Past Issues of Good at Work

The Unearned Comfort of Good Intentions
Newsletter Past Issues of Good at Work

The Unearned Comfort of Good Intentions

Why having your “heart in the right place” isn’t a compliment

I love the following quote by Monsignor Ivan Illich, a Catholic priest, philosopher, and social critic. He had been asked to speak at the 1968 Conference on InterAmerican Student Projects, a program that sent college-aged volunteers to work in rural Mexico. Imagine a crowd of hundreds of bright-eyed Americans and Canadians ready to help.

This is what he told them:

If you insist on working with the poor, if this is your vocation, then at least work among the poor who can tell you to go to hell.

It’s worth reading the entire speech, which is still somewhat famous in development circles. It reflects a hard truth we so often hesitate to face. Our intentions, no matter how noble or pure, shouldn’t shield us from criticism.

Yet for some reason we think it’s enough to have our “heart in the right place.” Notice that this phrase always means that you failed. No one who ever successfully solved a problem was complimented for having their heart in the right place.

Intentions don’t solve problems, solutions do. And solutions are usually hard-won. They require mastery of a problem, repeated trial and error, humility, and empathy. And solutions almost always require participation from everyone involved. They aren’t something we can simply bestow.

Who are the people you’re trying to help and how would they want you to change what you’re doing?

Seeing Good at Work

Started by Fermin Reygadas, who grew up up in Baja California and Chihuahua, Cantaro Azul provides access to clean water for 140 schools and over 60,000 people in rural Mexico. It uses a combination of accessible technology, systemic solutions, and education programs to help improve the health of the people it helps.

They now operate throughout Mexico to help bring sustainable clean water solutions to the communities that need it most.

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If you are new Good at Work, take a look at the archives. You might find a thought that can help you the the good work you hope to do.

Hope Is Medicine
Past Issues of Good at Work Newsletter

Hope Is Medicine

How hope helps

The idea of Make-A-Wish is simple and heartwarming. If you’re not familiar with what they do, they grant wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses. The most popular wishes are to go to Disney World or to meet a celebrity.

Here’s something you may not know: these wishes bring medical benefits.

About five years ago, a group of Israeli researchers conducted a randomized control trial studying the health and psychological well-being of sixty-six children, ages 5–12, who were undergoing cancer treatment. About half of the children were granted a wish from Make-A-Wish Israel.

Children who were granted a wish were psychologically and physically healthier than the other children. The researchers noted:

The findings indicated that the children who received the wish-fulfillment intervention had higher levels of hope regarding their future, increased positive emotions and health-related quality of life, and a better psychological profile manifested by lower levels of depression, anxiety, and psychological symptomatology.

This study was just one of a dozen reviewed in a 2018 meta analysis published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. That analysis found that the majority of these studies revealed that wish-type experiences improved the psychological and even physical health of the children.

Even skeptics of the Make-A-Wish model have had to soften their views after another study revealed that the cost of a wish is offset by the money saved from reduced hospital visits.

All of this research emphasizes the hope that a wish provides. It appears to be the anticipation of the wish experience, coupled with the autonomy to choose it, that has the restorative effect.

David Williams, the former CEO of the national Make-A-Wish Foundation in the US has seen the healing effect of hope over and over again. He told me this in an interview last year:

It’s now part of the treatment protocol. Medicine is seeing the value of a wish experience. The wish experience is actually doing something that medicine alone can’t do. We know that we can make ourselves sick with worry and anxiety and all those kinds of things. We know that impacts our health negatively. We just have a harder time believing [this works] when it’s from a positive standpoint.

Is there someone in your life that could use this healing effect? How could you help them find something more to hope for?

Seeing Good at Work

The cost of a wish experience is relatively high in the US (over $10k), and that’s even with a heavy reliance on volunteers. But Make-A-Wish also operates through international affiliates, in countries like Columbia, Malaysia, and Pakistan. Wishes in these countries are usually less expensive.

If you are interested in supporting a wish, and want to get more bang for your donated buck, consider supporting an international Make-A-Wish affiliate.

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The quote above with David Williams is part of the upcoming podcast we’re launching soon. I hope you’ll listen and share. If you want to make sure you get notified when it comes out, subscribe to this newsletter. I’ll be announcing the release date and other details here.

