Measuring Social Value: Acknowledging and Learning from Failure

"Measuring Social Value" by Geoff Mulgan is a very interesting and useful read, but I am curious how acknowledging and learning from failure can be incorporated into measuring social value. While it is true that measuring social value is difficult because it is unclear what the social outcomes are, it is also true that measuring social value is difficult if you don't even consider the possibility that you created zero social value in the first place, and in some cases, may have even taken away from social value that already existed.

I'm a very optimistic person when it come's to social ventures and grassroots ideas, but nonetheless, I'm realizing how practical and beneficial it is to openly admit failure and act on it. It may be hard to grasp, but studying failure adds another lens for our understanding of social value.

David Damberger is an engineer and social entrepreneur. He has worked with Engineers Without Borders in communities from India to South Africa in building agriculture and sanitation infrastructure. My friend recommended that I listen to his Ted talk and strongly recommend you do too. He begins with the story of Inook, a young boy in Malawi and stated that in the past ten years, 5 million people in Malawi have gained access to fresh water. He shows a picture of Inook, happily cupping water into his hands from a faucet, and then claims "this picture is a lie."

Damberger's first project with EWB was in India to develop rainwater harvesting systems in schools -- that would collect water from rooftops during the monsoons, bring through gutters filter and store them for the dry season. A year after implementation, he contacted an NGO to see how the rainwater systems were functioning, they informed him that not a single one was functioning due to lack of maintenance among other factors.

EWB specifically makes learning from failures a priority and has an innovative marketing campaign "Sponsor an African Spreadsheet" and now publishes an annual failure report, in addition to a website: www.admittingfailure.com. EWB is a great role model for thinking critically of social value.

Ted talk link: http://www.ted.com/talks/david_damberger_what_happens_when_an_ngo_admits_failure.html