innovating your antagonistic assets – innovators magazine
DESCRIPTION
ÂTRANSCRIPT
(http://www.innovatorsmag.com)
BREAKING Italian village may hold secret to a long life (http://www.innovatorsmag.com/i…
Cheaper tech results in record renewables generation (http://www.innovators…
Baseball backs technology (http://www.innovatorsmag.com/baseball-backs-te…
Co-innovating to boost the digital economy (http://www.innovatorsmag.com/c…
Home (http://www.innovatorsmag.com)
Sectors (http://www.innovatorsmag.com/category/sectors/) creative industries
(http://www.innovatorsmag.com/category/sectors/creative/)
Innovating your antagonistic assets creative industries (http://www.innovatorsmag.com/category/sectors/creative/)
|2 April 2016|
By Paul MacAlindin (https://www.facebook.com/macalindin/)– author of Upbeat (https://twitter.com/Up-
beat_book)– the story of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq (Release date: August 2016)
The players of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq were epic social entrepreneurs before it was cool.
Not because we turned a profit (we didn’t), or monetarised our social return on investment (we
couldn’t). No, we were social entrepreneurs because we had antagonistic assets in abundance. Such as-
! "
∠
∠
$
pects of an enterprise would, under normal circumstances, be seen as a burden, barrier or hindrance.
However, in the hands of a social entrepreneur, they can not only be turned into a business advantage,
but also lie at the core of the enterprise’s raison d’être.
Take Specialisterne (http://specialisterne.com), the majority of whose employees live on the autism
spectrum. Their fastidious attention to detail and focus on repetitive tasks makes them ideal business
consultants for software testing, programming and data-entry in public and private sectors. The com-
pany operates worldwide to achieve its goal of one million jobs for people with autism. By marketing the
unique benefits of this marginalised group, they utilise the power of hidden talents and turn social ex-
pectations on their head.
For my Iraqi musicians, many of whom had no common tongue and were marginalised from Iraqi cul-
ture and each other, communicating side by side through music became their strength. It may not seem
so, but music in the new Iraq could lead to disapproval, even punishment. A love of music was danger-
ous yet powerful enough to become their antagonistic asset.
If such assets are thin on the ground, they can be developed, as in Bangura Bags (https://www.bangur-
a.dk). Here, Danish designers teamed up with Alfred Bangura in Sierra Leone to turn African fabrics and
used bicycle tyres into highly durable designer bags for the global market, using local tailors and the
pedal power of their 1960s Singer sewing machines. They focus on teaching new skills, giving hope and
ambition to otherwise deprived people.
Similarly, Sistema Scotland (http://www.makeabignoise.org.uk) targets social hotspots such as Raploch,
Torry and Govanhill, boosting the resilience, schoolwork and confidence of local kids through music.
With my orchestra in Iraq, teaching the unfamiliar skill of making chamber music opened everyone up
to the possibility of creating their own ensembles and concerts in Iraq that bridged sectarian, gender
and ethnic divides. Everyone’s ability to work in teams and coach each other also helped sustain and
foster mutual support between the annual summer courses.
The third approach to developing antagonistic assets is to simplify. Often called “frugal innovation”, we
reduce the complexity of a product by removing all extraneous features for a new
environment. Lifestraw (http://lifestraw.com), initially developed by Vestergaard Frandsen for third
world consumers, guarantees a durable product that produces 1000 litres of drinkable water with no
chemicals, moving parts or electrical components. Just like Bangura Bags’ pedal driven sewing machines
or the Iraqi musicians’ classical instruments, removing the reliance on unpredictable electricity supplies
becomes an asset, not a disadvantage.
Finally, we can always create the demand for antagonistic assets. Here, the National Youth Orchestra of
Iraq came into its own. Our story, classical musicians from a war-torn land, rising like a phoenix from the
ashes, inspired huge support and media attention. But it wasn’t always so. Our first year, 2009, had us
hunting for news editors who would break from reporting violence in Iraq and dare to air a positive
story. Nobody wanted to know; nobody that is, except Reporting Scotland (https://www.youtube.-
com/watch?v=OJri0UGj79o). From that one report, we built our media profile on our personal stories
and hope for the future of Iraq (http://www.youtube.com/user/nyoiinfo). The orchestra’s isolation be-
came our exclusivity, our location and lives exotic. Our perceived internal strife became reconciliation
and our visits abroad gained us essential access to teachers and instruments, whilst pioneering cultural
diplomacy.
Meanwhile, the tailors at Bangura Bags still sign each bag personally on an individually designed inside
label, one even giving his phone number in case any of his clients ever “come to Sierra Leone and want
to visit.” These touches, all part of the strategy, build client loyalty and closeness with the beneficiaries
of the social enterprise. Building the story is possibly the most powerful of all the antagonistic assets,
but as the above examples show, the drive towards innovating high quality, marketable products not
only sets social entrepreneurship apart from charity and corporate social responsibility, but proves vital
in sustaining empowerment of marginalised people.
For more information (https://unltd.org.uk)on social entrepreneurism in the UK, click here
(http://uk.ashoka.org)
innovating (http://www.innovatorsmag.com/tag/innovating/)
social entrepreneurism (http://www.innovatorsmag.com/tag/social-entrepreneurism/)
3 TweetStumbleUpon
R E L A T E D P O S T S
SHARE ON:
96ShareShare 96LikeLike
(http://www.innovatorsmag.com/international-stakeholders-talk-bio-based-commercialisation/)International stakeholders to talk bio-based commercialisation
(http://www.innovatorsmag.com/international-stakeholders-talk-bio-based-commercialisation/)
%
(http://www.innovatorsmag.com/anniversary-celebrations-for-leading-renewables-agency/)Fifth anniversary for leading renewables agency (http://www.innovatorsmag.com/anniversary-
celebrations-for-leading-renewables-agency/)
"
CO-INNOVATING TO BOOST THE DIGITAL ECONOMY (HTTP://WWW.INNOVATORSMAG.COM/CO-INNOVATING-TO-BOOST-THE-DIGITAL-
C O N T A C T U S
150 Central Chambers
11 Bothwell Street
Glasgow
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0)141 570 0029
O U R S T O R I F Y R O U N D - U P
( https://twitter.com/Upbeat_book)
(http://www.innovatorsmag.com/co-innovating-to-boost-the-digital-economy/)
CO-INNOVATING TO BOOST THE DIGITAL ECONOMY (HTTP://WWW.INNOVATORSMAG.COM/CO-INNOVATING-TO-BOOST-THE-DIGITAL-ECONOMY/)
F O L L O W U S
Innovatorsmag
Young innovators aretransforming ourworld
1 / 14Play Pause Loop Next Full screen
and innovators.