Understanding Global Undercurrents

I recently went one on one with Steve Davis, Senior Strategy Advisor and Interim China Country Office Director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Steve is also the author of Undercurrents: Channeling Outrage to Spark Practical Activism; a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business; co-chair of the World Health Organization’s Digital Health Technical Advisory Group; a Distinguished Fellow with the World Economic Forum; and a member of numerous boards and advisory committees. Steve is the former president & CEO of PATH, a leading global health innovation organization; the former Director of Social Innovation at McKinsey & Company; and the former CEO of Corbis, a digital media pioneer.

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. ​How did you get here? ​What experiences, failures, setbacks or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth? 

Steve: Thanks for the opportunity to participate. My life journey to date has been filled with many diverse adventures. I started as a human rights and refugee activist with a Religion degree from Princeton, then focused on China and Chinese law, then I became a leader of an internet pioneer in digital media running a company for Bill Gates, and later the Global Director of Social Innovation at McKinsey and Company. Most recently I was the CEO of PATH, one of the largest NGOs in the world, focused on global health innovation and the largest grantee of the Gates Foundation. I also teach social innovation at Stanford. This year, I left PATH, wrote my book Undercurrents, and recently took on the role as Senior Strategic Advisor and Interim China Director for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. I am also a Distinguished Fellow at the World Economic Forum, and the co-chair of the WHO Digital Health Technical Advisory Group. 

I know that sounds crazy, but there have been some consistent themes connecting all of this work. Primarily, how to bring innovation and new approaches to critical areas of global health and development. I am excited by the power of social innovation in civic activism and remain optimistic about everyone’s ability to engage to make the world better through some of these ideas. I suspect my career has also been defined by my general curiosity and willingness to build bridges across ideas and sectors. That has required a certain amount of comfort with risk, as I’ve been willing to pivot many times to take on new projects or roles, usually without a lot of formal training or experience, and almost always in a leadership role

Given that approach, I’ve naturally experienced plenty of failure and setbacks along the way, as well as an immense amount of learning about leadership. One of the most difficult times was leading the early digital media company and photojournalism agency Corbis through the dot-bomb period post-9/11. I had a lot of growing up to do as we had to make difficult business decisions, and the geopolitical landscape was so dramatically changed. I learned a lot about unintended consequences, managing complex relationships and business agility.

I also think my journey as a gay man and LGBTQ activist informs my leadership style and work in meaningful ways. While I am a privileged, white, American male, and have had all the benefits and power that come with that identity, I have also been on the receiving end of discriminatory and hostile activities. And working globally, I have been in many environments where I was an outsider or in the minority as an American. From these experiences, I gained a lot of empathy, which I try to use as an active leadership tool, working hard to understand the perspectives of other people through their eyes and experiences. And I’ve gained a deep appreciation for the amazing talent, passion and optimism of colleagues around the globe – often young people in Africa and Asia -- and their immense potential to contribute now in ways that weren’t conceivable in the 20th century. 

From all of this work, I’ve tried to channel my outrage at inequity, discrimination, poverty and other disadvantages I see around the globe into “practical activism” which is the focus of my new book.

Adam: What do you believe are the most important things U.S. business and civic leaders should understand about China? 

Steve: First, are the immense and growing capabilities and resources in China today. Yes, it’s become a global military and economic superpower. But it’s also full of amazing institutions, universities, companies, entrepreneurs, scientists and others committed to many of the same goals as we are in terms of global development and health. While we may not understand or like some of China’s engagements, policies or approaches – usually for political reasons – we ignore China’s role in the world at our peril. 

Next, I think it’s important to separate the Chinese government from the Chinese people, who are often very excited about being more collaborative with the globe and US, even as government relations are strained. This same advice often is given inside China, by the way, to think of the American people separately from the policies and actions of the US government.

So China will be an important partner, with which we will either have to work, sideline or be in conflict. And all of these things might happen simultaneously on different issues and at different times. The most important advice I received in working with China was to the ability to adapt and think creatively about a problem or opportunity through their lens, rather than only imposing our US approach. But there are still lines we must set, based on our values, political constraints or business models, that should not be crossed.

We are in a challenging phase of US-China relations, and that is due to changes and policies on both sides of the Pacific. But I remain optimistic that we can continue to find ways to collaborate and engage, particularly on some of the most important issues impacting global development and human and planetary wellbeing.

Adam: What other key trends should we be aware of as it relates to China and the U.S.-China relationship? 

Steve: China illustrates some of the five “undercurrents” I describe in my book: large macrotrends that are powering social activism across the globe and will greatly impact the way we continue to shape the world. Specifically, China is one of the largest drivers of the first trend I mention: the shift in global economies from a model that looks like a pyramid (where the world’s poor form the “base of the pyramid” and a relatively few rich countries sit at the pinnacle), to a squatty diamond, where more and more people have moved up from abject poverty into the lower middle-income class. That is a good thing. But it has also extended the distance between the world’s richest and very poorest people. China has brought more than 600 million people, and counting, out of acute poverty faster than humanity has ever seen, and there’s a lot we can learn from that. 

These changing demographics also affect social activism: we need to shift our focus to the low-resource and at-risk communities in every country now, rather than merely focusing on poor countries. These demographic movements also impact the role of private sector businesses – from mom and pop stores, to local companies, to multinationals -- in serving the education, health and financial needs of a growing global middle class that has never been bigger.

