What does it mean to “make a difference:” Considering four frameworks

by Shelby Clark

In our work here at The Good Project, we often consider the question of what it means to make an impact in the world. Another way we ask this question is, “What does it mean to you to make a difference?” 

Recently, my colleagues and I began to dig into the research about social impact, and four overarching frameworks emerged. These frameworks include: 

1. Effective altruism. At its core, the Effective Altruism (EA) movement is about using evidence-based research to find ways of making the most impactful, long-term change. However, in practice, EA has been most associated with the “earning to give” movement, which involves taking a high income job to be able to give away a significant portion (usually >10%) to effective, evidence-based charities. In addition, EA is associated with the idea of “longtermism,” which involves trying to improve humanity’s long term prospects, such as focusing on and ameliorating the effects of AI and climate change. 

2. Systems thinking. Many people think making a difference means addressing the root causes of social issues. This thinking is in line with “systems thinking” which focuses on how different elements of a context or system intersect and what outcomes or problems emerge as a result. In addition, systems thinking also involves addressing the particular power dynamics inherent in a system, the processes that are part of a system, the boundaries of the system, and who or what benefits from or is at a disadvantage as a result of the system. 

3. Cascades. Other individuals believe in drawing on their personal relationships to make change in the world; they’ll tell their friend, who will then tell theirs, and so on. A wide variety of research now supports the idea of using ripple effects--or cascades--in order to make social change. However, this research has shown that there are two types of ripple effects: simple contagions versus complex contagions. In simple contagions, when there is very little cost for a person to do something (e.g., sharing a fun meme on social media), people are often more easily convinced by another individual to do something. However, in complex contagions, there is often a higher cost for an individual to get involved (e.g., attending a protest). In these cases, continued social reinforcement from peers is often necessary before individuals become involved. 

4. Social entrepreneurship. Finally, some people are more entrepreneurially inclined in their thinking around impact. These people are social entrepreneurs, or creators who confront new challenges, seek new opportunities, and are willing to take on risks, with the goal of creating productive transformational change. As Bill Drayton, an early leader of social entrepreneurship and founder of Ashoka said, “Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish or teach how to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry." Importantly, whereas for business entrepreneurs profit is expected from the outset, for social entrepreneurs the goal is societal transformation, with profit (if it results at all) a happy by-product. 

To find out more about how your ideas of making a difference might align with these frameworks, visit our “Making a Difference” Questionnaire here: 

Do you agree with the frameworks above? Are there ideas you believe are not captured within them? Or, perhaps there’s a framework not listed here that we should know about. What do you believe it means to “make a difference” in the world? Let us know in the comments below!

October Round Up: Five Articles Worth Sharing

If you subscribe to The Good Project Newsletter, then you already know we are pausing to reflect on the realities of many American workers and students. We’ve been collaborating with an amazing set of schools and educators as we pilot our new lesson plans this fall (freely available here). 

Over the past few weeks, as we read headlines about worker “burnout,” we also heard firsthand anecdotes about student and teacher burnout from our contacts. Despite the fact that many schools are back to in-person learning, things are not back to the way they were pre-pandemic. Some might argue that this is to be expected. However, it seems that while in the throes of arguments about whether or not to return, vaccine requirements and mask mandates, many were caught off-guard by the reality of a bumpy return to the classroom. 

It seems that, across domains and age groups, people are struggling with pace and stamina in their work. With that in mind, we want to share a few of the articles that resonated with our team as we collectively navigate our way towards “normal.”

1. Students have endured a year and a half of online school. Along with the rest of us, they have also carried stress and trauma in this tumultuous time in our world. In our desperate attempts to “fix” what was broken by COVID, many are now rushing to play catch-up. Is this helping or hurting students? What is the effect of the push to academically “recover” on teachers and schools? Vicki Abeles pushes back against this frenzy to immediately regain ground in her recent essay, “It’s Time to Cut The Narrative of Loss” (here).

