6 Insights about changemaking – and the difference between knowing something and understanding it

A few weeks ago, I sat watching the final presentations from our class of Social Innovation Management Fellows in India. I was struck by 2 things. First, that in each presentation there was a deep insight, one that had the potential to actually transform the nature of the problem they were addressing. Sometimes the presenter was clearly conscious of their insight and had reflected on it; other times they used it almost as a throwaway line or to summarize a slide, without conveying they actually knew the power of what they had learned. There were so many times I wanted to jump up and yell, “Wait! Do you know how powerful that is?”

On LinkedIn, I wrote about some of the more powerful insights from that day.

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Are You Having an Intellectual Debate or a Religious One?

Ever find yourself in an argument where, no matter how much you feel the facts or even justice, is on your side, you simply cannot persuade the other person towards your point of view? This may be because you’re in a religious debate, and not an intellectual one as you think. THNK.org published a blog in which I explain about the difference, how to know when you’re in which conversation, and how to start to move towards common ground. 

I really enjoyed puzzling over this one, and no, I’m not necessarily good at doing this either!

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Selected as an Asia 21 Young Leader

In 2018, I was honoured to be selected as one of Asia Society’s Young Leaders of the 21st Century, and inducted into a wonderful and accomplished community of leaders across the continent. Click here to read more about the announcement!

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A Failure Playlist to Help You Sleep at Night

Failure is endemic to social impact work. Unfortunately, it’s also endemic to love. And thus, songwriters have always been able to tap into the bowels of failure to help us feel better with our lives. Published in the India Development Review, here’s a “failure playlist” you can dive into when change-making knocks you down, one of the most enjoyable things I’ve ever written!

 

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What to do, and what not: Putting my Harvard experience to use at Amani Institute

Last weekend, I returned to the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) for my 10-year reunion. At first it felt that I had studied there in a past life; so much has happened to me (and to the university) since I graduated.

Being there, and listening again to extraordinary professors like Marshall Ganz and Ronald Heifitz, both of whose courses I still actively use in my day-to-day work and that we teach at Amani Institute, and reconnecting deeply with my classmates, all nudged me to remember what makes this school so special. (And that’s not even taking into account the near weekly visits we used to get from international Heads of State!)

My experience at Harvard naturally played an important role when we set out to design our educational model at Amani Institute. Here are 5 things we explicitly designed for, based on how Harvard does, and does not, do it.

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The 12 Best Books I Read in 2017

I read 24 books in 2017. On LinkedIn, I shared the best 12, sorted in 3 genres, with a short review of each. Some are very popular today, and some are obscure. I would recommend every one of them.

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Fixing the Social Enterprise Skill Shortage: Why a ‘Fundamental Rethink’ is Needed

As part of a series of essays on talent development in the social sector, I wrote an essay for Next Billion in which I argued that living one’s values and following one’s purpose are fundamental ingredients for a fulfilled career. More importantly, these factors hold the potential to transform the global talent problem. We just need to support individuals to match their desire for making an impact with the soft and hard skills to do so.

Please click here to read the whole article. 

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How To Survive the Age of Nationalism: A First Step in Finding Common Ground

In a world increasingly and bitterly divided along values-based lines, how do we connect with those who disagree with us? And isn’t that an imperative for civil society in this new age of nationalism?

On LinkedIn, I describe an experiment we conducted in a class at Amani Institute and what it showed us. Please click here to read the article.

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The Best of Times? Reflecting on a Turbulent Year for Changemakers

On LinkedIn, I reflected on 2016, a disastrous year. Or was it? Perhaps 2016 wasn’t as bad as it was made out to be. And for our work at Amani Institute, it was a game-changing year.

Please click here to read the whole article.

And click here for my other LinkedIn essays.

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Changemaker U

Should social impact be the basis of all higher education? This is the question that Tricia Bisoux sought to explore with me in this interview on BizEd. BizEd is a bi-monthly magazine for individuals and organizations involved or interested in collegiate business education. The magazine is published by AACSB International—the world’s leading membership association for educational institutions with business programs and organizations devoted to advancing business education.

In the article, she explores the motivation behind our work at Amani Institute, and how we’re supporting higher ed through developing our next generation of changemaker leaders globally.

Please click here to read the whole interview.

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