Social impact on the road less travelled: UTS Rapido

Executive Director, Hervé Harvard, says the key to leading an impactful team is trust at all levels of the operations, starting from the very top. 

“UTS has always emphasised its responsibility in contributing to the public good and that working with community to have social impact is an important part of our role. This means that when we work on Rapido Social projects, it is valued and supported by our senior leadership team.” 

But working in an innovative, cutting-edge space means that the road to impact is often uncertain. Principal Delivery Manager, Michael Behrens, says curiosity and collaboration are important qualities to deliver impactful outcomes for clients. 

“We have a team of smart people who are not afraid of learning or doing something new. This is important because we learn as we go, and we never know exactly how we will go from start to finish. There is always a level of uncertainty in our work, but we feel confident and supported that we can navigate it. 

“We run our projects very collaboratively with our partners who are involved in all stages of the project. If we have to change something or take a new path, we do so in consultation with the people who will ultimately benefit from the project,” he says. 

According to Harvard, key to travelling unknown paths to impactful innovations is a sense of safety – even in the face of failure. 

“People will often say ‘we should not be afraid to fail’ – but in reality, when you fail, nobody is really happy. 

From a leadership perspective, you need to become comfortable with this and embrace it, because we need to allow people to try something new even if some things may fail. It’s part of the process and promotes a positive culture where staff can take initiative and drive innovation, says Harvard. 

A perfect example of this is Rapido Social’s recent collaboration with Northcott Innovation to improve the joystick on wheelchairs designed for people who experience tremors. These tremors can cause users to frequently damage the wheelchair, or lose control over it, resulting in serious injury. 

“The project came to us after all commercially available solutions had been tried and none of them had worked. We were the last Hail Mary! And because of the culture and our approach, we weren’t afraid to give it a go,” says Behrens. 

Supported by a Social Impact Grant from the UTS Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion, the Rapido team successfully created a new magnetic toggle which pops off when the user experiences tremors, stopping the wheelchair until the user is able to stick it back on and operate it safely. 

“By taking a chance on this project, we enabled someone to live more independently, to have a better quality of life. It is an example of a very tangible, visible impact we have made on this person’s life and everyone with a similar issue. The act of working on something like this truly puts some ticks into the ledger of your soul,” Behrens concludes.