development development and skills infrastructure and
programs
and delivery development development implementation
▪ Problem’s ▪ Target ▪ Target ▪ Problem’s ▪ System gaps in ▪ Context of
Frame the context, root constituents’ constituents’ context, causes, coordination, issue and
problem causes, effects need and skills gap and effects and trust and potential role
and scale are demand for demand for target access fully for policy fully
fully understood service/product program fully constituents understood understood
fully understood understood fully understood
▪ Evidence-based ▪ Proof of ▪ Program ▪ Program ▪ Gap-closing ▪ Policy options
Develop hypotheses concept for options options options designed and
approach and research service/product designed and designed, and designed; most most promising
method demonstrated most promising most promising promising solution
designed model selected model selected solution chosen selected
▪ Hypothesis ▪ Target ▪ New ▪ New behavior ▪ Effective ▪ New policy
Demonstrate proven constituents’ knowledge/ exhibited by solution applied position
and refine needs for skills applied target by early adopted by
the solution service/product by constituents constituents in adopters vanguard
met in pilots in pilots pilots leaders
▪ New knowledge ▪ Need and ▪ Capabilities/ ▪ Problem solved ▪ System gaps ▪ Improvements
Scale and adopted and demand for all skills gap for through eliminated due to full
sustain broadly applied target all target mainstream role through implementation
to address constituents constituents modeling of mainstream and broad
problem fully met by fully met by new behavior use of effective enforcement
service/product program by constituents solution of new policy
McKinsey & Company | 5
