The Social Labs Revolution: A New Approach to Solving our Most Complex

Current responses to our most pressing societal challenges-from poverty to ethnic conflict to climate change-are not working. These problems are incredibly dynamic and complex, involving an ever-shifting array of factors, actors, and circumstances. They demand a highly fluid and adaptive approach, yet we address them by devising fixed, long-term plans. Social labs, says Zaid Hassan, are a dramatically more effective response.

Social labs bring together a diverse a group of stakeholders-not to create yet another five-year plan but to develop a portfolio of prototype solutions, test those solutions in the real world, use the data to further refine them, and test them again. Hassan builds on a decade of experience-as well as drawing from cutting-edge research in complexity science, networking theory, and sociology-to explain the core principles and daily functioning of social labs, using examples of pioneering labs from around the world. He offers a new generation of problem solvers an effective, practical, and exciting new vision and guide.

Zaid Hassan is managing partner at the Oxford office of Reos Partners, an international organization dedicated to supporting and building capacity for innovative collective action in complex social systems. He has worked on many complex challenges all around the world, ranging from public health care to climate change to finance.