A Never Failing Spring in the Desert
Newsletter Past Issues of Good at Work

A Never Failing Spring in the Desert

Appreciating the impact of libraries

I am fascinated by high impact innovations in history that we now take for granted. There was a time when these things didn’t exist, and were even inconceivable. Gradually, they become commonplace enough that we no longer consider them special.

Today, one of those under appreciated innovations is the public library. As late as 1875 in the US, there was only about one library for every 200,000 people. Today, there is a public library for every 20,000 people—with a population ten times larger, that equals a hundred-fold increase in library access.

It was in the period from 1880 to 1920 that the number of libraries exploded, thanks essentially to the wealth of one person, Andrew Carnegie. His philanthropy funded 2,509 libraries which cost, in today’s dollars, over $1.8 billion. His generosity created a historic amount of public good.

How much good? Too much to even measure adequately. A whopping 91% of American households have used their public library. The primary beneficiaries of libraries tend to be children and retirees, but multiple studies also show they have an outsized impact for many others, like job-seekers who use the library in their job hunt. Dozens of studies show that libraries lead to smarter, healthier, and more connected communities.

Carnegie had this to say about libraries:

A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people. It is a never failing spring in the desert.

And this:

There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration.

One wonders what single, large investment today could have a similar impact a hundred years from now. What underdeveloped idea now will be taken for granted in 2121?

PS – Be sure to read this amazing illustrated story about libraries in America, including their importance in black communities.

Seeing Good at Work

As common as libraries are today, there are still places where their impact is needed. Libraries Without Borders has worked in marginalized communities, like refugee camps, in 50 countries. They provide access to books, digital resources, and trained facilitators.

Their principal activity is deploying IDEAS Boxes, pop-up and portable packages that extend library services anywhere in the world. Kids who had access to an IDEAS Box showed better academic performance. Impact research also shows that IDEAS Boxes aid in peace-building for communities in conflict.

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I am beyond excited to tell you that Season One of the Good at Work podcast is coming soon. Here’s are some of the guests and topics:

  • Dr. Abigail Marsh (neuroscientists, author, and TED speaker) on the Neuroscience of Altruism
  • David Williams (former Make-A-Wish CEO) on Hope
  • Tyler Shultz (Theranos Whistleblower) on Blowing the Whistle
  • Chaplain George Youstra (Former Command Chaplain for the Joint Chief) on Character, Service, Sacrifice

When the time comes to launch, I’ll be inviting your help to spread the word!

Quitter's Day
Newsletter Past Issues of Good at Work

Quitter's Day

It’s time to carry on what you started

Strava, the makers of a popular running and cycling app, have a special name for January 19th. They call it “Quitter’s Day.” After analyzing over 800 million user workouts, they identified this day as the day that people are most likely to give up on their fitness goals.

You might remember that on January 5th, I sent out a newsletter encouraging us all to build something this year. And I heard back from you about the projects you started. It was a fun and hopeful week.

Then we had an insurrection at the US Capitol. During a pandemic.

I wouldn’t blame you if the news consumed your time and attention. It did for me, too. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by seeing such reckless anger. These have been hard days here in the US, and thank goodness they weren’t even worse. The peaceful Inauguration Day felt more precious than any inauguration had before.

Well, we’ve just passed January 19th. If there was ever a year where “Quitter’s Day” packed its biggest punch, this is the one.

But remember why you decided to build something. Remember how it felt to be excited by it and how what you’re building could help someone else. Imagine what it will be like to see it finished. It’s time to pick it up again and figure out what comes next. You’ll be glad you did and others will be, too.

Let’s get back to it.

Seeing Good at Work

In many urban slums, working parents lack reliable options for their preschool-aged children. Tiny Totos, a for-profit social enterprise, helps informal daycare workers in Nairobi, Kenya to develop sustainable businesses that provide affordable, reliable care for these kids.

The daycares that Tiny Totos trains and supports see their profits quadruple as a result of this help. Meanwhile the kids benefit from education programs and meals, leading to improved childhood development across multiple measures.

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I’ll be giving another webinar on Feb. 9 about how improving ethical skills in your organization will improve everything else. If you’re interested in watching, you can sign up here.

And, as always, please share Good at Work with someone who might enjoy it.

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