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that in a spider graph show the scoring of
what you do on different axes. This helps the
incubatees self-assess whether they are going
in the direction of really being a social
innovation. This is useful, because it
encourages self-reflection from the outset in a
way that helps them readjust their orientation
and makes them more aware of what they do.
Beyond the tools, the way we are working is
by gathering the incubatees into the same
workshops and helping them work together
on common tools. This is not only to develop
their work, but also to create opportunities for
peer-to-peer reviewing and networking. This is
very useful for the incubatees.
Can you give a specific practical example of a
tool you have developed for social
innovation incubation?
The social innovation scanner is a toolkit that
we have developed to help social innovation
incubators support its incubatees. We created
this toolkit using very simple A3 pages, which
can be used as a way to guide and articulate a
discussion. Practically, we designed this toolkit
in a way that makes all the conceptual tools
available in a consistent format which
everyone can use, print out and use again and
again. The aim is that these papers should be
self-explanatory and that we can share and
use these tools in small groups of people. This
is one tool amongst several that we use to
help the incubatees develop their ideas and
become ready for market.
What, in your experience, have been the
challenges around helping incubates work
on their ideas and their offerings and making
them ready for market?
Our main concern is about the readiness of
the context. Although the idea might be
interesting on paper, it does not mean that it
will succeed in real life - the factors
influencing the success of a social innovation
goes beyond the idea. For example it needs a
group of people that are really committed,
and these need to have some basic
competences that are required to make the
system work, at least in the beginning when