Scaling impact: innovation for the public good

Scaling is often considered a key indicator of success both in international development and social innovation settings: Why would development agencies and social innovators alike not want their initiatives to grow and thereby maximize their impact? In Scaling Impact: Innovation for the Public Good, authors McLean and Gargani aptly challenge the notion that scaling should invariably be aspired towards in all development settings. Instead, they put the qualitative pursuit of the public good and a moral justification, which are both to be obtained through participatory processes, at the centre of their approach to scaling.

In their book, McLean and Gargani propose a model of scaling social impact that embeds any quantitative and technical considerations for scaling into a framework where positive qualitative change is prioritised. For the authors, the definition of “good change” (10) is unique for each context and must be developed collectively by the variety of stakeholders that are involved in and affected by the proposed intervention. Guided by this commitment to the public good and a decentralised scaling strategy, in the first part of their book, the authors put forward four interconnected and actionable principles to help international development practitioners and social innovators in their scaling-related decisions: Justification, Optimal Scale, Coordination, and Dynamic Evaluation. For McLean and Gargani, each of these four principles must be deliberately and explicitly addressed throughout the life cycle of an intervention to avoid the overshadowing of the public good by private interests of the political and economic power holders.

Overall, the authors do an impeccable job of operationalising each of these principles and outlining various ways in which all are interconnected and mutually reinforcing. For McLean and Gargani, however, any scaling initiative must initially prioritise the pursuit of moral justification (38). In a very simple yet powerful manner, the authors argue that the justification of a scaling decision must not only be rooted in research and technical feasibility, but also the needs and values of all stakeholders that will be part of and/or impacted by the intervention. Once and only once the moral justification to proceed with the scaling of the intervention is attained, the decisions regarding the “how?” of attaining optimal scale can be discussed. That being said, technical justification through research and scientific evidence should by no means overlooked. Rather, it is an indispensable component of social innovation, which must not overtake but rather complement a moral justification rooted in social justice and in the values and interests of all social groups affected. This is an extremely timely and critical intervention by the authors not only for the international development field, but for all decision-making processes that involve a variety of stakeholder groups.

In the second part of the book, the authors present five case studies from the Global South to specifically demonstrate ways in which these principles can guide effective scaling strategies that are participatory and context appropriate in a development setting. Each of these cases present informative initiatives that highlight the leadership and expertise of actors from Global South. These case studies also highlight potential sources of conflict and roadblocks in scaling for the public good. Specifically, each case is a testament that power imbalances invariably exist between the variety of actors involved in and affected by the proposed intervention. These actors include funders, implementers, and stakeholders that are both directly and indirectly affected by the intervention. Based on their vast experience in the field, McLean and Gargani warn readers that the interests of international development agencies, private businesses, and political actors involved in decision making processes might often outweigh those of community members without access to the economic, social, and political capital available to the aforementioned actors. Despite highlighting such power imbalances that have become widely part and parcel of international development, the authors simply flag them as potential disruptions to advancing the public good at the optimal scale of intervention. Especially in development settings where private business interests are involved, such as in the case of private-led sunflower oil fortification project in Tanzania (Chapter 10), the authors avoid recognising and delving into ways in which capitalist markets might interfere with the scaling process. In such cases, private actors’ imperative for growth and competitive advantage might potentially overtake the public good and render the benefits private and inaccessible to the broader population. The authors consider this contradiction, which I would argue is inherent to capitalist social relations, simply as a potential barrier that development practitioners and social innovators must strive to overcome. That being said, the book leaves readers desiring more concrete examples highlighting ways in which such challenges were or could be navigated while remaining true to the scaling for public good paradigm.

Rather than solely focusing on the technical and qualitative aspects of scaling decisions and outcomes, Scaling Impact: Innovation for the Public Good contributes to a body of literature that centres the discussion around the optimisation of initiatives’ social impact (see, for instance: Dees, Anderson, and Wei-Skillern 2004; Lyon and Fernandez 2012; Westley and Antadze 2010). Further, while most of this literature focuses on market-based activities led by social entrepreneurs, McLean and Gargani's book builds on a wide variety of development practices that are collaboratively pursued through public institutions, international development agencies, social enterprises, and community-based organisations, and often led by stakeholders from the global South. The language used throughout the book is accessible and all concepts and field-specific jargon are carefully and accessibly operationalised. That being said, the book leaves readers wishing for a more in-depth demonstration of ways in which power dynamics, especially within the parameters of capitalist markets, may interfere with scaling for the sake of public good. Everything considered, Scaling Impact: Innovation for the Public Good by Robert McLean and John Gargani is a valuable resource for practitioners, researchers, policy-makers, and students alike from all disciplines interested in scaling interventions with the public good in mind.