with the public sector and philanthropy. The SDG 2030 deadline is fast approaching—what are the next steps, and who can lead the way? This case series examines how the Japan Social Innovation and Investment Foundation (SIIF) and its partners have attempted to build an impact investing and impact economy in Japan. Their approaches may offer a vision for next steps for the Sustainable Development Goals and innovative investment strategies. Several lessons for this series are under the rubric of Deliberate Leadership, an amalgam of leadership strategies used in the business and social sectors to empower leaders to deal with complexity most effectively. As each Wicked Problem is unique, leaders must choose their approaches carefully. Should they command and control decisions when faced with a crisis? Should they manage the problem by calling on previously successful experiences? When facing a complex challenge, should they be collaborative and adaptive leaders, adjusting their strategy based on clear-eyed understanding of what is and isn’t working? How do leaders hold onto their vision while putting their preconceived notions aside—recognizing the strengths and limits of their expertise and seeking solutions where one might least expect to find them, including within communities affected by the problem and across disciplines? Deliberate Leaders, as explored in this series, are leaders who act with intention and who recognize that they must accept not only the risk of the challenge ahead, but also the consequences of their actions. If Wicked Problems were easy, they would have been solved. When dealing with the world’s most difficult challenges, it is a given that things will go wrong. What’s important is to learn, adapt, and move forward. This series of cases pulls together examples of Deliberate Leaders worldwide to help their peers solve the biggest challenges of our time. The goal of the Ten Years in the Making case and film series is not to prescribe answers but to stimulate discussion and to ask the question—what would you do in these circumstances? Other cases in the compendium represent many “firsts” in using creative capital to address local and global systemic challenges. They include: n UBS Optimus Foundation: From Giving to Investing details how UBS Optimus Foundation moved from grantmaking to a Social Finance portfolio that blends business skills with philanthropy to support outcomes-based investments. The case describes how the UBS corporation embraced this new approach and how staff developed the world’s first Development Impact Bonds in educating girls and health care, as well as social impact bonds. 5
Ten Years in the Making
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