Blueprint of possibilities

Book review:An account of the first consciously designed multinational social business makes gripping reading, writes Caroline Casey

The anticipation of reading Creating A World Without Povertyby Muhammad Yunus instead of Ronan Bennett's most recent novel over Christmas was not exactly appealing.

However, to my great surprise, I found this book difficult to put down.

It begins with Yunus - one of the world's leading social entrepreneurs, founder of Grameen Bank, pioneer of the microcredit movement and recipient of the 2006 Nobel peace prize - recounting a meeting with the head of Group Danone, Franck Riboud, in a Parisian restaurant in 2005.

It is a behind-the-scenes peek at one of those extraordinary moments when it all comes together - the timing, the people, a great idea, the vision and the passion - a moment that was the beginning of the world's first consciously designed multinational social business, Grameen Danone.

From the outset of the book, Yunus proves intriguing. He is every social entrepreneur's role model, achieving when so many others have just talked. He has struggled and survived, constantly proving that impossible is just a state of mind. He is a visionary. He is original. His passion is uncompromising. His belief is total and compelling.

However, this book is not just for the aspiring social entrepreneur. As Yunus writes, "One of the deep-rooted characteristics of human beings is their desire to do good for other people", and therefore this book has broad appeal.

In fact, it is this human desire to have positive impact that underpins Yunus' concept of social business. He sees human beings as multi-dimensional, interested in more than merely making a profit.

"We need to recognise the real human being and his multifaceted desires.we need a new type of business that pursues goals beyond making profit - a business that is totally dedicated to solving social and environmental problems".

A social business however is not a charity. It is run like a profit making business. Once the initial investors are paid back, surplus generated by the business is reinvested into the business.

In effect it is a non-loss, no-divided business set up to solve a social problem.

Yunus writes in an easy conversation style, educating, inspiring, convincing and motivating the reader to understand the premise of this new kind of business.

It is a well-structured book, one that is easy to pick up and dip into with each chapter divided into several small sections headlined to grab your attention.

His thesis that social business is a complementary model to profit-making business and most significantly part of the solution to eradicating world poverty may seem fanciful. Yet it is difficult to ignore the evidence he has amassed to support his argument in the 30 years he has worked with Grameen Bank, his innovative banking programme for the poor that has significant impact in lifting the people of Bangladesh, some of the poorest in the world, out of poverty.

This is not a book of literary genius. Nor is it a dry academic textbook hellbent on ramming endless data down the reader's throat. Economists or analysts may even point out that the author's ideals are lofty and weak on quantitative forecasting despite the inclusion of some statistical evidence. But that is missing the point.

This book is a blueprint of what could be, if we choose to think differently. It is the thinking of a man who has decades of experience in working with the poor - someone who has created real practical working solutions.

He has already proved that things can change and now he is challenging us to take it further. And Yunus is persistent in his challenging, so much so that towards the end of the book, you feel like saying: "Okay, enough, I know what you're saying!"

At times I found myself reeling from some of his ideas - for example the establishment of a social business stock exchange, or his desire that IT companies create a computer that every poor person could own. But his thinking forced me to question, as it will anyone. And that is the real value of this book.

Yunus is adamant that his greatest advantage in setting up Grameen Bank was that he was not a banker.

He was not limited by old rules and ideals. He is living proof that the less you know, the more you believe, and the more we believe, the more we achieve.

Yunus believes that poverty can be put in a museum and that social business is part of that solution. He is not willing to be put off by excuses or obstacles.

Creating a World Without Poverty by Muhammad Yunus; Public Affairs; €21

Caroline Casey is chief executive of the Aisling Foundation and O2 Ability Awards. She is also on the board of Fás, the Irish Charities Tax Reform Group and a number of other charities.