During the Ashoka changemaker week in Paris I heard great things from very successful social entrepreneurs:

1. Everything goes through people.
It is not the organization, not the plan, not the initiative, but just the people who make it happen

2. You can change only if you think that you are not in a traffic jam, but that you are the traffic jam.
Find the origin of a problem and think about a solution, real change goes back to the roots of a problem.

3. Make alliances! An isolated solution means just to adjust, to get a small thing done in a better way. Real change needs partners, needs the openness to share, to fit into a holistic approach and collaborate, co-create – for making really a difference.

4. From Nimby to Pimby. From ‘Not In My Backyard’ to Please In My Backyard’ – openness and taking risks – this is how change happens.

5. Think globally. Act locally. Change personally.
Nothing to add.

6. You need a strategy? Strategy papers are no strategy, it is just paper. Better: Follow your instinct and trust. Do it!

Great speakers, great points. I will keep them in front of my desk as reminders. I feel they are essential in what we do and how we do it, and you?