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A Never Failing Spring in the Desert

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

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.

What Limits Can Do

What Limits Can Do

How constraints can make more possible

You may not think you’d enjoy a 25-minute video of someone solving a Sudoku puzzle, but that’s only because you haven’t seen this one that went viral last year. If you don’t have time to watch all of it now, just skip the first two minutes, then watch a bit to get the gist of it:

I love this video. Notice how rules that seemed so limiting are what made that puzzle possible. Every game you’ve ever played had rules. We tend to think of the ways that rules constrain us, but it’s the rules that make a game fun. Imagine how boring it would be to play a version of charades where you can talk, or even just tell your team what to guess. The constraints of a game are what make it a game.

Constraints do even more for us, like boost our creativity. A multitude of studies shows how the right limitations help teams focus better on goals and try ideas they wouldn’t otherwise consider.

Going one step further, consider your personal standards and values. What would you never do, and what do you strive to always do? Not all rules, constraints, and values are worthy, but the right ones enable us to do far more than we could do without them. Just think of what integrity, honesty, accountability, and caring for others makes possible for you.

Because we honor him this week, here’s an insight from Dr. King on how power constrained and guided by love helps us do more.

Now, we got to get this thing right. Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love. And this is what we must see as we move on.

“Where Do We Go From Here?” delivered on August 16, 1967

What standards, rules, constraints, and values can you set for yourself to help you do more?

Seeing Good at Work

Building a just society in the United States requires us to better understand where systemic injustice is happening. In our legal system, criminal sentencing around the country continues to be wildly inconsistent and racially biased.

Measures for Justice collects criminal justice data on hundreds of counties in twenty states throughout the US. Their work is shining a clear light on unequal treatment and has inspired multiple states to adopt more transparent data collection on their court systems, so that inequities can be better identified and addressed.

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If you’re on Twitter, you can follow me there, too. I might not be the best account you follow on Twitter, but I also promise not to be the worst. 😁

Just Words

Just Words

Why our words matter

It’s a depressing possibility that you read “Just Words” to mean “only words” or “merely words.” That isn’t what this phrase has to mean.

The events at the Capitol last week were a tragedy and a disgrace. History teaches us that the surest way to ruin a country is to prevent a peaceful transfer of power. Everyone who tried to stand in the way of democracy needs to be held accountable, both politically and, where needed, legally.

Reckless and dishonest words got us to this point. Somehow we’re arguing whether or not someone’s words matter, but the idea that they wouldn’t simply doesn’t make sense. Isn’t it plain and obvious nonsense to even use words to say that someone’s words don’t matter?

Words always matter. We can argue about how they matter. But there’s no question about why words matter.

Words we speak or write don’t just reflect our thoughts, they harden them. They drag our thoughts out of the ether and make them firm, real. A spoken thought is easier to believe, whether or not it’s true. When Nixon said “I am not a crook,” is there any doubt that he and many others believed it?

And action always follows belief. This is why our words are a road we choose to walk, including what’s at the end of it. If you choose cruel words, you’re on a cruel path. Lawless words are a lawless path. Where do you think it leads you? You don’t choose a better road unless you use better words.

Relationships are kindled or killed with words. We use them to bring people closer. But in the heat of a moment we can say the wrong thing, and I don’t agree with the idea that we can take words back. We can’t take them back anymore than we can take a breath back. But words can be forgiven, and they can seek forgiveness.

The truth has no vessel other than words, and the same goes for lies. Our Constitution, for example, preserves indelible truths while talk radio radiates dishonesty. Over history, words—lying ones—have wreaked havoc on people. Consider QAnon believers or Proud Boys and the lies that are damaging their families, work, and communities. Lying words have made a pandemic-struck world sicker than it might have been. These are not “just words.”

And the words our leaders say multiply all of these things. What is leadership without words? A leader can’t take credit for inspiring people and then avoid condemnation for inflaming or misleading them.

Words always matter. So we need accountability for them. We need right, fair, and true words. We don’t need “just” words. We need just words.

Seeing Good at Work

Democracy thrives on engaged citizens, but the institutions that engage are us atrophying. Citizen University uses the template of faith gatherings to bring citizens together to bond through their common purpose as members of a community. The gatherings foster civic culture and relationships.

Their Civic Saturdays are held in 30 different cities throughout the country and their Civic Collaboratory draws hundreds of civic leaders. Eric Liu, the Citizen University founder, was just awarded an Ashoka Fellowship last year.

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