We observed motivation as being linked with the interests of one or more of individuals, organisations or programs, and more macro forms of social organisations such as society. They all have their own sets of interests. And these interests may be validly exercised when they do not conflict unfairly or to the detriment of interests of any one of the three entities. When an individual acts through self-interest as a form of ego or ideological dominance, it may not be aligned with the interests of others, and this is when misalignment begins to occur.

When we analysed participants” comments, it seemed evident that an overwhelming number of people who work in the Social Economy do so in the pursuit of higher order goals – the relief of suffering, development of an art form, et cetera.  That is, there is an altruistic aspect to their decision to work in the sector.  

Based on some comments it was clear that members of the sector believed that not every Social Economy member as an individual was acting altruistically. For example, a Social Economy member makes the following comment about barriers to cooperation across sectors:

In reality, ego-driven issues, the desire for market share, dominance, intellectual property rights, and financial considerations (i.e. the need to protect and shore a position to ensure future employment/income) are entrenched barriers .

The claim could be about an individual or an organisation acting on its/one’s behalf. The member’s interests as a form of egoism are not aligned with a common good or with perhaps the organisation in which the member works. Whatever the situation, individual self-interests are not necessarily synchronous with their organisational interests.

Thus the forces commonly at work are:
1.    Self interest: at the level of the individual and related to ego and personal gain (‘slice of the pie" [which is] to the detriment of the overall Social Economy )
2.    Organisational interest: at the level of the group, often the employer, where organisations are territorial and protect their “patch”
3.    Altruistic interest: at its broadest, purely focused on the well being of others and society at large

Many examples of this misalignment were observed in comments about collaboration and cooperation in the sector:
I do not believe this (collaboration for greater efficiencies) is widespread. Many organisations work hard to "protect their patch" .

This illustrates an example of an organisation’s self or vested interests misaligned with the interests of other organisations.

Similar misalignment may occur within a broader Social Economy or “civil good” framework. Individuals or organisations can be misaligned because they cannot set aside their vested self-interest as ego.

Collaboration on projects and service delivery should make for greater impact and geographic coverage if organisations and management were to set egos aside and focus on their mission - what is it that they are trying to achieve and work with others having a similar focus .

The examples indicate how individual goals may become misaligned with organisational goals and mission.  If an individual, for example, is employed by an organisation there is an onus to act in the best interests of the organisation – the bargain struck in return for monetary compensation, perhaps mission satisfaction, or more unlikely in the social sector, building a career.

In the Social Economy, where the party that provides resources is generally different from that consuming the resources, we find many opportunities for misalignment. The frequent criticism by Social Economy members (especially those with “passion”) of Governments was an expression of misalignment of interests. The frequent disclaimers about Governments practices in the grant application processes (short-term funding etc) could also be taken as another example.

In their comments, participants said that when self-interest is at risk, it is often defended in the name of altruism or organisational mission.  Rarely is self-interest acknowledged openly and dealt with explicitly.

This discussion is note a criticism or evaluation of the sector or its members whose comments reflect a more ego-oriented expression of self-interest. In many cases these comments can be celebrated because invariably they reflect a spirit of altruism. But we did observe many instances where claims with a vested interest were made in the name of altruism; where individual interests were out of synchrony with organisational interests; and where an individual’s claim reflected vested interests which were misaligned with the common good, that is, the Social Economy, society or larger form of social organisation

Most of the examples cited above relate to issues of collaboration and cooperation. Time and time again however, examples were observed of practitioners at the frontline resisting and adopting new or different approaches to dealing with collaboration as a desirable goal; but once the matter of resources and their allocation had to be addressed, collaboration tended to “fall apart”.

A similar observation might be made about misalignment of interests among organisations, misalignments that result in competition and ultimate wastage of resources and loss of impact. The outcome is a lesser return for the common good and Social Economy and civil society as a whole.

Hence, for example, in a bid to build personal or organisational status, individuals may engage in highly competitive behaviour that might be at the expense of the altruistic objectives of the organisation and/or funding partners.

A further example may be seen in the dissemination of intellectual property, which might be jealously guarded by an individual or organisation even though sharing it might create significant positive social impact.  

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