Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Ease and Convenience does not drive results.
My book will be launch tomorrow, and I've already been giving several talks on Social Impact.
The most common respond I commonly get is, "Getting real impact is very hard. Can we just donate instead?"
Is this is the state of mind we have now?
Do we require everything to be easy and convenient?
Sadly, this is probably a reason why the current solutions do not really address the problems the world faces. Its because many people don't really think about social impact of their actions.
Many people want to help, they donate to large organizations for disaster relief, they donate to programs to support kids living in poverty. Some people even volunteered and visited the recipients of their aid.
I have met some good Christians who donated their time and effort to support the elderly and helped cook meals and cleaned the homes.
Many people however did it out of duty, or did it out of convenience. When you do not think about the problem, and assume the dollars or even actions you have done is enough to solve the issues the recipients are facing, you are often wrong.
Social intervention does create an impact, but not always positive.
When you help, you life decision for others.
The recipients often do not ask for help, and when you force your "help" on them, you may make them feel helpless and dependent.
Sometimes when you help, you do things for your own convenience, because you don't take joy or pride in whatever you do. Your only excuse is, "Well, I'm still better than most people who are doing nothing."
When you help, you exclude the locals and make decisions for them.
When the initiative fails, you blame the recipients for not taking initiative.
If you want real results, it is not going to be easy.
Just like starting a business or becoming a successful athlete, it takes time and effort to yield results.
There are multitudes of problems we face today, many are created by man, and they all have solutions, but we have yet to found them. Instead, we often look of convenient solutions to patch the problems and continue to patch as we go along.
The problems are getting more serious as time passes and apathy, complains and protests do not solve problems.
We need to take ownership and work with communities, support these initiatives and work towards sustainable change. There are solutions out there, solutions to many problems we face today, but everyone wants to pretend to be a savior to solve the problems, when they need to consult the locals who face the problems and know the situation best.
Lets find some time to contribute our capabilities, skills and resources towards disruptive activities which create real social impact. Lets explore the boundless possibilities and test solutions to make this happen.
We all live on the same planet. Lets create a brighter future for all.
-- Robin Low
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