No More Status Quo

A Proven Framework to Change the Way We Change the World

Heather Hiscox

A guide for frustrated changemakers.

If you have ever felt disillusioned with the way you work, your organization’s strategy, or the social sector overall, you are not alone. Like you, Heather Hiscox used to wonder whether passionately created programs were really making significant changes in people’s lives, or why the sector jumps to solutions and wastes resources without a process to guide their decision-making. No More Status Quo will validate what you have noticed is broken, and give you the tools to create a better path forward.

Hiscox’s PAUSE framework is a set of problem-solving skills that can be used anytime you encounter uncertainty in any size and type of nonprofit, local government, or philanthropic organization. By using new skills, individuals and organizations can prioritize learning, center stakeholders, and quickly test potential solutions. You can be certain of which solutions will work, and why, and use fewer resources while achieving greater impact.

If you and your organization are ready for change, No More Status Quo will give you clear, easy-to-use skills and tools to open your thinking, adapt your work behavior, and get more impactful results right away.

Reviews

“In No More Status Quo, Heather Hiscox critiques the world of social innovation and offers reflective real-world examples and exercises to support practitioners in deepening their practice and interaction with the people that they support. If you are already a changemaker, this book will give you a nudge to think more critically about how you and others around you work. If you are new to the field, this book provides an excellent roadmap for participatory and reflective processes that could lead to long-lasting social change.”

DR. LESLEY-ANN NOEL co-editor,The Black Experience in Design; creator, The Designer’s Critical Alphabet and Positionality Wheel

“No More Status Quo is the book I didn’t know I was missing! It is a rare combination of candid interrogation of unspoken approaches that aren’t working with tangible examples and lessons learned with a practical road-tested approach to apply. Heather artfully weaves in her own experiences with hand-picked expert insights to frame how we can disrupt our current ways of changemaking that leads to better and more sustained impact.”

NATE WONG partner at The Bridgespan Group; former chief strategy and innovation officer at the Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation, Georgetown University

“No More Status Quo is a must-read for nonprofit leaders looking to innovate faster and increase their impact. Heather’s stakeholder-centric approach provides a proven framework for reducing the uncertainty associated with change, driving down waste, and increasing meaningful impact.”

GABE COOPER CEO, Virtuous Software

“In No More Status Quo, Heather Hiscox brings the ‘lean start-up’ approach into the 2020s. With a sense of humility and a social justice perspective, Hiscox offers all us nonprofit leaders the resources we need to pause—so that we can speed-up social change!”

RUSTY STAHL founder, president and CEO, Fund the People

LESS

HEATHER HISCOX is the founder and CEO of Pause for Change, an organization that helps changemakers address difficult challenges using the PAUSE framework to gain certainty about which solutions will create the greatest impact while using fewer resources and less time. She is also the co-creator of Possibility Project, an online conversion series and growing community of disruptive changemakers. She speaks at conferences and events about shifting status quo practices in social impact (nonprofit, local government, and philanthropic) organizations and has launched several ventures that benefit the social impact sector. She lives in Tucson, Arizona, with her partner and two children. pauseforchange.com

ISBN 978-1-77458-253-4
$24.95 CAD • $19.95 USD
Published February 7, 2023

5.5 × 8.5 • 274 Pages
Paperback, ebook, audiobook