“𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴” 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝘂𝘇𝘇𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱.

But often it causes more harm than good:

We hear the word scaling everywhere in the field of social innovation.

For many, scaling has become a shorthand for success — a marker that an idea is “worth investing in.”

But when we look closely, most dominant models of scale come from Western, market-based paradigms.

The assumption is often: bigger = better.

Dominant models of scaling prioritize:

• Metrics over meaning

• Speed over stewardship

• Reach over relationships

They are still rooted 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘀.

That kind of scaling often does harm:

• It erases context.

• It sidelines local wisdom.

• It centers Global North norms.

So, colonial legacies and unequal power structures have embedded extractive logics into how we fund and assess impact.

What if scaling could mean something else entirely?

We need a Different Story about Scaling

Over the past few months, we co-created a report that explores how grassroots innovators across five countries — Guatemala, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brazil, and Cameroon — are re-imagining scale on their own terms.

Across all five places, 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗞𝗣𝗜.

It’s an 𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀.

One that honors:

• Autonomy

• Cultural identity

• Community wellbeing.

This is a powerful shift in perspective:

One that challenges the logic of replication and efficiency, and instead uplifts scaling as a relational, cultural, and deeply contextual process.

What Locally-Led Scaling Actually Looks Like

To make sense of the many different approaches to scaling, the report draws on the SCALE 3D model (from Dr. Tim Strasser) — a framework that moves beyond “going big” and instead asks:

✅ How deeply is the innovation transforming norms, relationships, and systems?
✅ How widely is the innovation spreading across geographies or communities?
✅ How long can the innovation last and evolve over time?

This model doesn’t assume that “scaling” means mass adoption.

Instead, it invites us to look at scale through a more systemic, relational, and time-aware lens.

Let’s explore how five grassroots initiatives across the world are scaling differently.

🇬🇹 Guatemala – Buen Vivir as a Foundation for Deep Resilience

Scaling is about cultural continuity and collective wellbeing, grounded in the Mayan philosophy of Buen Vivir. Innovations stay close to the land and community.

“Our ancestral knowledge informs how we see scaling. We do everything based on our cultural worldview.”

🇮🇩 Indonesia – Inclusion and Mutual Aid as Pathways to Growth

Innovations focus on accessibility and mutual support, weaving Indigenous wisdom with practical solutions that evolve across communities.

“Growth means expanding capability — so the community becomes more resilient together.”

🇵🇭 Philippines – Scaling as Sustaining and Shaping Systems

With no direct word for “scaling,” local groups emphasize sustained adaptation, shared leadership, and advocacy to embed change in local governance.

“Scaling is development — in knowledge, in leadership, in how our community grows together.”

🇧🇷 Brazil – Pollinating Change Through Impact Networks

Meli Bees scales by nurturing trust-based networks that spread cultural knowledge, ecological regeneration, and solidarity across Indigenous communities.

“Scaling is how we protect cultural sovereignty — it’s about relationships, not reach.”

🇨🇲 Cameroon – Ecovillage as Living Ecosystem of Scale

In Bafut, scaling means nurturing a regenerative ecosystem guided by the spirit of Ndanifor: fellowship, ethics, and collective thriving.

“There’s no ‘I’ without ‘we.’ Growth means the community is thriving — not just the project.”

There is much more to these stories!

Re-Imagining What Scaling Can Mean

This isn’t about rejecting the idea of scale altogether.

It’s about re-claiming and re-framing it.

It’s about un-learning and challenging global north supremacy.

Across all five contexts, we see that locally-led scaling:

• Designs for emergence.

• Is non-linear and deeply adaptive.

• Prioritizes relationships over reach.

• Balances depth, width & length impacts.

• Fosters cultural relevance, trust, and wellbeing.

And to truly support this kind of scaling, we need to shift how we show up as funders, practitioners, and systems stewards.

Final Thoughts: Scaling as a Collective Reimagining

This isn’t just about changing definitions.

It’s about transforming the systems we work within.

To scale impact in a way that’s just, regenerative, and enduring, we have to honor the wisdom of those already doing the work differently.

And we have to be willing to ask hard questions:

• Are we scaling because it's needed, or because it's expected?

• What if scaling meant balancing width, depth & length impacts?

• Who benefits — and who’s excluded — when we follow linear models of growth?

If you're working in humanitarian innovation, social change, or systems transformation — I hope this sparks reflection.

And maybe a bit of courage to try a different path.

Get the report here:

📩 Let me know if you want to explore this further in your work — I’d love to connect.

In solidarity,

Adrian

More to Explore This Week

About the Systemic Shift Newsletter

This weekly newsletter is dedicated to exploring practices, mindsets, and strategies that make networks effective in driving systemic change. Each issue offers practical tools, real-world lessons, and curated opportunities to help you build impactful, collaborative networks & communities.

Stay tuned next Tuesday for more!