1. APS 1015: Social Entrepreneurship
Class 4: Intervening in Social Systems
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
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Instructors:
Norm Tasevski (norm@socialentrepreneurship.ca)
Karim Harji (karim@socialentrepreneurship.ca)

2. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
Agenda
• Recap of Gap Analysis (Class 3)
• Overview of Systems Interventions
• Guest Speaker – Assaf Weisz (Purpose Capital)
• Break
• Guest Speaker – Sal Alajek (Engineers Without
Borders)
• Next week
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3. Gap Analysis (Recap from Last
Week…)
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4. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
Key Concepts
• Current State vs. Future Stage
– Current State: The amount of “stock” between two
elements in a system
– Future State: The ideal level of stock between elements in a
system
• Inflows vs. Outflows
– Inflows: An increase in stock
– Outflows: A decrease in stock
• Correcting Loops
– The mechanisms for controlling the inflows and outflows
within a social system to maintain an ideal state
• Parameters
– Factors that affect inflow and outflow
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5. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
Another Gap Analysis Technique
• PESTEL Analysis
– Political: The degree to which government intervenes in a
system
– Economic: The degree to which economic factors affect a
system
– Social: Cultural factors that affect a system
– Technological: Technological factors found in a system
– Environmental: Ecological and environmental factors in a
system
– Legal: The man-made laws governing a system
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6. Intervening in a System
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7. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
Leverage Points
Leverage Point: An intervention that addresses a gap
in a system
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8. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
Types of Leverage Points
1. Slowing down or speeding up a correcting loop that
already exists in a system
– Example of a slow down: The flu
• With no intervention, what is the effect does flu create in a
system?
• What intervention can slow down the flu?
• Slowing down the flu will therefore result in what change in the
system?
– Example of a speed up: Voting rights in democracy
• With no intervention, what effect does restricted voting (e.g.
preventing women to vote) have on the system?
• What intervention can “speed up” voting rights?
• Speeding up voting rights will result in what change in the
system?
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9. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
The Challenge with Focusing on Correcting
Loops Alone
• The nature of the intervention (and how it affects
the rest of the system) dictates how resilient the
system becomes
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10. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
Example
Consider response to 2011 Japan Earthquake…
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11. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
Example
…
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12. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
Example
Compare to response to Pakistani floods…
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In response to
why people are
not giving to
the Pakistani
flood in the
same way as
they did for
Haiti, one
woman said:!
!
“It’s a rogue
state, if they
can afford the
nuclear bomb
they can look
after their
own”!
!

13. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
Types of Leverage Points
2. Building resiliency in a system through self-
organization
– Systems that self-organize are systems that evolve and
naturally adapt to shocks to a system
– Intervention focused on self-organization builds completely
new structures and new behaviours
– Example of self-organization: Human culture
• Stock? Social customs, conventions, symbols
• What happens to human culture when shocked (e.g.
increased immigration from a new region of the world)?
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14. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
Question
How could social entrepreneurship act to create
leverage points?
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15. Guest Speaker:
Assaf Weisz
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16. Break
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17. Guest Speaker:
Sal Alajek
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18. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
What did we learn?
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