Focus, Scale, Impact: Butterfly Innovation to change the world? Dr Victoria Austin reflects on the power of butterfly innovation, where small changes can lead to much larger impacts
When we think about innovation, it's easy to get lost in visions of high-tech solutions overcoming engineering problems; often designed by the folks in Silicon Valley. Indeed, many great technologies have originated this way. However, last week, when Dr George Laryea-Adjei from UNICEF joined our team at UCL to give a guest lecture for the “Innovation for a Fairer World” module, he reminded us that innovation doesn't always have to focus on high cost products.
George highlighted the incredible achievements of low-cost product innovation. Such as the small, cheap and disposable needles that were developed from necessity after the HIV crisis which have made vaccines more accessible to everyone. He reminded us about portable ultrasound scanners providing immediate clinical results outside hospital settings. He talked about drones now delivering medical supplies to rural areas, and he reminded us how vital the UNICEF vitamin-enriched RUTF nutrition products are - now from locally sourced materials - in preventing malnutrition. These products have, and will continue to, change the world. But as much as we need these product innovations, George is right to suggest that the next generation of innovators must go further in ‘imagining the uninvented.’ This resonates with us at UCL East, built on the site of the London 2012 Games, where our mission is to ‘change the world’ through engineering.
George reminded class that the challenges we face are not only engineering-related but also geo-political and economic, within complex systems like cities or ecosystems, with multifaceted stakeholders each having their own priorities. In this context, we need more than product innovation; we need programme and policy innovation too. Hearing a senior leader speak passionately about these values, which have guided Global Disability Innovation Hub in our journey, was incredibly inspiring. Forming alliances with the right people makes innovation a very human, messy, and intentional process. As Mariana Mazzucato's work on mission-led innovation suggests, innovation has a direction as well as a rate of change - its for us to choose that direction intentionally. Put simply; if we are all running but don't know if we're going the right way, it won't matter how quickly we get there. We need allies who share our vision and clarity of purpose.
At UCL, we teach this in the IFFW module, guiding students through a 10-week sprint using our tried and tested Innovation Canvas to bring their brilliant visions for a better world to life. By investing in understanding what’s not working, considering what Duncan Green at LSE might call the ‘critical junctures’, and harnessing our unique skills and experiences, our students make bold plans to make a big difference. As George told the class: “It’s you that gets to choose the scale of your ambition. Whether you dream small or big, very few people will argue with you. Forgive yourself for the mistakes you will make, then do the next thing even better.”
At UCL, we focus on what we can do right now. Some might call this Jugaad (or low-resource) innovation; and sometimes it is. But not always. We teach what might be called Butterfly Innovation (based on the ‘butterfly effect’). Where a small changes can lead to much larger impacts. Or where a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. We know that focused efforts from committed actors at one end of the complex systems we live within, can create major impacts at the other end. I think we should actively channel our energy into innovations that make the biggest difference. And with backgrounds in Computer Science and Social Science respectively, my module co-lead Professor Catherine Holloway and I have learned (the hard way sometimes) that the solutions with the most impact tend to be socio-political as well as human, technical, and brave. We need products, but we also need policy and program interventions. Oh yes, and failure is absolutely part of that process!
George reminded the class of this in real terms when he talked about the paradigm shift caused by “Adjustment with a Human Face” in 1987, which questioned the impact of ‘tied aid’ on the development outcomes of the Global South. This report, commissioned by UNICEF, paved the way for a new paradigm in Human Development, which was widely adopted in the UN and informed the UNDP's annual Human Development Report, thanks to the Nobel Prize-winning work of Amartya Sen. This type of policy innovation is just as vital as product innovation. When we look at today’s intractable global problems – like climate change or the debt crisis – it’s easy to believe that another paradigm shift might be on the horizon.
Those of us in the disability movement are well-used to repeating the phrase “nothing about us without us,” and for this type of innovation, it is just common sense! As any UX designer, and they will tell you that the people using the product are most likely to know how they want it to work. We’ve learned that the people most affected by the problem – whatever that problem is – probably know best what type of solutions will work. So co-design is essential to good innovation, butterfly or otherwise.
So, in these new uncharted times, I hold on to hope - and George supercharged that for our class last week. Working with our own strengths, and the resources we do have, we can all take the time to try out small things that will make a big difference. So that our world is better for us all.
Lets focus our energy on what can scale and have the biggest impact.
That for me is Innovation for a Fairer World.
