I have had an evolving relationship with the concept of ‘scaling’. I first started using the term (pivoting from ‘international outreach’ into the business realm of ‘scaling’) via an Ashoka conference in 2010. In 2011 I started a Global Scaling Community of Practice on wikispaces. (When wikispaces went out of business I continued to curate articles on re-envisioning the concept of Scaling on my website here).
Around this time Roxanna Samii provided a useful and simple definition that still holds, although we don’t always focus on what this sentence is actually saying: “Scalability is taking something good and adapting it to context and circumstance.”
In May 2014 I wrote a piece on Scaling Deep. I re-envisioned the concept to focus more on relationship building that would encourage roots to go deep before they spread wide.
Some of the key concepts I outlined in 2014 still hold. They include:
- Context – Instead of starting with the approach that something worked well in one place, label it a ‘best practice’, and look for ways to scale it, let’s start first with an analysis of why it worked well in a particular location/context and try to identify what aspects might be replicable (and what might not).
- Partnerships/Collaborations (co-creation) – For something to successfully transfer from one location to another, and be sustainable over time, it needs to work in partnership from the very beginning with those in the area we might hope to transfer it to.
- Customization – What is core and what can be customized? The historic approach to scale up focused on trying to transfer most of what worked somewhere else. We are now seeing that allowing for maximum local customization will make the reiteration more sustainable.
- Time and Sustained Commitment– Effective scaling in my experience always takes longer than we think.
“In 2015, the J.W. McConnell Foundation in Canada decided to wade into the murky waters of scale to provide some depth and clarity. They delineated three types of scale as important parts of the social change process: up, out and deep. This was an excellent contribution and gained currency in some parts of the social sector, such as with evaluators. However, eight years after it was developed, McConnell’s frame remains little in use today with the field.” This quote was taken from “Words that Shape Social Change” – exploring the evolution of the scaling concept. ~ Jara Jean Coffey and John Kania
Where are we more than a decade later?
Although as noted in the above quote, re-envisioning scaling still hasn’t received much ‘mainstream’ traction, after around 2017 we started to see even more focus on questioning the traditional concept of scaling as ‘bigger is better’. Here are some examples:
- It is a truism that the scale of India’s problems requires solutions of commensurate scale. However, prioritising scale over every other consideration—equity, justice, dignity, even relevance—has innumerable costs. Questioning Scale as We Know it ~ Ingrid Srinath
- Achieving scale that is sustainable and impactful is an emerging, interpersonal process, not a solution. Success is only possible when the power to choose, to shape the systems and processes of the program, and to hold others accountable begins with those closest to the problem. The solutions lie with them. Scaling Up is a Process Not a Solution, ~Tom Murphy
- The importance of the work being rooted in context, having an awareness of power and working with power dynamics. ~ Scaling Deep report based on interviews with Ashoka fellows and others working on systems change
And in 2025 we see some of the following discussions clearly focusing on local customization, control and impact:
This report advocates for a shift toward decolonial scaling practices that prioritise local values and challenge colonial dynamics in humanitarian innovation. This means moving beyond one-size-fits-all frameworks and embracing community-centric indicators like collective wellbeing and relational impact over purely quantitative metrics. ~ Reimagining Scaling, Start Network
“The path forward isn’t about scaling faster. It’s about deepening our roots—together.
Let’s co-create funding practices that are not only effective—but ethical, inclusive, and grounded. Let’s make space for movements to breathe, adapt, and lead on their own terms.
We’re honored to walk alongside others in this global shift. The future of resourcing is not only about how much we give—but how deeply we listen.” ~ Sita Supomo LinkedIn post
“Anyone involved in impact programming knows that even the most scalable programs need just the right political, geographic, social, cultural, [insert human dimension] conditions to thrive.” ~ Oluwatamilore Oni LinkedIn post
I am looking for an alternative to scale. Maybe the word is something like impact “density” but overall, I am looking for wellness. Stronger organizations producing on the ground impacts that are dense – committed to ongoing learning about their wellness. Ten feet deep rather than a mile wide. ~ John Brothers LinkedIn post
In a world obsessed with scaling, we forget that transformative change happens in relationship, not just replication… When we prioritize reach over depth, we bypass the slow, relational work of accountability. Depth asks us to stay close to the histories we inherit, the communities we affect, and the responsibilities we hold. ~ Sahibzada Mayed LinkedIn post
In conclusion, the basics I wrote about in 2014 still hold (context, partnership/collaboration, customization and time) but some things have also changed or taken root for the better in the past decade:
- Scaling for growth – bigger is better – is not always as assumed as it once was but is being questioned more broadly in the ‘scaling ecosystem’ and being re-envisioned in positive ways.
- Ways to evaluate progress, that is not just about quantitative metrics, are being developed including community-centric indicators like collective wellbeing and relational impact.
- There is a greater focus on power dynamics and how effective partnerships and guiding structures need to be developed at the very beginning stages of a scaling effort and time then given for building and nurturing trust.
As effective change always takes place over multiple years, a review of scaling efforts that have been initiated over the past few years with re-envisioned approaches could be a useful addition to our collective on-going dialogue and learning.
