I attended a virtual meeting of an organization I belong to whose mission is fighting human trafficking. This month’s meeting featured a speaker. This woman has spent her life finding and bringing back people who have been trafficked, first as a law enforcement officer, and then as a private investigator. Her presentation was informative and powerful…very powerful. She had those attending totally engaged.
At the end of her talk, she actually made a call to action. She cried out against all the ‘silos’, the myriad of organizations doing similar things and not talking or collaborating. She said if there was one thing we could do to fight the entrenched interests that support and are enriched off of human trafficking, it would be for those working against it to break down the organizational silos and build collaboration.
I was impressed. This made so much sense. I was glad she had put something pragmatic in her talk that could be used to actually do something. But, sadly, I have to say I was at the same time deeply cynical. I watched the comments in the chat…effusive words of praise, appreciation for what she did, acknowledgment of the rightness. What I didn’t see was anyone saying anything about how we, as an organization, should start working to break down the silos between ourselves and other organizations.
I will make you a small wager. I don’t think I will see it. Because I’ve seen this over and over since I dove into the social impact space five years ago. The vast majority of people who claim to want to create change aren’t actually willing to do the work necessary to make change happen. If there is one thing I have learned from my five years working on the Theodora Africa Project, it is making meaningful change is incredibly hard work. It requires big-time investment, patience, humility, and an understanding that the reward may be a long time coming.
But that’s not what the majority want. They want to feel good. They want to FEEL like they are helping. And as long as they FEEL they are doing good, it doesn’t make any difference whether real change happens or not. So forgive me if I don’t jump on the bandwagon of backslapping when we hear the motivational speaker. Because all I want to know is How? How are you actually going to do the hard work to create change?
2 comments:
Your organization is aiming (and succeeding at) making incredibly big changes in people's lives. While I only see a bit through the blog and our conversations, it is apparent how much work it is.
I admit the first time you told the story and now reading it again, that "break down the organizational silos" doesn't feel like the most actionable, easy thing to act on. I could see how your club members didn't interpret that as a call to action. But I think your broader point, that even if she'd given them a detailed Gantt chart with step by steps instructions, they would have found a way to dodge actually doing anything.
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