Why are too many social enterprises like warthogs?

I recently came home from a visit to my daughter. She lives in Uganda so inevitably, I found myself out in the bush watching the wildlife. Game drives are a big money spinner in East Africa. Eco-Lodges are popping up in the game reserves attracting Europeans and Americans happy to pay top dollar for a far from authentic African experience.

One day, my daughter and I encountered a lone Warthog on a grassy track. He didn't seem keen to see us and was clearly undecided about what to do. Should he charge and frightens away or should he be doing the running? You could see the indecision as he made ready to run one way then the other. In the end he wandered off, still unsure what to do.

Someone told me a great warthog story that evening. It seems they are not the brightest animal in the bush and when confronted by a lion, they'll run without looking back for a kilometre or more. Here's the story. Having run away from a lion, tail in the air and feet pounding until out of breath a warthog stopped for a rest. Having stopped, it promptly forgot why it had been running and started to graze. The lion however, had followed and was waiting. It had not forgotten at all why it was chasing the warthog and soon pounced on hapless beast, that now was blissfully unaware of the danger.

Too many social enterprises also have a tendency to flee at the first sign of danger. Then they find something nice and forget why they fled. The corporate lions on the other hand know exactly what they're doing. Many will play a clever game and just when it's least expected, will pounce on and consume the unprepared social enterprise.

The moral of the story is this: if you decide to flee from adversity, make sure you keep looking over your shoulder and watch what your rival is doing. Mindless flight inevitably leads to needless defeat!

Drink coffee; change the world

I was in Swansea last week speaking on social entrepreneurship at an event organised by the Wales Cooperative Centre. The two day conference formed part of a digital inclusion campaign, which is successfully getting more social enterprises, charities and community organisations online.

The even took place at the DVLA's super training centre. It was a suitably high-tech venue from which many of the presentations were streamed live to viewers around the world. (Who tweeted questions to me @robertashton1)

But I want to talk about Avenance, the company who run the catering here. They are a national provider of excellent catering services. The food was good and the service exceptional, but a huge opportunity was missed. You see the espresso machine was not turned on and the staff on duty were not selling nice coffee, or selling sweets. You could only have the catering included in the conference package.

I asked the audience for a show of hands: 'how many of you would have paid for a decent coffee today?' Around 50 hands went up. And that's the lost opportunity for us all. You see had they sold coffee to those willing to pay the premium for froth, chocolate sprinkles and freshly ground beans, they might have taken £500 over the counter over the two days. The staff were there; the till was there and the coffee machine was there.

What could Avenance have done with that money? It would be 'bonus income' and thus available for CSR activity, such as providing additional staff time to help provide work experience to someone regaining confidence and workplace skills after a spell of poor mental health. It could have been given to the local playgroup to fund much needed new toys, or used to pay for a pensioner Christmas lunch in that same venue.

You see were well all willing to pay and the money could have be used in many useful ways. Instead the opportunity was lost. This surely is what Big Society is about - responding to opportunity, meeting a demand and using the profits for social good. It's not difficult; all that's needed is for employers like Avenance to empower, excite and entrust their people.

Add all these small opportunities together and the money is there to change the world. Let's do it!

I've been outed by the BBC as a fan of Big Society!

I've long stopped being worried about speaking in public. I've also now done several radio and TV interviews and of course with help from my friend Nik written and presented my own series on a Sky channel.

But the BBC felt somehow different. I was interviewed for this week's BBC One Politics Show (the BBC East) version. My brief was to explain why I think Big Society is about much more than saving the Government money and persuading Britain's good folk to volunteer to deliver public services. 

So the first half of the programme (the national bit) had big names including Norman Lamont talking about big issues like Ireland's national insolvency. Then it was teenage pregnancy in Great Yarmouth and then Big Society. I appeared after a grumpy, cynical trade unionist and was followed by Phillip Blond, Mr Big Society himself!

What surprised me was the mounting anxiety as the moment neared. How had I been edited? Would I be presented in a positive way or as an idealist, out of touch with reality? Of course it was fine and tomorrow afternoon's BBC Look East will have me re-edited to respond to the comments phoned in after today's broadcast.

The thing is, Big Society is a huge opportunity for everyone to make sure that what happens in their locality is what needs to happen, rather than what some centrally generated Government policy prescribes. It's common sense and very exciting. And now the BBC have outed me as a Big Society enthusiast, I can't wait to see what happens next!

