3. social innovation is not unique to the non-pro t sector. it can be driven by politics and government (for example, new models of public health), markets (for example, open source software or organic food), movements (for example, fair trade), and academia (for example, pedagogical models of childcare),
as well as by social enterprises (microcredit and magazines for the homeless). many of the most successful innovators have learned to operate across the boundaries between these sectors and innovation thrives best when there are effective alliances between small organisations and entrepreneurs (the ‘bees’ who are mobile, fast, and cross-pollinate) and big organisations (the ‘trees’ with roots, resilience and size) which can grow ideas to scale. innovations then scale up along a continuum from diffusion
of ideas to organic growth of organisations, with the patterns of growth dependent on the mix of environmental conditions (including effective demand to pay for the innovation) and capacities (managerial, nancial etc.).