111. Paulo Savaget: Unlocking potential where others see scarcity

Access to Inspiration

Have you ever come up against rules, procedures, or obstacles that make it incredibly difficult to create change? This week's guest shares some brilliant examples of organisations that have successfully overcome these challenges.
Sue Stockdale interviews Paolo Savaget, Associate Professor at Oxford University, about his work in transforming unjust systems through workarounds and entrepreneurship. He shares inspiring examples of organisations in Zambia and the Netherlands that have successfully created change despite rules and obstacles. Paolo's work centres around finding loopholes and roundabouts within existing systems. He explains how piggybacking on other organisations or aspects of the system can help spread ideas and messages more widely.
Paulo Savaget, author of The Four Workarounds, is an associate professor at Oxford University’s Engineering Sciences Department and the Saïd Business School. He holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge as a Gates Scholar and has a background working as a lecturer, consultant, entrepreneur, and researcher finding innovative solutions for a more inclusive world. As a consultant, he worked on projects for large companies, non-profits, government agencies in Latin America, and the OECD. He currently resides in Oxford, UK.
Connect with Paulo Savaget at Oxford University : Website : LinkedIn
Time Stamps
[00:00:37] Transforming unjust systems through workarounds.
[00:03:58] Potential in overlooked places.
[00:08:05] Hackers and their approach.
[00:11:52] Life-saving medicines in remote areas.
[00:17:12] Loopholes in rules.
[00:19:00] Applying Dutch legislation in Poland.
[00:23:08] Workarounds and empowerment.
[00:26:48] Learning from others and serendipity.
Key Quotes

• "I started seeing more potentiality in places that people only see scarcity."
• "I know very little about computer hackers, but they seem to make change so quickly and resourcefully in very complex computer systems."
• “After studying many cases around the world, addressing different kinds of sustainability problems, I identified the four workarounds that are very unconventional."
• "Most of my research ideas didn't come out of time that I spent just thinking. It's actually from others."
• "Complicated solutions are not very good in complex situations - simple solutions are good in complex situations".

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