Another key question when defining who does social innovation is whether it is
more likely to be an individual or an organization that drives social innovation. Paul
Light explores this issue, summarizing Bill Drayton (another social innovation expert)
that “there is no chance of success without the talent, creativity, and entrepreneurial
intent of the individual.”23 Light also finds that organizations themselves “were often
an afterthought in the definitions I read. Indeed, many definitions focused on
organization and management as adversaries of change. … Although organizations
impose clear operating constraints, they also provide essential capacity.”24 It’s clear
that Mr. Light has struggled with this question for years. Ten years earlier, he
summarized that “[t]he relative impact of entrepreneurs versus organizations is far
from resolved among scholars who study nonprofit and government innovation, largely
because the field serves two very different audiences.”25 That is, the field serves both
individual innovators as well as organizations. Since all organizations are made up of
individuals, and most individuals work within the context of an organization, it’s
difficult to separate the two.