Africa's Moment
Global Social Benefit Incubator
Global Social Benefit Incubator 2008
Exercise 1: Target Market Statement
GSBI 2008
GSBI 2008 Application
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Scale as Accepted Doctrine
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The fifth dimension of scale focuses on the power of creating a new and accepted doctrine within a given field.
Scale can be achieved by formulating and diffusing an idea or concept. Precipitating a major shift in a given field creates a wide-ranging and lasting impact. This shift changes the way people think about their work and carry out their programs.
Creating a new doctrine is different from other forms of scale because it seeks to infiltrate broadly by changing the conceptual and intellectual frame surrounding a particular field, be it early childhood education or drug treatment. A successful effort at doctrine building will lead to a wholesale reevaluation of a field’s standard operating procedures and operational assumptions. While an operational model may be associated with a new doctrine, new ideas can and do triumph in the absence of clear applications.
Pursuing scale through doctrinal shifts is appealing to funders for a number of reasons. Unlike other modes of going to scale, this approach is not limited to the boundaries of the organizations receiving funding. It is possible to propagate an idea or theory and to change service delivery models without spending money on implementation, but one should be able to point to at least one concrete application of the doctrine.
One key to successful paradigm building involves to be the penetration of small networks of policy elites and nonprofit leaders. Once an idea or concept is embraced by opinion leaders, it can filter throughout a field quickly. Influential doctrines have emerged from think tanks and university researchers and from practitioners who can articulate a clear theory supporting their work.
One significant shortcoming to this approach to scale is that the outcomes of such efforts are very hard to predict. Sometimes ideas and frameworks emerge as powerful tools for transforming practice, but ultimately find no audience or willing adopters. Other times, second rate ideas spread like wildfire within fields and are broadly adopted. The process of spreading a doctrine is not amenable to a great deal of control.
Creating a new doctrine is different from other forms of scale because it seeks to infiltrate broadly by changing the conceptual and intellectual frame surrounding a particular field, be it early childhood education or drug treatment. A successful effort at doctrine building will lead to a wholesale reevaluation of a field’s standard operating procedures and operational assumptions. While an operational model may be associated with a new doctrine, new ideas can and do triumph in the absence of clear applications.
Pursuing scale through doctrinal shifts is appealing to funders for a number of reasons. Unlike other modes of going to scale, this approach is not limited to the boundaries of the organizations receiving funding. It is possible to propagate an idea or theory and to change service delivery models without spending money on implementation, but one should be able to point to at least one concrete application of the doctrine.
One key to successful paradigm building involves to be the penetration of small networks of policy elites and nonprofit leaders. Once an idea or concept is embraced by opinion leaders, it can filter throughout a field quickly. Influential doctrines have emerged from think tanks and university researchers and from practitioners who can articulate a clear theory supporting their work.
One significant shortcoming to this approach to scale is that the outcomes of such efforts are very hard to predict. Sometimes ideas and frameworks emerge as powerful tools for transforming practice, but ultimately find no audience or willing adopters. Other times, second rate ideas spread like wildfire within fields and are broadly adopted. The process of spreading a doctrine is not amenable to a great deal of control.
