The Power of Unreasonable People

There is a theory that what social entrepreneurs have in common is that they are "unreasonable people" - and this meant as a compliment! The idea is inspired by playwright George Bernard Shaw, who once said,

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world, the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

This week's special report in The Economist explores the growing impact of these social entrepreneurs. Who are they? Some examples:

• a French woman who runs a company that provides childcare to parents with unusual working hours
• a Czech woman who set up a helpline for victims of domestic violence and then campaigned to change the law so that perpetrators rather than victims have to leave the family home
• a Chilean founder of an organisation that provides coaching for at-risk families
• a Mexican who has built a for-profit company that provides free movies to poor people on inflatable screens, funded by advertisements from big companies.

Check out the article HERE.
Check out the new book "The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets and Change the World."