ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the concept of guiding principles, and how this approach offers unique value for innovators aiming to scale impact for the public good. Scaling impact is a complex process. It explores changing interrelated systems, in which multiple actors, norms, and cultures exert influence on impacts. Many describe a linear process of scaling up or out that tends to overlook the complexity of dynamic settings. Guiding principles encourage creativity, originality, and structured risk-taking. Guiding principles are an alternative to providing direct oversight of decisions or explicit rules. An illustration of guiding principles can be found on the mountain roads of Bhutan. In Silicon Valley, California, some of the most prominent companies use guiding principles to promote creativity and risk taking. Guiding principles do not relax the standards of quality under which researchers and innovators must work.
