It's such a violent word. If something hits something else, that's impact. Why are we trying to "hit" things in social entrepreneurship? What are we hitting anyway?
The use of the word "impact" speaks to the failed sense that forcefully landing on a problem or in a context, will achieve change. We know this doesn't work. Impacts create craters on the land and waves in the water. The communities thus "impacted" recoil and respond.
Sadly, too much violence is done in the name of social change.
When doing community work and social entrepreneurship, I prefer to use words that evoke a garden rather than a war zone. A garden needs diversity and an ecosystem in
order to flourish. Different stakeholders in a garden work symbiotically to bring a yield into a garden. That yield can be fruit, vegetables, peace, and fellowship.
Let's talk rather about human flourishing.
Comments