We focus on the identification and selection of innovation initiatives that are intended to create cumulative social value. We suggest that a process like discounted cash flow (DCF) is needed, but developing such a process is complicated in the social value context due to a lack of metrics and consistent social value constructs. Taking a dynamical systems perspective and using economic modelling as a guide, we argue that access to resources and information about their future use represent measurable social value. Further, we describe innovation as the recognition and exploitation of patterns in the environment that create social value.