Introduction

It's important that we can explain why we exist and the change we want to make in the world. This page describes why a theory of change and what it is

Background to the theory of change

When Elsewhere was just a spark in the eyes of its founders, they endlessly discussed that there had to be a better way. They envisioned a world where successful organisations leave a positive imprint on society, where design and technology can be harnessed for the greater good, and where tangible progress can be made without stress. They believed that there just had to be a better way.

With this in mind, they coined the phrase "using design and technology to make the world a better place" as Elsewhere's mission. A noble, if somewhat naive, aim. As Elsewhere grew and matured, it became clear that this statement alone was not enough. Questions arose: What does it mean to make the world a better place? Who are we doing it for and why? Why use design and technology to achieve it? What makes us qualified to define a better world?

These are challenging questions that have been tackled by philosophers, religious leaders, futurists, authors, and governments throughout the ages. No one at Elsewhere claims to have all the answers, but we do believe that we can make a difference. We want to enjoy our time on this planet by working to make things better for those around us.

We began our journey by reading, listening, and being inspired by those who have approached ways to make the world a better place. We paired this with 4 years of hard work as a company, working with civil society and impact startups. From this inspiration and experience we have created our own humble definition of positive change, a theory of change, inspired by civil society. It is the best method we have found for defining the change we want to see and working towards it.

Define change, define theory

“No same man ever steps in the same river twice”.

To clarify what a theory of change means to us, here’s our perspective on change, theories and this document:

Change is ubiquitous.

The world we live in is constantly changing whether we do anything or not. We do believe that we can effect - no matter how small - the change that is happening.

It goes without saying (even though we’re saying it), we can only effect change with the best intentions, we won’t always get the effect we wanted, we will learn from that and maybe even change our theory based on what we learned.

Change isn’t always positive, often things are better than we think, the grass is always greener fosters a lot of change, but a lot of regret too.

Be the change you want to be and keep changing what that change is.

A theory is just that, a theory. We don’t know that we are right, this theory is our constantly evolving, measurable description on how we at Elsewhere can try to “use design and technology to make the world a better place”.

The role of this document is to help clarify the change we want to effect, so that as we see change happening we are able to proactively effect it with the best intentions.