Melinda's take on how to accelerate change

As I am working on putting out a third and updated edition of The Other Microsoft, I visited Melinda Gates, Pivotal Ventures website (here the paid leave working group, unfortunately with a broken link) and as well as the Evoke one. This extract is dedicated to gender equality but it could apply to any change, including paid leave, a topic she has said she supports. Read below the content of 'Amplify external pressure'. I'll share my comments later. Take care.



3. Amplify external pressure

As I mentioned, the private sector is under new pressure to be part of the solution. But to unlock the progress we want to see at the pace we want to see it, we need to mobilize key constituencies to turn up that pressure even higher.

Shareholders, consumers, and employees hold disproportionate influence over many private sector institutions. Investors’ votes can push companies to enact changes. Customers can use their purchasing power to reward companies that are part of the solution and punish those that aren’t. Workers can hold their employers accountable by walking out. And imagine what’s possible if shareholders, consumers, and employees work in concert to exert pressure on the same institutions at the same time.

When the pressure is turned up high enough, walls that have long seemed rock solid can start to crack.

We have been waiting to knock down those walls for a very long time—but we’ve never had the opportunity that we have now. If we seize this chance, then maybe the next time Rosie the Riveter tells us “We did it!” she’ll be right.