Be nice to a bureaucrat today!

I recently wrote a newspaper column about my experience of 'Big Society' . In it I mentioned the fact that the team at Norfolk County Council's Children's Services are making a huge effort to adapt to the fast changing environment. Traditionally schools and local authorities rarely agree on everything and too often the relationship becomes rather adversarial.

Here in Norfolk I'm working with a school to create a 'Big Society' solution to their urgent need of a new campus. The way school and local authority are working together with my help to create the best result, involving both private and third sector partners is breathtaking. It's a pleasure to witness the enthusiasm with which both teams are looking for the pragmatic middle ground between safe but slow bureaucratic process and edgy, innovative new ways of working. Good governance must be maintained, but so too must opportunities be grasped before they disappear.

Feedback from County Hall suggests that my column was well received and rightly so. It's too easy to default to past mindsets and be critical, missing the fact that times have changed. Everyone is in the same boat now, anxious about the inevitable change, but also excited by what the future holds.

So before you start complaining, kicking and undermining the bureaucrats in your life, think again. Recognise how times are changing and try being nice to them instead. You'll be surprised by what happens!

Why drive a Golf when you can have a nice Trabant for the same price?

I'm beginning to wonder if the phrase 'social enterprise' needs to slip gently beneath the surface of our economy. The principle of social enterprise is sound, to create businesses that pay equal regard to people, planet and profit, but in practice

I think we're beginning to see that 'brand' devalued. In my view, too many folk are trying to win work for their social enterprise not because of what they do, but what they are.

It must have been the same in East Germany, when people were encouraged to save up to buy a Trabant knowing that just over the border, people were driving the VW Golf. Protectionism protected the Trabant from competition and so the need for innovation and engineering excellence was less important. Those currently calling for our current stock of social enterprises to be subsidised could be said to be heading down that same path.

In some ways, that's already happening. I've visited charity shops that are so dire and dirty that only the most intrepid bargain hunter dares to enter. I've also visited several Oxfam bookshops. These are also charity shops, but with a professional look and feel. You don't have to endure embarrassment and discomfort to shop in a store that employs vulnerable people and raises money for a good cause.

I can see a time emerging where what you are doesn't matter, because it's what you do that people will value. If what you do benefits vulnerable people in a sustainable and sensible way, then that's good. But surely encouraging all enterprises to do that is how we're going to create a more equal future, not just those structured as social enterprises.

Why tender when there's too much at stake?

I don't tender for work. Not because I don't believe I can win tenders, but because I don't want to take on projects that have rigidly defined outcomes. The skill of tendering in my view is to show how, beyond reasonable doubt, you will deliver exactly what the client is asking for. When I take on a project, both I and the client have a shared understanding of the issues and opportunities. We also have agreed that there is room for creativity, innovation and serendipity too. Sometimes you don't know what might happen until you let it.How do you define that in a tender that will be scored against a pre-prepared matrix.

Of course I could simply take the money and deliver what is asked for, but somehow, I don't have it in me to overlook what crops up that actually might deliver a better result. My clients sometimes wrestle with the problem of tendering from the other perspective. They think I can deliver what is needed but as yet, cannot define either the outcome or process in a way that enables them to offer the project out for open tender.

It's about being honest, open and most of all trusting each other in my view. The tendering process too often replaces trust and openness with cunning and secrecy. Isn't it time people made buying decisions based on trust and instinct? Sometimes there's simply too much at stake!

Releasing potential

It's such a pleasure to help really nice people escape from the confines of their public sector past. The cultural and attitudinal changes demanded by 'Big Society' are huge and not everyone finds it easy to adapt.

Last week, I was able to introduce a state school Head Teacher, let down by the demise of BSF, to someone able to bring together private investors to build the new school she needs.The penny only really dropped when the lead investor explained that although he could fund the whole project himself, he'd prefer to work with others. I don't think she'd met many really wealthy people before.

I don't think the Head Teacher had realised that whilst the public sector agonise and plan for months, even years, about any investment decision, then spend many more months making sure it's 'done correctly', the private sector listen to your pitch and decide on the spot. If it feels right, it must be right and the detail will inevitably fall into place as the principle heads of agreement are reached.

Increasingly I am working as a deal broker in this way, preparing the two sides then bringing them together to share the vision I have helped them imagine. It's rewarding, great fun and surely what 'Big Society' is all about?