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“Imagine if we could actually ask people in the developing world what they thought of projects before we started them. And most importantly, perhaps, imagine if we could fail quickly enough at the beginning of a project to not pour in the resources, ego, and time that sometimes gives otherwise bad ideas an unstoppable, zombie-like momentum. But wait. We can. And it just happened, right in front of you. This was an easy one, because it was such an obviously bad idea, and it was so clearly stated in its badness (because that’s how you go viral). There were no long whitepapers to hide behind, no complicated acronyms that denote “divide” more clearly than any physical wall. It was also easy because it was one guy, and he posted a provocative video as a response, so he got people emotional. Mobile phones are (soon to be) everywhere. Connectivity is growing. Barriers of communication are dropping. If we can learn from this how to publicly lay our ideas on the ground and invite a square-dance on them, we can more correctly link development activity, delivery and effect - and that link can be the person at the very end of the last mile. Let me call this the first crack in the very large iceberg of ‘charity.’” - Christopher Fabian |
