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Understanding Impact - Key Notes & Video

  • Writer: Alcanne Houtzaager
    Alcanne Houtzaager
  • Oct 18, 2023
  • 2 min read

Updated: Dec 27, 2025

Creating Impact is All about Assessessing Impacts.


And we can only assess impacts, if we Understand the Impact Types and have the Data.


In this part you will learn to differentiate the Impact Types and Quality & Quantity Impact Data.





CONTENT Part 1 explains how to Understand the different Types of Impact and assess their effectiveness. It introduces the challenge of impact innovation, an impact roadmap, four types of impact, and the concept of Net Impact..


The CHALLENGE The core challenge is that impact is not static [04:50] and its definition changes over time. The video highlights that true impact comes from a combination of innovation & scaling [04:59], emphasizing that many good ideas fail, because they are not scaled effectively.


CRITICAL QUESTIONS To assess an innovation's potential for impact, you must ask these

questions:

DATA: Do you have the necessary data? SCALE: Can the innovation be scaled, and how fast?

RISK: Is there a risk of negative impact when scaling?

POSSIBILITY & PROBABILITY of these negative impacts occurring?


KEY TAKE AWAYS for Impact Innovation: The video distinguishes between innovation, impact, and innovating for impact, which integrates societal and environmental benefits with a healthy, scalable business plan [08:16]. NET Impact: This is the sum of all positive and negative impacts, assessed qualitatively and quantitatively [43:32].


DATA is KING: The video stresses that "money follows data" [06:23] and that data is essential for challenging assumptions, securing funding, and navigating new regulations.


TAILORED IMPACT INNOVATION TECHNIQUES & TOOLS MIND MAPPING for Impact: A visual tool to map out the four impact types around an innovation concept to get a broad overview of effects [25:28].


CONSTRUCTIVE CONTROVERSY: A method debating an innovation's impacts by creating advocacy teams for different perspectives, using the Impact Types. [36:04]. SCAMPER: A creative thinking tool using: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify/Magnify/Minify, Put to Another Use, Eliminate (DoNoHarm!) and Reverse/ReArrange, to re-think and re-design products or processes by focusing on the different Impact Types [42:30].


REAL WORLD EXAMPLES Better COTTON Initiative: Successfully scaled its model by outsourcing expensive field projects, shifting 20% of the cotton industry to sustainable production [18:35]. ECOVER Cleaning Products: A "do good" innovation that had to reassess its negative impact when scaling due to its use of palm oil and then innovated to use algae as an alternative [23:43]. ABN AMRO: A Dutch bank that uses a "Planet Impact Benchmark" for its property financing [23:13]. And avoids negative impacts of money laundering. The MALTA Water Services Corporation that manages it’s impacts by Desalination, offering tailored watering services to farmers and avoiding water theft and leaks.


ACTIONABLE STRATEGIES To apply these concepts, you should: Start with a clear understanding of what "impact" means for your specific innovation. Use Mind Mapping for Impact, using the Impact Types, to explore all potential positive and negative impacts. Use Constructive Controversy to challenge your assumptions and anticipate risks. Apply the SCAMPER method to refine and improve your innovation from an impact perspective. Remember that data is crucial for proving your concept's worth and securing supply chain partners & investors.


REFERENCE PAGES & LINKS The video ends with links and articles, with specific topics including "Global Impact & Data," "Scaling Impact," and "Impact Investing Risks & Opportunities" [54:50].



 
 
 

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