What does it mean to Map Impact?
In the world of social impact, I see:
The end goals we work towards. We can use frameworks like the Sustainable Development Goals and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to guide our thinking. Examples include:
- Healthy bodies & minds for ourselves
- Healthy biosystems
The units of measure we use to determine success. To say “we’ve achieved it.”
- Healthy bodies & minds for ourselves
- Every human has enough of the right kinds & amounts of food, water, & clean air for their unique body
- Every human has professional guidance for health & well-being
- Every human has a strong community support system
- Every human has access to the resources and activities that teach us & make us joyful
- Healthy biosystems
The things we’re trying to get rid of.
- Healthy bodies & minds for ourselves
- Every human has enough of the right kinds & amounts of food, water, & clean air for their unique body
- Food is wasted in many ways
- Food is created poorly (pesticides, processing)
- Crops are destroyed by droughts, locusts, fire, …
- Water is lost by droughts, or tainted by pollution
- Every human has professional guidance for health & well-being
- Therapy is too expensive
- Every human has a strong community support system
- Every human has access to the resources and activities that teach us & make us joyful
- Healthy biosystems
The specific actions to take, playbooks to follow, things to create in order to eliminate the problems. There are many!!!
Also note, this is where we begin to see the most disagreement between parties. To avoid getting stuck in a Cycle of Arguing, we can focus on innovation & entrepreneurship.
- Healthy bodies & minds for ourselves
- Every human has enough of the right kinds & amounts of food, water, & clean air for their unique body
- Food is wasted in many ways
- Food is created poorly (pesticides, processing)
- Crops & land are destroyed by droughts, floods, locusts, fire, …
- Water is lost by droughts, or tainted by pollution
- Every human has professional guidance for health & well-being
- Therapy is too expensive
- Every human has a strong community support system
- Every human has access to the resources and activities that teach us & make us joyful
- Healthy biosystems
Make imperfect produce desirable (Imperfect Produce™ )
Recapture leftover food from restaurants, retail, hospitality, even homes??
Teach people to consume more efficiently (only what you need)
What else?
Create delicious, wholly unprocessed foods
Conduct better research on effects of pesticides & outlaw more of them
What else?
Regulate the earth’s climate
Develop new forms of fuel that are cheaper & more efficient
Drought-resistant, flood-resistant, fire-resistant (etc.) grow operations
What else?
Regulate the earth’s climate
so many more … … …
What else?
Connect people to affordable therapists virtually
What else?
And as we begin to build this list, we realize…
It gets overwhelming pretty quickly. 😅
We could essentially continue slicing through each layer indefinitely, finding something else to measure or think about each time. I keep going back to it, even as I write this!!
But we already have plenty of information to start making real progress. Now, we can build. (What are you building for the social impact space?)
What I notice while building:
Many problems are solved by mutual solutions. The most foundational ones seem to be
- Unlocking individual joy & potential, and
- Regulating the earth’s climate
Together they can solve nearly all the other problems, making them sort of super-solutions. Make nature & people very healthy.
A visual framework for this project, if it’s helpful
We can think of all the moving parts in this (non-linear) order.
Impact Areas (industries)
contain
Companies/Organizations
which employ
People
to offer
Products & Services
that deliver
Solutions
to
BIG Problems
measured by
Impact Metrics (KPIs)
Why I started Mapping Impact
For me, Mapping Impact is an attempt to make sense of the world as problem-spotters, innovators, and good-doers.
It‘s about using our organizing, analytical, creative minds to understand exactly what we all can do as individuals—and together in groups—to eliminate unnecessary suffering for all, enable all to thrive, and create the paradise from which we came. 😊
What is it to you?
Originally published @September 22, 2021
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