Time to listen? Time to address our personal barriers
6 things that inhibit our ability to listen to those on the receiving end of aid
6 things that inhibit our ability to listen to those on the receiving end of aid
Network thinking has been on my mind. Sharing this piece from Curtis Ogden of the Interaction Institute of Social Change.
Grassroots civil society activists from Palestine discuss their experiences with international aid in this Special Mention Award Winner of the Social Impact Media Awards.
I just came from Haiti just last week. Here’s my reflections on Nora Schenkel’s piece in the New York Times, “I Came to Haiti to Do Good…”
“Oh wait, the rules don’t work for us? Guess we have to stand up for ourselves and change those rules. But this will not happen by letting power go unchecked.”
“Making a change in leadership style is often confusing, lonely, and stressful for the founder. The board can be the founder’s greatest help.”
“Yes, it was your vision that founded the organization in the first place. But as the organization grows, your vision isn’t nearly as important as the organization’s and the community’s vision.”
“People will disappoint you from time to time. You will also let people down. And as in our personal relationships, we have to re-commit every day to making them work. Relationships within international development are no different.” From my interview with partnershipmatters.org.
“Both aid and aid reform distract us from real social change, allowing the powers-that-be to get on with their business of saying one thing and doing another.” Reflections one year after Busan from Nora Lester Murad.
It was hard not to yell back at the red-t-shirted young people, “It’s not that simple!”, but who wants be a downer to their enthusiasm?
A colleague told me recently, “Working for an NGO, it’s like family. I can bad-mouth my mother, but you can’t.” A discussion of Tori Hogan’s new book, Beyond Good Intentions: A Journey Into the Realities of International Aid.
What if we can re-conceptualize the term “innovation” for aid? What if what really makes something innovative is not the idea itself, but the learning that made it possible?
Weh Yeoh of whydev.org argues that everything that we do in development is about selling a message. But how do we convince people when a message goes against the grain of what they already believe?
Sharing sixteen elements of an organization that change as it gets stronger. By Phil Bartle, PhD.