Adam: More broadly, what do you believe are the most important macro trends and why?

Steve: In addition to the “pyramid to diamond” trend described above, I explore four other key macrotrends in my book. 

The growing power, voice and agency of communities – really community-centered activism – means some old ways of shaping social activism must change. You can see this in the decolonization movement in global health and development, which flips traditional power dynamics and really puts people and communities in the driver seat. That’s one reason we’re seeing a lot more  human-centered design in activism.

Another trend is more equity in activism across gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality and other longstanding dividing lines. The social sector and social activism have helped bring this to the fore, but nonprofits haven’t been immune from the systemic issues they seek to address. Rebalancing these inequities will be a powerful force in activism over the coming years.

The digital and data transformation will continue to touch everything on this planet, and we’re only now beginning to grasp how profoundly social activism could be impacted, both positively and negatively. I devote a lot of my own work to this trend, and I think, in the end, that the positives will outweigh many of the serious risks.

And finally, there is the trend of focusing more attention on scaling up the best ideas so that they reach millions, rather than investing more time and money on brand new ideas and products, cool as they may be. While we still need both, I see lots of evidence that more and more activism will zero in on what I call the unsexy middle, that long, messy journey between the conception of a great idea and its last-mile delivery. To me, this is the fascinating behind-the-scenes part, and I hope more practical activists will spend their time and careers there. 

Adam: What are your best lessons on leading nonprofit organizations from your years of leadership experience in the nonprofit world? 

Steve: I think nonprofit leadership is vastly under-valued and under-recognized.  Having been a leader in the private, social and public sectors, I can say with some confidence that nonprofit leadership work is the hardest by far. Leaders in the social sector are among the most talented, effective, smart and skillful that I’ve seen across any type of business. The reasons are many: they must effectively manage the crazy business model and feast-or-famine cycles of the sector, while tackling some of the world’s most intractable challenges, in places where markets or policies have failed and no conventional business would succeed. They must balance the desires of demanding donors and sensitive communities; manage complex political risks that sometimes require putting teams at risk on the front lines of a health crisis or conflict zone; and guide mission-driven staffs that aren’t motivated by the traditional tools of management (e.g., bonuses and pay).

So my lessons are many. But I would say the biggest thing I learned from my nonprofit leader colleagues is the art and science of adaptation. Many nonprofits survive in a dynamic world where the requirements of funders, communities, political context, and their own teams change rapidly and frequently. Managing ambiguity and change, with very few resources, is a critical skill for nonprofit leaders. And some do it exceedingly well.

Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level? 

Steve: I am not sure I have a lot to add to the many experts who write and speak on this. I would say managing change effectively, and with agility, is one of the most important qualities. Being able to listen well, but then make clear decisions, is also important (with the principle that clarity is more important than certainty). And I may be biased by my own diverse career, but I think we need more people who have worked across many issues, functions and types of organizations in order to be more effective partners in changing the world. I urge more “tri-sector athletes,” who have actually worked in government, industry and the social sector, who know the challenges of answering to shareholder, funder and policymaker constituencies, who can discuss a “P&L” and the SDGs in the same sentence. I think this breadth of experience is critical in the 21st century.

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives and civic leaders? What is your best advice on building, leading and managing teams?

Steve: Listen and learn. Mainly from the customers, communities or teams you are trying to serve. The best leadership is earned and learned, not imposed without engagement or humility.

Take a chance. Too many people (and many of my Stanford students) are surprisingly cautious about taking risks in their careers or with their community engagements. The world will impose all sorts of constraints and limitations on what is possible; you shouldn’t. So you have to constantly and actively fight against the gravitational pull of security and career advancement and wealth creation, and assume it will happen if it’s supposed to. Take risks to do what you love while helping to make a positive change in the world.

Get a life. Great careers and jobs, even in the social sector, rarely substitute for the joys of personal growth, family life and overall wellbeing. It’s not worth it if you are replacing one with the other. It’s possible to have both -- with varying degrees of compromise and intermittent sprints where one overtakes the other -- and people should aspire to live a balanced, purposeful life.

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?

Steve: Bill Gates Sr., who recently passed away and was a former colleague at the law firm named after him (K&LGates), once came into my office after I had been a little too vocal at a brownbag lunch session about my criticisms of a community organization. He challenged me to “put my time where my mouth was” – in other words, don’t just complain or make snide comments (the equivalent of “liking” or “disliking” things on social media today). Instead, figure out how to apply your time and talent to work on the problem. He inspired me to think about practical activism in a meaningful way, and channel my frustrations and outrage into useful engagement.

Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Steve: Increasingly, in my work and travels, I hear from a wide range of people – students, activists, interested citizens – about how paralyzed and confused they are by the world around us. Many are filled with outrage but don’t really know what to do with it, often because of the impression that things everywhere are always getting worse. Yet the reality, clearly demonstrated in data and experience, is that many things are actually getting better. There are a number of important long-term trends that should prompt optimism that we can keep improving our world. I thought it worth reflecting on those trendlines (which I call undercurrents), and providing some insight on why these trends ought to help today’s practical activists roll up their sleeves. I come to social innovation and activism from many angles, after over forty years as a practitioner, student, multisectoral leader, teacher and consultant, so I wanted to share some of that experience in Undercurrents, backing it with data, stories and ideas about how nuts-and-bolts practical activism works and why it is vital for our future.