ABSTRACT
The case of PlayPumps shows how two critical stakeholder groups—funders and families—had impact plans for the innovation that were different, and unfortunately misaligned. At a 2006 ceremony hosted by the Clinton Global Initiative, over USD16 million was committed to scaling a promising clean water solution in sub-Saharan Africa known as PlayPumps. Few scaling initiatives are as was well positioned for success. The second guiding principle is intended to challenge innovators to remember that solutions to social and environmental problems have an Optimal Scale, and rarely is it the maximum. Social innovators often speak of their desire to create “more impact” by scaling. In essence, Optimal Scale is a multidimensional concept that requires an equally nuanced collection of measures of success. A scaling design that considers only the goal of one thousand graduates, without considering the qualitative underpinnings of this goal, could start it down the path of expanding a low quality educational programme—for the sake of growth in graduate numbers.
