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March 2024
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FABRICATED FEAR3/18/2024 Do you experience distress, fear, anxiety, guilt or shame over the future of the planet? While the feeling is legitimate for some people, debunking the doom and bust future scenario should delegitimize the concept behind this paranoia. Marketers and governments and cause-oriented groups milked the concept of a dystopian future where a zero-sum game of extinction or paradise is logically untenable. In reality, we will continue to face not just climatic changes but overall fundamental devastation of the environment due to wanton abuse and degradation. Lower-level island nations will experience more extreme weather hazards. Unless things change. Global governance systems have been stuck for many years. The political will to protect the oceans, forests, land, and the systems of commons is too weak and volatile, hostage to narrow interests. Capitalist growth-oriented economics do not respect nature and its regenerative requirements. There are people that are suspected to commit arson in the forests and blame it on climate change. There are marketers and propaganda agents seriously laughing their way to the bank because they help overexaggerate the zero-sum claims of climate doom. If you're really afraid and anxious about this, go get yourself checked. It may not be the climate fuelling this mental health issue but could be part of larger symptom of a societal neuroses being played out on ordinary people like you and me.
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INTERNALIZED POVERTY3/11/2024 This internalized poverty mentality is pervasive in non-profit, purpose-driven space. The wages are way too low compared with other industries. There's no mentorship and workforce development within this sector. No investment in anything long-term. They are proud of Zero budgeting. A zero-sum competition exists between non-profits in smaller cities especially for funding. The skeletal staff is doing 2-3 jobs for a salary of one. The Board is always a hands-on board, sometimes meddling too much on implementation. Volunteers are used as second-level staffers. Funders do not trust them to develop their organizations, only to deliver the programs. I got almost into a debate after I spoke about the fallacy of 10% administration budget that funders would only fund. I reasoned that 10% is too miniscule to account for what non-profit needs to scale, grow, and build stronger and robust systems for the community good that they do. A woman retorted, " so Executive Directors get to pad their pockets with lots of money?" Is this really what we think about this issue? What a narrow, escapist notion that people will pad their incomes when given more money for administration. It's like saying that we should not build bridges and roads because the contractors get the best of taxpayers monies or that politicians get a kickback somehow. There's no future in this poverty mentality than more poverty, scarcity leading to bad, low quality, one-size-fits-all services that serve no one. This is the loop that should be condemned by everyone. The non-profit is in a crisis and it has been like that for a long time. If these structural issues continue, no amount of billion dollar funding can make it better, it could trigger a more dog-eat-dog scenario. Let's stop kidding ourselves that it will change when a new government comes, or when the funders will get an epiphany, or maybe, if we can just demand for reforms. No! this is a case for societal response to a major overhaul. And I don't think we are near fed-up which is what I hope so.
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UNTOUCHABLES3/4/2024 There are sacred cows in many purpose-driven organizations. it can be a personnel, a Board Member, a funder, a practice/framework, an over-staying product, a founder's mantra, or a habit. All of these can be sacred cows- never questioned, continued to exist and proliferate despite its obsolescence/irrelevancy and sometimes exaggerated, larger-than-life value. You can't touch it, complain about it, or suggest an alternative route/option/offering. The employees would point up (ceiling) saying, something like, "Word from Management." Just follow or resign. Who is the management? Who is the boss? Board of Directors. The Executive Director. The Management Council. When there are sacred cows, it means that the organization has lost it adaptability and relies on tradition, dogma, and unfounded beliefs, usually not based on any thing factual and evidence-based. There's a place for tradition in building high-performing cultures in organizations. Cultures that are deeply rooted in values. For tradition's sake, continuity (some may say), or laziness, people revert to 'whatever been around for a long time' and seldom ask why. Tradition without relevance is fanaticism. In many societies, sacred cows roam the street unhindered. But in organizations, too many roaming unhindered sacred cows can cause a massive catastrophe. You don't want that. Ask, listen, evaluate. Rinse and Repeat |