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​Last week, I attended a Roundtable Member’s Forum on Effectiveness. 

​What is effectiveness? Effectiveness is one of the major foci of my consulting work. The private sector, governments, civil society, and the individual humanitarian must contend about this element all the time. 

Effectiveness runs through the gamut of all development efforts.

Effectiveness is asking, "have you accomplished what you set out to do?" It means measuring your impact, effect, and the results of your interventions on a continuing and sustainable basis. It means asking the right questions about what exactly has been done versus what exactly are the outcomes of what has been done.

It means being honest about unintended, unanticipated, unexpected, and the negative consequences of actions done. It means understanding that these consequences have to be mitigated and addressed without fearing ostracism and being a failure.

When consequences that are unintended are greater than those that are anticipated, it begets the question of how exactly did it improve the situation or make the situation more worse.  

Effectiveness is looking at your methods, systems, and approaches that bring the full participation of community as a partner, stakeholder, and ultimate owner of the development.

It is effectiveness when it is replicable but oftentimes, being replicable should not be the main goal. It should be sustainable, tenable, where generations can benefit and lead from that change. That people are not dispossessed, uprooted, from their own environment just because somebody said a dam should be erected here and there.

Effectiveness is saying that there is a long way to go to achieve the future state but right now it is making sense already- improvement of quality of life is incrementally being achieved without sacrificing the values and cultures of people and their environments.

Effectiveness means that donors and funders commit to listening what works on the ground and avoid being prescriptive about what approaches, tools, and current flavor of the month should be adopted. Monies are used wisely and that corruption charges or allegations are seriously investigated. That personnel health and well-being are part of the effectiveness discussion. The best asset of the organization is the people, period!

​That effectiveness is a continuing pursuit, like mastery, excellence should be the norm not an aberration. And that organizations and people that have failed should not be shunned but get to share this to everyone that cares to listen and learn. Like everyone attempting to make a difference, failures can lead to massive learning  and success if the positive potential is discovered. Being wise is being able to learn from the mistakes of others.

​These are the real issues about effectiveness. No political correctness should water down the clear prerequisites for an effective organization, effective project, effective management, and effective development efforts.

While insteadof asking development efforts to be methods-oriented, it should be results-oriented and outcomes-oriented.



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Q: Is it okay to start a local change rather than making it a big global change?
 
Start where you are.

For those needing to go to Afghanistan, to prove something. Please don’t. You don’t have to.

Proving that you are good enough. Proving that it can be done, whatever idea, project or humanitarian aims you have. Proving a  personal, spiritual crusade. Whatever!

No, don’t try to get into conflict environments and hostile situations where your life or health will be in danger. Even if you escape alive from it, the scars will be there in your psyche. It can heal but the post-traumatic stress disorder can scar you for life. It is not worth the accolades, promotion, recognition, and other externalities that might come afterward. 

The risks are too high to make a substantial investment and effort on the ground. That’s why they have drones, remote surveillance, and other technologically powered systems to do that. Machines are better suited for these times of environment.

Well, you would say that some people went to Afghanistan now and they were fine. While the capital and other locations are perfectly safe, there is no guarantee that these areas are 100% safe. A bomb can explode in any place, even at 5-star hotel or airport (usually).

They came knowing that there were risks involved and accepted that fully well. Some of them have been in the battle zones and have coping and safety experiences that have been proven to alleviate the risks involved in their operations. There is always a choice to go or not to go.

Start locally and see where you can advance from there. Your life and mental, psychological health will need you for the rest of your career.

Local change is different than global change. Local is hands-on, doable, easy to measure, and changes take time too but it is felt right away.

For a global complex change, no one organization and/or person can mightily say that they have turned things around. It is always a confluence of many factors, forces, and occurrences that have promoted the direction of change or improved the lives of people for the better. Some of these are external to the country and cannot be controlled by any single entity. Macroeconomic forces such as capital flows, globalization, world wide web /Internet, ICTs have made profound shifts in many countries’ development.

The world has put a premium on global change because it has more glorified icons attached to it. Local heroes are the same as those global heroes. Same DNA make-up and characteristics propel them to the level of stature.

What is important in the end is, have you made your country, community, village better than what it used to be by your contribution?
 

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Q: How do I do something meaningful in my career while still being able to sustain myself?


This is a very important question. A young person has asked this and I am impressed by the honesty that this is brought out.  Young people are expected to work after they reach a certain age and then figure out hopefully what they want to do with their lives. The person obviously is looking to find a career in international development and wanting to also sustain herself.


Well, the sector is not for someone that wanted to be a billionaire. While saying this, we also don’t want for people to not stay in the sector because they can’t make a gainful employment enough to provide for their families or their own needs. I am sad that many millennials are turned off by the low level of income and opportunities in this sector compared to the corporate sector. This has to change!


Another point of sustaining is Self-care. And this comes with self-awareness. How much is too much? As I was telling this crowd of young people, this is a long game!  You need to pause, take a stock, rejuvenate from time to time to get a better perspective on things. These have to be done on a regular basis in order for you to avoid burn-out and all of its negative consequences. Check and monitor yourself when you have become mechanical and apathetic to what you are doing. These tell you that you need to have a break. 


