Create Value, Not Change

Posted on February 16, 2012. By Jeff Raderstrong.
create-value

A lot of people in this line of work talk about “creating social change,” or “working for change.” I don’t think that’s what we’re doing.

What I think UnSectored does, and what all of our partners do, is create value. Whether or not we create “social value” or just plain “value” is another conversation, but the distinction between “change” and “value” is an important one. Change implies starting from one point and going to another. Value grows out of a single point in time and can be sustained for as long as it has benefits. Because “creating change” will always alter the norm, most likely someone will not be happy with the new norm that comes from this process of creation. Maybe the hypothetical change agent doesn’t care what that dissatisfied person thinks about the new norm, but to have a truly sustainable and collaborative society, we all have to be happy with what we’ve got.

“Creating change,” to me, implies a zero-sum game. By redirecting resources from one area to another, one group is better off, leaving another worse of. Value creation is removed from a zero-sum world by taking existing resources and making them more beneficial than they were. This will certainly cause a change in a system, and it could redistribute resources, but these are not the purpose of value creation. Its purview is simply to make society better off. The benefits might go to one group more than another, but it leaves no one worse off.

This is a pretty esoteric distinction, I know. Really, it’s all semantics, and one person’s change can be another person’s value. But, the way we think and talk about things is important. Change is linear and focused on a specific individual or group. Value isn’t time-bound and implies benefits accruing beyond the scope of the project. Value is collaborative where change creation is inherently isolationist.

Based on what I’m seeing in the world today, value is being created everywhere. Most people I know aren’t actually concerned with creating change, but extracting the most value out of the resources we have. What do you think? Is value a better term, or should I stop writing these pedantic posts?

Photo credit: cobalt123

Value creation's purview is simply to make society better off.
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About the Author

Jeff Raderstrong

Jeff Raderstrong

Jeff Raderstrong is the Founder and Editor of UnSectored and a community engagement consultant. He has run successful, long-term online campaigns in the social innovation space, such as developing and executing the social media strategy for Leap of Reason, a … Continue reading →

  • Mark

    As we’ve discussed previously, I have a lot of trouble with this kind of thinking. When we speak of investment, added value, and social enterprise, we speak as though no sacrifice is necessary. The reality is that much of the good doing – across sectors – about which we talk is necessary because of institutionally unequal systems and structures. These do, in fact, need to be changed. Not altered. Changed. And, that work can not be done without harming the interests of those that have received the greatest benefits from historical and significant inequality (for the record, I’m among them).

    Change is hard. We have to dig deep into the dirtiness of inequality to get at some of the issues we’re trying to tackle. To think we can have everything – that we can “add value” without sacrifice – simply ignores the harsh realities of our social history.

    To appropriately reorganize our society in a way that benefits all, there will clearly be some unhappy people along the way, for at least some period of time. The levels of inequality in this country are embarrassing, and I have a hard time believing that this can truly be addressed without the recognition that sacrifices must be made by those that have received the greatest benefit from a broken system. And, to get back into semantics, I think it’s tough to say people will be “worse off.” In reality, we’re talking about a life that might be incrementally “less great,” not one that would be truly worse.

    • http://www.unsectored.net Jeff Raderstrong

      Thanks Mark. I don’t really see “creating value” as inconsistent with systems change. As I was writing this, I was trying to figure out how to work systems-change in this, but I couldn’t really. (Needing some content for the site, I went ahead and posted anyways.) The way I think about it, change and value aren’t about the ending point, but the starting point. Creating value can lead to systems change if that will produce the most value/benefits.

      I also don’t want to imply that creating value won’t take sacrifices. I think it will, for everyone. I think I have a very idealistic view of the world, and when I say “no one will be worse off,” I mean, everyone will be satisfied with what they have. I think that a lot needs to be done in regards to inequality, and I think the best way to do that is through a lens of creating value, not change. Change implies dichotomy. Value implies everyone being on the same page and understanding the changes being made are for the benefit of all society.

  • Anonymous

    I believe we won’t make a dent in poverty, inequality, and the associated ills by limiting our work to this framing. In many situations, the more collaboration, the better. But there are destructive self-perpetuating systems in place that will never change by us waiting around for everyone to “understand the changes being made are for the benefit of all society”. It’s just not reality.

    • http://www.unsectored.net Jeff Raderstrong

      I’m not suggesting we wait. I think value creation can be painful and should be at times. If there are systems in place that hinder value-creation (which there are, obviously), those need to be changed. Not for the sake of change, but for the sake of creating value to benefit all. Inequality and poverty are the most corrosive qualities of a society, in addition to being morally wrong. Without removing these barriers, other barriers to collaboration cannot fall.

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