Walking through the souk in Marrakesh, Morocco one day I saw dozens of circles of people sitting on the ground surrounding speakers who were variously sitting or standing while keeping eye contact with their audiences and gesturing vigorously. Some circles were dominated by children who would laugh and squeal at what they heard while other circles were dominated by sober, intent adults. Some circles were large and some were small. I asked our guide what all of this represented. “They are story tellers,” he said. “Each circle represents a different story being told and whether a circle is large or small is a reflection of a story teller’s abilities.” This is the Marrakesh version of American TV channels—only if you want to change channels in Marrakesh you move to another circle!
But story telling of course is not particular to Morocco; don’t we all remember as children having an adult read a story to us at bedtime or even perhaps during the day if we were lucky? Perhaps you have passed this tradition on to your own children with the same spellbinding effect.
What is it about stories that fascinates us so? Perhaps it is in our genes. Perhaps Darwinian selection winnowed out all those humans who would not or could not listen to what they were being told!--but regardless of the cause, in the end we all like a good story. Stories appeal to both sides of our brains—the rational and the emotional; and the result is that we can often easily recall the details of the stories we were told decades after the fact.
Story telling transcends cultures, languages and generations. It offers an almost magical way of capturing attention and creating a lasting impact. Come to think of it--what a wonderful communications technique this is!
As we who are or have been involved in corporate communications concentrate on boiling down messages to “just the facts”--terse little, forgettable sound bites--maybe it would behoove us once in a while to go back to our childhood roots and find what we need to put our messages into the form of a good story. Who knows, you might end up creating messages that people remember a generation from now!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Tragedy of the Commons
The tragedy of the commons is a social phenomenon characteristic of human activity throughout the world. Its thesis is that individuals take care of what personally belongs to them; but they tend to abuse and rush to exploit resources that are shared in common in their haste to get what they can for themselves before these resources run out entirely.
This human tendency to see no further than our own limited interest has always existed of course; but, apart from a few sociologists and environmentalists, it did not attract a great deal of attention until relatively recently. Now with global warming reaching a tipping point, global fisheries in full collapse and every other shared global resource in crisis, even ordinary citizens are starting to realize the impact six billion human souls are having on our planet. Something has to give…..
The tragedy of the commons manifests itself in other ways as well. When given a choice taxpayers everywhere vote to reduce their taxes, even while wondering why the public services they are used to and expect are struggling to make ends meet…. The human brain does not seem to be wired right—or at least wired in a way that can ensure our long term survival.
It seems to me nonprofit organizations could be/should be especially involved in all of the critical issues stemming from these “tragedies of the commons.” Nonprofit organizations are by definition enterprises that are intended to benefit society; in this they are or should be the antithesis of the tragedy of the commons, aren’t they?
Can human behavior be changed in a democratic society that respects individual rights and free enterprise? In this regard, corporate social responsibility (CSR) offers interesting possibilities for nonprofit-for profit collaboration, but does this have staying power and is it enough to make a difference?
Nonprofits that are membership organizations have their own tragedy of the commons of course whenever there is discussion of membership dues. Members don’t like to pay them as a rule…. Are there lessons that can be learned here that might have application in a broader context?
This human tendency to see no further than our own limited interest has always existed of course; but, apart from a few sociologists and environmentalists, it did not attract a great deal of attention until relatively recently. Now with global warming reaching a tipping point, global fisheries in full collapse and every other shared global resource in crisis, even ordinary citizens are starting to realize the impact six billion human souls are having on our planet. Something has to give…..
The tragedy of the commons manifests itself in other ways as well. When given a choice taxpayers everywhere vote to reduce their taxes, even while wondering why the public services they are used to and expect are struggling to make ends meet…. The human brain does not seem to be wired right—or at least wired in a way that can ensure our long term survival.
It seems to me nonprofit organizations could be/should be especially involved in all of the critical issues stemming from these “tragedies of the commons.” Nonprofit organizations are by definition enterprises that are intended to benefit society; in this they are or should be the antithesis of the tragedy of the commons, aren’t they?
Can human behavior be changed in a democratic society that respects individual rights and free enterprise? In this regard, corporate social responsibility (CSR) offers interesting possibilities for nonprofit-for profit collaboration, but does this have staying power and is it enough to make a difference?
Nonprofits that are membership organizations have their own tragedy of the commons of course whenever there is discussion of membership dues. Members don’t like to pay them as a rule…. Are there lessons that can be learned here that might have application in a broader context?
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