It happened to me. Burn-out had crippled me and reduced my ability to be effective in what I was doing. I was traveling out of the country, sometimes 3 times a month for 3-6 consecutive months. The time in the office was used for issuing invoices, making reports, checking in on office matters, preparing for the next trip, engaging the contractors, etc. There was no time for social downtime or for recreation. Weekends were used to complete unfinished projects or think about the next proposal. In the beginning it was great but later on, I was tired, worn out, and ready to quit. I had lost my creative juices.  


I also found out that it is important to look for people, network, and allies that could re-energize, restore, and re-establish the reasons why you are working in this sector. You have to seek out and nurture the networks that are genuinely interested and truly cares for your well-being, not only about what you can offer as a contribution.

Sustaining oneself on a regular basis is what keeps you going and thriving in the long game of this work. Instant gratification is not the goal.

I don’t believe in starving all the other elements in your life to be successful in one game too. This thought has proliferated and is the one to blame for the suicides and depressions people faced while building up their businesses or careers. 

As I told someone, it is not selfishness that you take care of yourself and discover your self before you can take up the world’s problems.

I think it’s a smart and healthy thing to do. Balance and moderation win the day.

​What are you thoughts? Share it here. 

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Q: How do I figure out what group or organization to be involved with and what are good pre-requisites to have?

 
There are many organizations, startups, enterprises working in community and global development.

It is up to you to pick and choose which ones would lead you to you closer to your desired career, contribution or business pathway.

As I have written in the blog, Why is passion overrated? unless you have determined your interests and skills set as part of self-discovery, this is going to be an endless task.

There are no perfect organizations but a few signals about them would reveal if they are a good organization to work with either as an intern, volunteer or paid staff.
 
-Are they self-sustainable or are they living from one grant /donation to another? Are they downsizing or on a growth spurt? If they are having difficulty retaining staff, they are not in the best shape for sure. 


-Do they have a good, dynamic, and effective Board/Trustees? Do they retain their Board for a long period of time but also get new Boards to take up new responsibilities and provide fresh insights? Both of these signal interest and continued commitment to the purposes of the organization.
 
-Do they take care of their staff, volunteers and their Executive Director? How is the structure of the organization convened? Do they have a  non-hierarchical and flat structure or they have an overwhelming red tape that it is cumbersome to get things done on time and with less hassle? Do they value self-care and leadership development for their staff?
 
-Are their programs and services continuously being improved? Do you see a lot of innovation and assets-based engagement? If yes, then you will learn more from these types of organizations who are always striving to increase the effectiveness of their efforts.
 
-Are they a learning organization?  Do they carry out studies, evaluations, and assessments about how they are impacting their constituencies? How frequently do they take a stock of their achievements and the changing environment they operate in? Are they market-oriented and future-oriented?
 
This is not an exhaustive list but I think you get the point. The more you look at the operational and strategic elements of the organization, the more you will understand where the organization is headed and if it's in the best health moving forward.
 
Large organizations do not mean they are successful and impactful and smaller organizations do not mean that they have a smaller impact.

It is not about the size but how their strategies and the resources are deployed for their intended results.

Small can be way more efficient, effective, and smart about its footprint in the world.

​Big organizations have more complex systems, operations, and people to look after and develop. 

Make a choice. Try working in a small organization and a big organization (one at a time) and see the difference. 

In your sector, what are the elements of a good organization? Share your thoughts here.
 

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This is a big question that I have to pause when I heard somebody say that they don’t want to be fundraising for the rest of their life.

In a traditional NGO lifecycle, there is fundraising, and fundraising, and fundraising. It is the starting point (never-ending point) of an organization’s life and there is no end in sight.

Maybe unless you hit a jackpot- a billionaire just pledged their whole wealth on your program. Then, you are freed from raising monies.

If one is not fundraising, where is the money going to come from?

Is there a way to detach fundraising from our work and let some platform do it for us? And how about the fees for service?

Is there a machine/robot that can just do a lot of crowdsourcing for a small fee?

Is there a way to run a social enterprise /income generation part of the organization to get the revenue coming?

Is there a way to leverage existing partnerships to create new business opportunities?

Is there a way to remove parts of the organization that have become stagnant and source of burden all the time?

Is there a way to form a network for the sole purpose of fundraising for the projects?

Is there a way to tell donors to stop funding those that have not shown impact/proof of impact so we can get a bigger pie?

Is there a way to teach newer NGOs/non-profits to become market-driven and do not emulate the traditional ones that just ask for monies all the time?

Is there a way to elevate the conversation about fundraising to fulfilling your need to give before you die?

Is there a way to match money per impact, i.e. how many communities did get out from poverty? How many girls went to complete tertiary education?  This is happening I know.

Is there a way to create an Uber-like project from the communities in need and then get it funded by people all over the world? When the communities get back on its feet, they get to return the monies.

​We need more imagination to deconstruct fundraising for the future. 

I have many more questions than answers. I think you get the drift. 

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What do you think about this question? Share your thoughts.