Dr. Mim Plavin-Masterman
One Size Fits None:
Time for an Entrepreneurial Revolution
We need to rethink innovation in the climate space, and broaden who gets to develop solutions. Along with Alejandro Juarez Crawford, I am co-authoring the book One Size Fits None: Time for an Entrepreneurial Revolution, forthcoming by Emerald Publishing in September 2025. We explain why democratizing innovation is our way out of the climate crisis.
As economist Michael Shuman put it, "We’ve all been victimized by the ‘doom loop,’ where no well-informed human can ever answer our urgent questions about our bills, our 103 degree fever, our blue-screen computer, the climate crisis, you name it. One Size Fits None explains how we got here, how much damage these loops are causing, and–most importantly–how we can escape them.
Everyone has a doom loop story. Please share yours with us!
Book Synopsis
Unresponsive systems organize and shape our lives. This is no accident. Unresponsive systems are a feature of how business and government are managed today, and it’s getting worse.
In Part 1, we explain the role of automation in removing system responsiveness, and explore how companies treat the concept of scale, especially related to the financialization of daily life. We also focus on the implications of such unresponsiveness in dealing with climate change.
In Part 2, we describe the incentives companies have to be unresponsive, along with the role consultants play in limiting companies’ actions in the face of climate change. We explore myths of genius, its connections to consulting, and the outdated way we think about innovation, innovators, and venture investment.
Using original research — case studies and survey data — we argue for new investment and innovation paradigms and for a new approach, where we find and support local innovators in their quests to fight climate change.
As a preview of the book, I have co-written two pieces in Climate and Capital discussing how we can rethink innovation in the climate space: Democratize innovation and To solve the climate crisis, go global – and bottom up
See Alejandro’s work on Democratizing Innovation here: https://democratizinginnovation.org/ for ways to get involved.