In these turbulent times, the issues social workers face are ever-changing and increasingly complex. Social workers need to reskill and upskill themselves to meet these challenges. The post-pandemic era is a catalyst for transformation. Because of this, the “JC InnoPower Forum 2022: An Innovative Post-Pandemic Transformation” was held to crystallise all the learnings in these past 2.5 years and empower all of us to transform through innovation.
The DO’s 3 Key Learnings from the Forum
1. Both social innovation and systems change are crucial to social change.
Social innovation usually refers to a singular entity, be it an organisation or entrepreneur, creating change based on the actor’s theory of change. Systems change means all stakeholders working together to create change in the wider society. Systems change speaks to the concept of interconnectedness. The world we live in is interconnected, so we should not work in silos; rather, co-creation is key.
2. We need to grow internally in order to create the change we want in the external world.
The success of an external intervention, like social innovation, depends mostly on the internal condition of the interveners. The social sector is waking up to understand that we need to do the work internally, like cultivating self-awareness, openness and learning mindsets, empathy and compassion, and interpersonal skills. With such inner development, we can be more able to care for others, work as a team, and drive change.
3. We need to build future-ready ecosystems that are safe-to-fail.
In risk management, there used to be the concept of fail-safe, meaning that the product or project will not fail. But we all know there are bound to be curveballs in our complex societies, like a pandemic. The pandemic is a wake-up call to us that we need to build resilience in our ecosystems so that we can all thrive.
JC InnoPower Fellowship and The DO
The JC InnoPower Fellowship for Teachers and Social Workers Programme, launched in 2016, has since nurtured innovative capabilities and leadership in over 100 Teacher and Social Worker Fellows and supported innovative solutions and their development in the education and social service sectors.
The DO brings its unique, innovative methodology to the Program. Through coaching sessions, Social Worker Fellows ideate and develop their innovation project idea during their Sabbatical and implement it upon return to their workplace. To this end, fellows can bring innovative culture to their organisations and contribute to the long-term development of the social welfare sector. The experiential trial and error process aims to strengthen their resilience and influencing skills to realise project passion and maximise project impact.
Join our Social Work Ecosystem
Stay tuned to our happy hour for social workers happening soon. Join us to connect with like-minded innovators across institutions and sectors, exchange innovative concepts and ideas, and draw strength across different disciplines to contribute to the long-term development of Hong Kong’s social welfare sectors.
Create Impact Today with The DO
At The DO, we empower businesses to create a positive impact. We work with organisations on their purposeful transformation using our award-winning DO Method that rapidly turns ideas into action around topics crucial for the future. We want to work with YOU. Click below to book a coffee with us:
