The philosopher Peter Singer wrote a moving book called The Life You Can Save, which makes a powerful moral case that all of us should be doing more to help the poorest of the poor.
The video below provides a 3-minute intro to his thinking. (Disclosure: I helped to create this video, along with my friends Jeff Sims and David Hamburger.) You can learn more at his website*.
I desperately want Singer’s idea to stick: We can, and we should, save lives. If you agree, will you help me spread the word about his work?
Here’s a preview of our latest column in Fast Company:
The business world is obsessed with “talent” — hiring it, retaining it, rewarding it. We’re urged to “get the right people on the bus.” (And, really, what better symbol of the high-performing enterprise than a bus?) The metaphor implies that good workers are portable units of competence. They can bring their talent to your bus or your competitor’s bus, but ultimately, it’s their prize to bestow.
What if talent is more like an orchid, thriving in certain environments and dying in others? It’s an interesting question, full of nature-versus-nurture overtones; we could debate it endlessly. But Boris Groysberg, a professor at Harvard Business School, has spoiled the debate with an unsporting move. He’s gathered some data. And what he discovered forces us to rethink the argument. … [read more]
What looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity. Change accelerates when people understand — in specific, behavioral terms — how to reach their goals.
This theme emerged in some educational research cited by Amanda Ripley in her new Time piece called, “Should kids be bribed to do well in school?” The most successful “bribe” programs rewarded behaviors rather than grades. At first look, that seems odd. Why reward an “input” rather than the “output”? Well, here’s why:
The students [in New York City] were universally excited about the money, and they wanted to earn more. They just didn’t seem to know how. When researchers asked them how they could raise their scores, the kids mentioned test-taking strategies like reading the questions more carefully. But they didn’t talk about the substantive work that leads to learning. “No one said they were going to stay after class and talk to the teacher,” Fryer says. “Not one.”
We tend to assume that kids (and adults) know how to achieve success. If they don’t get there, it’s for lack of effort — or talent. Sometimes that’s true. But a lot of the time, people are just flying blind. John List, an economist at the University of Chicago, has noticed the disconnect in his own education experiments. He explains the problem to me this way: “I could ask you to solve a third-order linear partial differential equation,” he says. “A what?” I ask. “A third-order linear partial differential equation,” he says. “I could offer you a million dollars to solve it. And you can’t do it.” (He’s right. I can’t.) For some kids, doing better on a geometry test is like solving a third-order linear partial differential equation, no matter the incentive.
Next Wednesday, I’ll be giving a talk about Switch at the beautiful National Cathedral (see below). The event is hosted by the Beauvoir School, and the $25 registration price goes to support teacher development.
I’ll give a 60-min talk followed by Q&A and a book-signing. If you’re interested, you can register here.
If you love Teach For America then you’ll love this offer: Donate $20 to TFA and we’ll ship you a free copy of Switch. The free book is our way of thanking you for supporting an organization that has spurred so much positive change in the school system. (BTW, the money goes directly to TFA and you will be able to claim the charitable tax deduction for whatever you donate.)
Only two disclaimers: 1. We can’t ship outside the U.S. (Sorry about that. We’re funding this out of pocket and it just gets too expensive.) 2. You know the old song — “supplies are limited, so act fast.” (But rest assured that if we run out of free books we’ll warn you on the donation page.)
Give TFA a boost today! [Promotion ends at 5pm Eastern on Tuesday 3/16] [UPDATE: This promotion has now closed. Thanks to you, we raised $8,080 for TFA!]
- A podcast series (episodes for social entrepreneurs, managers, marketers, etc.)
- A book-club guide
- A guide for applying the principles of Switch to organizational challenges
To get them, just sign up for our email newsletter. In the past we’ve offered free Fast Company subscriptions and free advance copies of Switch (via lottery). Hope you find the resources useful.
