“The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change The World”
By John Elkington and Pamela Hartigan
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RATING:

Unreasonable? Who’s unreasonable? Big oil, pharmaceutical giants and health insurance providers seem unreasonable to me. However, this book’s authors must consider those people “reasonable,” because Elkington and Hartigan claim entrepreneurs who believe they can impact society or the environment through business — rather than profit financially, only — are “unreasonable.”

To be fair, Elkington and Hartigan have compiled a nice review of many different social and environmental entrepreneurs from across the globe. The book begins with their definitions and characteristics of “unreasonable” people. It then proceeds to discuss more practical and logistical considerations for the entrepreneur, such as picking the right business model and structure or sourcing capital as a result of your business vehicle, then follows with a discussion of how to identify market opportunities in social and environmental sectors.

For the most part, I think this book is most relevant, valuable and appealing to those in the nonprofit sector. I say this because a large portion of the case studies reviewed are what the book refers to as “leveraged nonprofit” or “hybrid nonprofit” business models. Academia and the public sector might also benefit from the compilation of case studies, ideas and examples. But for the social or environmental entrepreneur, this book will likely reinforce what you already know. Published by Harvard Business School Press.