Philosophy of Positive Change
what is positive change | principles | how we enable positive change | dive deeper
Philosophy of
Positive Change
WHAT IS POSITIVE CHANGE
Positive Change means …
… invoking and awakening the highest in individuals i.e. invoking their aspiration for excellence, greatness and inner fulfillment
… unleashing the inner power of a collective / community to find their own indigenous answers to problems
… strengthening institutions to become resilient in a VUCA world
principles
Principles of change & impact that we live by and are embedded in our solutions …
View of human beings as infinite
The foundational axiom & starting point of our work is that every person is a repository of infinite possibilities & potential. People can unleash this potential when provided with the right kinds of enablement.
This is opposed to the axiom that people are limited entities with limited ability to create their own destiny and positively impact the world around them.
Human-centered Solutions vs Resource-centered Solutions
Our solutions are aimed at empowering and invoking individuals & collectives from within to find their own answers. As a consequence, people can leverage & multiply the value of the financial / material / educational resources provided to them.
We believe it is not enough to solve complex social and developmental challenges by giving resources alone.
Whole Solutions
Our focus is on finding solutions that cover deeper underlying aspects of the problem rather than addressing only parts / symptoms of the problem.
This also means building solutions that focus on strengthening the systems & institutions rather than weakening or bypassing them.
For example, through our education interventions, we focus on strengthening the existing school / university system rather than creating alternate infrastructures or creating direct access pathways to students.
Sustainable Solutions
Our solutions focus on finding long term, sustainable answers to problems rather than quick wins / quick fixes.
We focus on enabling people in ways that have compounding impact & returns over time rather than diminishing returns over time. For example, ways of thinking, responding, etc.
This is similar to putting a seed in the ground and nurturing it. As time goes by, the seed grows and matures into a plant and eventually a tree.
Scalable Solutions
Our solutions are rigorously designed to create replicable outcomes at scale.
If outcomes cannot be replicated across multiple locations & user groups, a solution is not scalable.
Illumine Foundation seeks to create considerable impact & contribution towards building our nation & the world, therefore we focus on building solutions that are scalable.
How we enable Positive Change
We focus on strengthening the qualitative dimensions of society
Improving quality of thinking of people, collectives & institutions
… the way they see themselves – self-esteem / aspirations / identity, etc.,
… the way they perceive / see the world and how it works,
… the way people think in terms of cognitive capacities like ecosystem thinking, solution thinking, etc.
Improving quality of responses
… the way people / collectives respond to challenges in life and deal with big changes / uncertainties in the world, etc.
Improving quality engagements & interactions
… the way people engage with work in terms of work ethic / work models,
… the way people engage with their careers and the way people engage with ideas / knowledge, etc.
… the way people interact with each other in a range of human systems – communities, institutions, cities, cultures / countries, etc.
Improving Quality of contributions people make / outcomes they strive for
… through different roles in life – citizens, students, teachers, nurses, professionals, etc.
dive deeper
Talks
Watch talks on the philosophy by Srinivas Venkatram, Founder, Director of the Illumine Foundation.
How do we educate our future generations to a changing world?
Mr. Srinivas Venkatram explores this question in the Positive Economy Forum at San Patrignano, in 2015.
He presents new kinds of evolutionary capacities that are most likely to be needed in the coming future.
Awakening the potential of individuals, organizations & communities
In this talk, Mr. Srinivas Venkatram explores how we can rebuild education, institutions and communities from the point of view of ‘awakening potential.’
This talk was part of an event on the theme: “Shaping the future of humanity: what we can learn from Swami Vivekananda”, hosted by Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre, UK