Book Review: "From Vision to Action: Remaking the World Through Social Entrepreneurship" by John Marks
John Marks has lived an extraordinary life as a peacemaker and social entrepreneur. Based on his global experiences, he has identified eleven principles that guide all his interventions (as well as the efforts of the organizations he has founded: Search for Common Ground and Confluence International). In his new memoir, From Vision to Action, he shares how and why each principle is important and clarifies its implications for other social entrepreneurs.
Two of the eleven principles resonate strongly with me. One is “develop effective metaphors.” John writes, “For social entrepreneurs, communicating compelling models and stories is a crucial aspect of being able to reframe reality. Most people will not shift their attitudes and behavior if they do not have a realistic picture of where they are headed. An insightful metaphor or compelling story is often crucial in providing that picture. In addition, he writes, “display chutzpah.” Chutzpah is the Yiddish word for audacity. “Social entrepreneurs need to display sufficient nerve to push into difficult, risky situations but only in respectful and culturally appropriate ways.” Being able to communicate effectively, whatever the barriers, and being brave are crucial attributes for anyone who wants to take action in the world.
John offers detailed accounts of his involvement in Iran, the Balkans, Burundi, Morocco, DRC, Rwanda, the Soviet Union, Syria, and a half dozen other regional conflicts. These illustrate quite clearly how he and his life partner, Susan Collin Marks (both as part of Search for Common Ground and apart from it) used multiple forms of mass media to entrepreneur peacemaking through surprising partnerships of many kinds. I urge the next generation of peacemakers and social entrepreneurs to learn from John through his explorations in television and radio production, video imaging, and community theater.
Entrepreneurs are always involved in creating something new, but social entrepreneurs are committed to ensuring that the public interest is served, not just finding financial success. Public interest technologists trying to solve a wide array of technical problems would do well to keep all 11 of John Marks’s principles in mind. They apply not just to his kind of peacemaking, but to all kinds of social entrepreneurship aimed at helping those at the margins or who have been treated unjustly again and again.
Social entrepreneurship is a risky profession. John shares a number of close calls. He also reveals how he came to realize when it was time to shift his attention elsewhere. He relied on friends and colleagues to help him learn from his failures, not just his successes. He is really good at confronting his own biases and preconceptions. I wish I could remember or reconstruct so many details of so many encounters in my life. At the same time, his story-telling is captivating and easy to read. Thank you, John, for all that you have contributed, and for sharing so many insights.
Larry Susskind is Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning in the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning. He is the publisher of The Technologist and MIT’s representative to the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN)