ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the question of sustainable innovation in the context of solving complex social problems. Drawing on the Positive Deviance (PD) cases of combating school dropouts in Argentina and the reduction of hospital-acquired infections in the USA, this chapter illustrates the value of the PD approach in enabling sustainable innovation for social change and transformation. Furthermore, the chapter addresses the theoretical underpinnings of the PD approach, illustrating how it is used in practice to reduce school dropouts in Argentina and decrease hospital-acquired infections in the USA. To understand how the PD process was implemented for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus prevention and control in one of the pilot hospitals, and how it was subsequently scaled, let the reader address the experience of the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare Systems. The challenge of enabling and implementing sustainable innovations for complex social problems has been so far addressed in the practice and literature through the approaches of frugal and below the radar innovations.
