Lean Impact

Lean Impact

by Ann Mei Chang, Eric Ries
Released October 2018
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9781119506607

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

Despite enormous investments of time and money, are we making a dent on the social and environmental challenges of our time? What if we could exponentially increase our impact?

Around the world, a new generation is looking beyond greater profits, for meaningful purpose. But, unlike business, few social interventions have achieved significant impact at scale. Inspired by the modern innovation practices, popularized by bestseller The Lean Startup, that have fueled technology breakthroughs touching every aspect of our lives, Lean Impact turns our attention to a new goal - radically greater social good.

Social change is far more complicated than building a new app. It requires more listening, more care, and more stakeholders. To make a lasting difference, solutions must be embraced by beneficiaries, address root causes, and include an engine that can accelerate growth to reach the scale of the need. Lean Impact offers bold ideas to reach audacious goals through customer insight, rapid experimentation and iteration, and a relentless pursuit of impact.

Ann Mei Chang brings a unique perspective from across sectors, from her years as a tech executive in Silicon Valley to her most recent experience as the Chief Innovation Officer at USAID. She vividly illustrates the book with real stories from interviews with over 200 organizations across the US and around the world.

Whether you are a nonprofit, social enterprise, triple bottom line company, foundation, government agency, philanthropist, impact investor, or simply donate your time and money, Lean Impact is an essential guide to maximizing social impact and scale.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Foreword
  3. Introduction
    1. TWO WORLDS COLLIDE
    2. THE LEAN STARTUP MOVEMENT
    3. INNOVATING FOR GOOD
    4. HOW THIS BOOK IS ORGANIZED
    5. WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK?
  4. Part I: Inspire
    1. Chapter One: Innovation Is the Path, Impact Is the Destination
      1. DELIVERING RESULTS
      2. LEARNING WHILE LEARNING
      3. THE NEED
      4. BARRIERS TO SOCIAL INNOVATION
      5. PRINCIPLES OF LEAN IMPACT
      6. A NONLINEAR PROCESS
      7. THE GROWING MOVEMENT
    2. Chapter Two: What Is Your Audacious Goal?
      1. THINK BIG
      2. HOCKEY STICK GROWTH
      3. A STRATEGY FOR UNCERTAINTY
      4. YOUR NORTH STAR
      5. ENDS VERSUS MEANS
    3. Chapter Three: Love the Problem, Not Your Solution
      1. BEING PROXIMATE
      2. CONSIDERING THE SYSTEM
      3. WHO IS YOUR CUSTOMER?
      4. DON’T FORGET YOUR OTHER CUSTOMER
      5. PROBLEM DISCOVERY
    4. Chapter Four: Finding the “Big Idea”
      1. INSPIRING SOLUTIONS
      2. PROVEN SOLUTIONS
      3. MISSION FIRST
      4. AGAIN AND AGAIN
    5. Chapter Five: Lessons from The Lean Startup
      1. HARAMBEE’S STORY
      2. 1. IDENTIFY ASSUMPTIONS
      3. 2. MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT (MVP)
      4. 3. VALIDATED LEARNING
      5. 4. BUILD, MEASURE, AND LEARN
      6. 5. PIVOT OR PERSEVERE
      7. LEAN STARTUP FOR SOCIAL GOOD
  5. Part II: Validate
    1. Chapter Six: Start Small, Iterate Fast
      1. LEARNING FROM FAILURE
      2. PRESSURE TO GROW
      3. VALUE, GROWTH, AND IMPACT
      4. STAGING RISK
      5. FASTER ITERATION
      6. COLLECTING DATA
      7. SUCCESS CRITERIA
      8. DIMINISHING RETURNS
    2. Chapter Seven: Value
      1. THE ACCIDENTAL MVP
      2. DESIGNING WITH USERS
      3. DESIGN IN CONTEXT
      4. NUDGE
      5. MVPs FOR VALUE
      6. ENGAGING STAKEHOLDERS
      7. NET PROMOTER SCORE
      8. GAUGING TRACTION
    3. Chapter Eight: Growth
      1. A WAKE‐UP CALL
      2. THE LIMITS OF CHARITY
      3. ENGINES FOR GROWTH
      4. PARTNERSHIP
      5. ACCELERATE
    4. Chapter Nine: Impact
      1. DOES IT WORK?
      2. THEORY OF CHANGE
      3. BREAKING IT DOWN
      4. TIERED VALIDATION
      5. WHAT MATTERS?
      6. RELENTLESS PURSUIT
      7. RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIALS
      8. RESPONSIBLE IMPACT
      9. TAKING IT FORWARD
  6. Part III: Transform
    1. Chapter Ten: Systems Change
      1. A VISION FOR CHANGE
      2. COMING TOGETHER
      3. GOING OUT OF BUSINESS
      4. TOWARDS REAL SOLUTIONS
    2. Chapter Eleven: Financing Innovation
      1. CHALLENGES FOR INNOVATION
      2. STAYING ON MISSION
      3. INNOVATION WINDOWS
      4. FLEXIBLE SOURCES
      5. FINANCING ROUNDS
      6. HYBRID STRUCTURES
    3. Chapter Twelve: A Message to Funders
      1. A NEW RELATIONSHIP
      2. UNRESTRICTED FUNDING
      3. TIERED FUNDING
      4. PAY FOR OUTCOMES
      5. BLENDED FINANCE
      6. DONOR COLLABORATION
      7. A CALL TO ACTION
    4. Chapter Thirteen: Making It Stick
      1. CULTURAL BARRIERS TO INNOVATION
      2. CULTURAL TRANSFORMATION
      3. A WORD ON FAILURE
    5. Chapter Fourteen: A World of Impact
      1. TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE
      2. IMPACT INVESTING
      3. CLOSING THE HYBRID FINANCE GAP
      4. NEW ENTITIES
      5. SMARTER GIVING
      6. IN CONCLUSION
  7. Disclosures
  8. Acknowledgments
  9. About the Author
  10. Index
  11. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: Lean Impact
  • Author(s): Ann Mei Chang, Eric Ries
  • Release date: October 2018
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9781119506607