THIRD SECTOR: WHAT IF THE LEVER LIES IN MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL MODELS?

Original article published in Catalan on 08/12/2022

 


We find ourselves in a moment that third sector entities feel constrained by rigid regulations and bureaucracy that are not aligned with the social needs of the society, we live in. A moment with multiple factors of social exclusion, complex problems: dynamic and multifactorial issues... The need to seek different solutions, the need to innovate organizational models based on person-centered models, community models, inclusive models, transformative models... these are some of the challenges we have on the table.

But why is it so difficult to carry out? Why is the effort to move forward so monumental, while the results we see are only small green shoots? Green shoots that entities protect so that they aren't destroyed by a gust of wind... green shoots that are repeatedly used as examples to show that change is possible.

The pace of this transformation is slow, and there's concern about whether this rhythm will be sufficient to transform a society with increasing inequalities.

We hope for a society in which each person can develop their life project, with equal opportunities, where individuals are accompanied and attended according to
their needs, regardless of whether they carry a label of a certain "classified" group at risk of social exclusion.

To lead a change, levers are needed to boost it and mitigate what limits it.

Aware that there are multiple levers and things that limits it... I wonder: And if the traditional management and organizational models of third sector entities are
now becoming a certain limit and could become a lever for this social
transformation?

Third sector entities have emerged from social, private initiatives, and therefore they have emerged from community models where a group of people joined together with a common social objective. Often, these groups of people or their family members experienced the social need they aimed also to transform. Thanks to joint action, they empowered themselves, also engaging in active political actions for social change.

The third sector advocates for general interests and promotes the recognition and
exercise of rights for individuals and groups in vulnerable situations, responding to criteria of solidarity and social participation. It's a sector with a public function, without being a public sector, and most of entities are private. Therefore, entities must ensure their own economic sustainability to run with their mission, but with values and ways of operating different from the private sector.

The management and organizational models adopted mainly by third sector entities as they have grown have been business models inspired by the private sector: hierarchical models where often power, strategy, decision-making is centralized in a few individuals, with different pyramidal levels. These models focus on the growth of entities, creating more services, and being able to assist more people over time. These models must necessarily guarantee economic sustainability and generate profit that is reinvested in their mission.

These models, along with many years of work, claims, and professionalization, have contributed to what third sector entities currently are: a strong sector with
political weight, but still with many challenges ahead. Internal and external challenges.

But... what if these models are no longer what the third sector needs to drive this social transformation and respond to current challenges? What if we are at an
inflection point? What if for third sector entities to be a lever of change, they need to internally transform towards management and organizational models where power and decision-making are more decentralized, with a more community-oriented approach within the organizations? What if third sector organizations need to evolve towards hybrid models between an entity and community?

Could now be the moment when, while retaining everything that has contributed to making third sector entities what they are today, they shift towards doing things differently?

Differently towards more community-based management and organizational models, recapturing the essence of their origin, with smaller, decentralized work units with more power and autonomy, rooted in the territory and hybridized with the community, flexible, creating formal or informal work teams, mixed with professionals and volunteers from other fields, entities, and professional profiles...

Could this internal transformation of the entities themselves be another lever of change to accelerate the social transformation we need?


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