Reflect:While I found the entire talk to be very eye-opening, this particular quote jumped out at me. How can we make large-scale changes in this world if rather than striving for success we constantly focus on limiting failure? The ideas may seem similar; if we want to succeed then we clearly do not want to fail. However, if we live in fear of failing then we never take the risks that are necessary in order to achieve greatness. If we do not even attempt to think and act greatly than we are saying we are okay with mediocrity. I do not want to look at non-profit organizations and think that they are merely doing an okay job. These organizations have the potential and the desire to make an impact in the world. They want to prevent people from living in poverty, from going without meals, and from dying of diseases that are treatable. These are all incredibly noble goals, so why are they being stifled?
I think we should be rewarding charitable organizations that have big ideas rather than forcing them to scale down. We should cheer them on and get involved. What is the purpose in discouraging people from doing good? Why hinder greatness?
I really enjoyed this Ted talk too and learned a lot from it. Its sad to see that organization that are made to help people not do everything that they want to do because of the economy we live in. Nobody wants to fail but without failure how can people succeed. We should failure as a steeping stone to success. These organizations can create a better future for the world if most of them are given a chance.
ReplyDeleteBlog 1 comment 2- It really is a shame that non-profits as well as other organizations have to be so concerned about criticisms of the public (where they get a majority of their funding through donations) that they are afraid to make a move that could significantly help the population their organization is aimed at helping because of the possibility of failure. I wish there were an easier way to get this across to people so that we could begin to make a change instead of standing by in stagnant waters.
ReplyDeleteBlog 1/Comment 1: I love the quote you used by Oliver Wendell Holmes. I think it really articulates what your blog post is centered on- breaking free from our conditioned thoughts on non-profits. If we are not moving in one direction (the direction toward progress, and support of non-profits) then we are moving counter to that direction. It's so sad to realize our current state as a nation, and our disappointing apathy and viewpoints toward charities.
ReplyDeleteA huge issue for non-profit service providers is the mediocrity of the government funding systems that lock the agencies into financial dependency and then refuse to allow them to innovate or change. Interestingly, I don't see how that will change unless some of us attempt to change policies or work to explain the situation to the government in an understandable way. We also need to be citizens that are willing to have our tax dollars risked... that seems like a real challenge.
ReplyDeleteThis TED talk was particularly valuable to me because I felt like it told me judgements about charities were wrong. I love supporting charities and I'll usually do it if I feel strongly about the cause but I've always gotten strange looks from people around me who tell me they probably use their money as income. I've thought, "well maybe," but now I can strongly agree because I don't see why a charity has to be an all sacrificing sort of a thing, why it isn't allowed to grow and expand and become greater, why everyone things that it has to be subdued and be humble and small.
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