Struggle Less. Contribute More
This blog is my attempt to give you what I would have needed when I felt most disheartened. Both by the environment I was working in, but also by the aid community in general.
Many aid-workers do a tremendous job in difficult circumstances. The problem is that there are too many around who do not live up to the standards the organizations and the agencies have set for themselves. And sadly, that includes a large number of people in leading positions. [Read more…]
The authors remind us of the universal and ancient wisdom that joy can only be found within ourselves. It is not about loads of money, the next promotion, a bigger house or achieving any kind of self-centred goals.
We know that, but the human race seems to be in need of a constant reminder. If we had lived by that reminder both humanity and the planet would have been in a much better state. [Read more…]
Aid workers and others with experience from disasters, are well aware of the severe impact corruption has on disaster management. The problem with corruption is of course that it is opaque; and often occurs in countries where transparency is low and press freedom repressed. Hence, it can continue undisturbed. Journalists or others who want to investigate cases of severe corruption also risk putting themselves in danger.
In academic literature the influence of corruption on disaster management is mentioned; but mostly in a generic way without elaborating on the matter. When I browsed through the index lists of my books on disaster management, the word corruption occurred in only one of them. Articles that do exist are often shared among academics or networks of professionals. In other words, within closed communities talking to themselves.
Therefore, aiming to reach a wider audience; and in a series of articles I will highlight what is more widely known about disasters and corruption, what is less known, and my own take on the matter.
Let´s start with what we know. [Read more…]
This team was not actually a team. Its members worked side by side. The flow of information and number of interactions were kept to a minimum.
Some of the team members did not miss an opportunity to belittle other team members. It could be about rank, experience or anything else they could come up with. Many spent a lot of time and energy on dreading the next toxic email, or spiteful comment; and subsequently, strategies for how to handle them. [Read more…]
It is easy to find stories about poor girls and women being forced to marry their rapists. What is even worse is that religious and political leaders often support these decisions. “Woman tempted man. He, of course, could not help himself.” I can only try to imagine the fear and horror these women have to go through.
But this archaic behaviour does not only occur in certain cultures. Sexual harassment and misconduct still seem to be widespread even in countries where men and women are relatively equal. [Read more…]
Sunk cost bias is one the concepts presented in the World Development Report 2015: Mind, Society and Behaviour. Since I assume many of you do not have the time or the energy to read that report, I will try to give you an apprehensible explanation; and some reasons for why you should know.
In an aid context, sunk cost is when you persist with a project, despite its obvious flaws or absence of results. You, your office or your organization have invested so much money and effort into it that is hard to admit your failures. And the more you have invested, and the more you have lost, the more likely you are to head on; despite knowing that the project is beyond rescue.
Why do we humans do such a thing? Looking at it from the outside it seems rather stupid, to say the least. Especially if we claim ourselves to be well educated and “rational”? [Read more…]