Quantifying Impact: From Rhetoric to Measurable Change

The word “impact” is used with increasing frequency in discussions about social good. It has become a catchphrase, often spoken with enthusiasm, yet too often without precision. The challenge is that rhetoric alone does not create change.

Why quantification matters.

If impact cannot be quantified, it cannot be evaluated. If it cannot be evaluated, it cannot be monetised. And if it cannot be monetised, it is rarely valued by the systems within which we operate. This is not a matter of reducing purpose to profit. It is a recognition that sustainability depends on models that demonstrate measurable results.

I have asked my teams never to present initiatives that simply raise awareness. Awareness, while important, is not sufficient. The world does not need more awareness of the challenges we face in sustainability and climate. What it needs is innovation that advances solutions.

From awareness to innovation.

Real impact comes from bridging the gap between innovative academic ideas and practical business models. It requires academics, visionaries, strategists, and experienced leaders to work together to translate theory into sustainable practice.

When this bridge is built, academic insights are not lost in journals or confined to conferences. They are transformed into initiatives that can be measured, scaled, and monetised. This is how social good becomes not just visible, but viable.

A shared responsibility.

The pursuit of impact is not about individuals working in isolation. It is about collaboration across disciplines and sectors. A moral responsibility exists for leaders to support and nurture innovation, to create the space where new ideas are tested and measured, and to ensure they are given the opportunity to grow.

The combination of these efforts may feel incremental, like individual pixels contributing to a larger image. But together, they create the picture of the future. A picture we may only begin to glimpse, but one that will shape the world long after we are gone.

Rejecting the old premise.

We must move beyond the premise that initiatives require funding before they can begin. That dependency diminishes vision. Instead, we must design models where innovation is measurable, investable, and self-sustaining from the outset.

In this lies the essence of impact. Not in words, not in awareness, but in the ability to quantify, sustain, and transform ideas into lasting change.

Timecode:

00:00 Introduction to Impact and Quantification

00:29 Challenges in Measuring Impact

01:08 Focus on Innovation Over Awareness

01:37 Bridging Academia and Business for Social Good

02:21 Promoting and Supporting Innovation

02:49 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Transcript:

 The, the question when, uh, when we enter into discussions about changes in the future, um, and the best buzzword I always hear in social impact circles is impact is impact. We have to make impact. And it's only when we talk about making impact, everything is flowery and rosy and, um, fiction and if you want to make impact. The only way to gather support, the only way to build, um, anything is to quantify it. And until you can quantify that impact or get help to quantify that impact, it cannot be measured. And if it cannot be measured, it cannot be monetized. And unfortunately, we live in a world and systems where if it's not monetized, it's not valued.

Quantification then of impact has various ways. Um, it depends on the idea that you are pitching. It depends on your initiative. I have asked my teams at SKI Asia to not bring me initiatives for retreats that raise awareness. I do not think. The world needs right now, more awareness on sustainability and climate issues, and therefore, for me, the impact therefore, is low.I would prefer that we focus on making changes and advancing innovation. The bridge between innovative academic ideas and turning it into revenue models requires a combination of deep academic thinkers and experienced business leaders. And visionaries and strategists who come together for social good but are able to monetize a concept.

The combination of these concepts, I equate to a combination of PhDs that add only limited pixels to an endless infinite hole. A picture that we will eventually come to see long after we leave. Um, and our focus to promote advance support, nurture, and give opportunity to, to such innovation and academic potential, um, is where we can make impact, help academics to measure it, convince.For how we can invest in it. We cannot require or ask for funding anymore in order to start an initiative, whatever that means. I refuse to accept that premise.