We define “Impact” as positive, non-financial outcomes for society of an organization’s actions, similar to the word’s use in terms like “impact investing”.

Current financial markets tend to consider “impact” an alternative, cost, or delay in profits or financial gain. However, the ICO approach harnesses impact — positive, non-financial outcomes — to be a driver of both financial and non-financial outcomes.

The ICO Approach is not a tax status, but a management approach to align goals, strategy, execution, tactics and learning to accelerate positive societal impacts along with financial goals.

Any organization, regardless of their tax status, can use the ICO tools and be an Impact-Centered Organization. Leaders of for-profit, non-profit, for-benefit, financial funds, philanthropies, foundations, and even government agencies have used and benefit from the ICO™ tools.  

Purpose-driven leadership tools and certifications have advanced this century. That’s great! However, many who use these tools retain the assumption that impact is a cost or outcome, not a driver, of growth. Unfortunately, some have used otherwise strong tools for marketing, green-washing, or hiding negative social impacts as well.

ICO™ Framework is designed for those with the WILL to help them build the SKILL. It’s an internal set of tools to drive performance, not an external validation or marketing technique. ICO is one approach for “how” to operate and deliver results… not a certification (e.g. “b-corp”), tax-status (e.g - PBCs), or reporting mechanism (e.g. ESG”).

The ICO Approach and the ICO Operators’ Toolkit is a supplement to, not a replacement of, existing operating systems and strategy tools. Consistent process, tools and operating systems (eg. EOS, Rockefeller Habits/Scaling 2.0, Lean/Six Sigma, and others) are important and needed for scaling.

ICO equips teams to use them more effectively, while (a) treating impact as a driver, not merely a cost or outcome, and (b) treating time as a variable, not a constant. For example, the ICO Next Steady State tools are intended to define when you’ve reached a new plateau – no matter how quickly or slowly – rather than using monthly reports, quarterly goals or annual plans constant and the goals as the variable.

ICO’s improve conviction, execution, and results towards your intended outcomes. Operators, leaders and their teams report clearer goal setting, more effective framing and communication, and learning new things about themselves, the market, and their path to success. 

Beyond the internal and professional development benefits, ICO’s have accelerated their growth in traditional business metrics, including revenue generation, time-to-hire, personnel retention, customer expansion, competitive improvement, product differentiation/innovations, and other traditional metrics.  

While any organization leadership team can use the ICO Operators’ Toolkit, the tools and disciplines resonate most with

• operators in agile, growing, or social sectors (eg. education, healthcare, environment);

• leaders intending to lead in or change their fields;

• early and growth stage founders;

• venture- and private-equity backed companies;

• social enterprise organizations;

• impact investors;

• philanthropies;

• family offices;

• non-profit leaders and their leadership teams; and/or

• those committed to helping their organization(s) drive positive financial and non-financial outcomes for the world.

We believe lowering the barriers to entry for any and all operators to become ICO’s and outperform their peers – regardless of background, opportunity, location, or experience – is the best way to reach our long term goals.

While we’ve invested to make sure the ICO Operators’ Toolkit is a solid, stand-alone set of tools for self-paced support, I4S offers other paid speaking engagements, workshops and facilitation to fund and reinvest into our mission.

To secure, partner, or suggest ways ICO can help turn impact into acceleration, shoot us a note at partner@impact4scale.com.