Social Innovation's Unintended Consequences

I was a bit blown away reading about Masdar City; it sounded like something straight out of a science fiction movie. It is exciting to think about the possibility of creating a new city based on lessons learned from both modern and historic cities around the world. In addition to using cutting edge technology, the architect of Masdar is looking back at old Arab settlements to see how cities were kept cool before air conditioners in cars and buildings, in what can be an unbearably hot climate – a reminder that sometimes what is most simple and natural is best.

In utilizing best practices, it is significant to me that automobiles are excluded from the city. The Model T Ford, when introduced in 1908, was a social innovation of the utmost importance and completely revolutionized transportation, as well as how this country and world operate. I am struck by how an invention that was of the utmost importance is now obsolete and something we are trying to move away from. Social innovations after all are iterations on previous innovations. Masdar’s transportation needs will be met through walking (imagine!) and “Personal Rapid Transit” stations. In addition to pedestrian transportation, an iteration of the automobile, pod-shaped cars (pictured above) that “drive” themselves, will be used for transportation.

Social innovation is idealized as being positive, but we too often forget that today’s innovation will be merely a base for iteration in the future. I can only believe that Henry Ford had no way of anticipating the car culture that would result and the negative effects, including obesity, high energy consumption, dependence on foreign oil, and air pollution, just to name a few. The context of time is what is relevant to a social innovation. In this instance, the automobile has a replacement that is better, takes up less room and uses an alternative form of energy. Social innovators cannot control the unintended consequences of their innovation. They can, however, be responsible for the iteration and improvement. When evaluating a current social innovation, as a result of not being able to see into the future, we lack the ability to weigh this negative externality in the long-term against the benefit to society in the short-term. Currently, the market is the central means of evaluation and determination of the benefit to society.

Conducting some research, I was surprised to find little written on the unintended consequences of social innovation. [In my Google search, this blog was the sixth search result.] I suppose that unintended consequences for our actions are everywhere, and don’t necessarily differ in this realm than in other realms, like public policy and business. However, the definition of social innovation, the value of the innovation accrues to society, does not directly account for negative externalities that could potentially discount the “innovation” of its title. Should we do more to account for unintended consequences? How do we better anticipate the consequences and hold social entrepreneurs responsible for what they bring into the world? What can be learned from Masdar City that can be applied to existing cities in the rest of the world?