2. In a recent opinion piece, Jonathan Malesic describes how Americans have conflated dignity with work and suggests ways to break out of that mindset to recover meaning and fulfillment. Malesic asks readers to re-evaluate the sacrifices they once made for productivity and encourages us to support one another as we strive for a more humane and virtuous life. Read “The Future of Work Should Mean Working Less” by Jonathan Malesic (link here).

3. Whizy Kim of Refinery29 reflects on the intensity of emotions described by millennials facing burnout at work within the context of The Great Resignation in her piece “The Burnout Generation Wants Some Answers” (here). Kim explores how this generation has pursued the goal of purpose or engagement, one of the 3 E’s of Good Work (link here), to the point that when a job or employer doesn’t live up to their expectations, it can feel like an emotional betrayal. 

4. If you haven’t listened to The Jubilee Center for Character and Virtue’s podcast Conversations on Character, you are missing out. The podcast is hosted by Dr. Tom Harrison and features an impressive guest line-up covering issues ranging from education, to business, to philosophy, and medicine. Harrison asks his guests to describe their own character development and how they view their field through the lens of character and virtues. There are currently 19 episodes available on their site (here). 

5. Greater Good Magazine’s Jill Suttie reviews journalist Jennifer Moss’s new book The Burnout Epidemic: The Rise of Chronic Stress and How We Can Fix It in her article “Six Causes of Burnout at Work” (here). Suttie explains Moss’s argument that employers need to accept their own culpability in the burnout epidemic. She outlines a systemic solution that organizations can employ to preemptively avoid burnout in their employees, rather than the smaller efforts that many have used as reactive measures in the past (spoiler alert--the answer isn’t more yoga classes or mediation apps). Interestingly, making sure that employer and employee values align is an important factor in avoiding burnout. The Good Project’s Value Sort Tool allows groups to explore values together. Try this with your team to see if you are in alignment with one another, and if not, find meaningful ways to discuss fault lines (value sort here).

Navigating Changes Successfully in the Workplace

by Danny Mucinskas

Over the past year, Marga Biller of Project Zero’s Learning Innovations Laboratory and The Good Project’s Danny Mucinskas and Howard Gardner have been involved in a collaboration with the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM). The purpose of the project has been to design a research-based course that combines our expertise in the concepts of “good work” and “unlearning.” Earlier this year, we completed an initial abbreviated offering of the course for a small group of employees at SIM (link to earlier blog here).

This summer, we completed an expanded new version of the course, titled “Navigating Changes Successfully in the Workplace,” for a group of unemployed learners who had previously been working as PMETs (professionals, managers, executives, or technicians). The Singaporean government has been actively involved in encouraging programs that aim to reskill or upskill workers to meet the demands of a changing economy. Certain sectors of Singapore’s economy, including travel and tourism, have been negatively affected recently by the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

During the sessions, facilitated by Marga and Danny, learners were encouraged to reflect on their perspectives and actively share their views in discussions with one another. Through the use of probing questions and prompts, conceptual frameworks, and case-based dilemmas, the sessions allowed learners to explore their own attitudes, behaviors, and assumptions about their working lives. The development of a habit of internal reflection was especially important for this group, at a time when they were in the midst of moving from one career to another, often after having been laid off.

Similar to the first pilot, this second round of the course explored the meaning of “good work” and “unlearning” in practice, applying these ideas to real-life situations. We asked participants to consider their mindsets deeply, using exercises about the values, identities, and expertise. We then explored processes of habit formation with the goal of forming habits that support the achievement of good work that is excellent, ethical, and engaging. Finally, we looked at the ecosystem of resources and relationships around participants that they could draw upon in their work, as well as how to connect with and bridge misalignments with others.

Post-course feedback was gathered in surveys and interviews and was generally positive, with participants responding that they were highly likely to recommend the course to others. One individual shared, “As the world is constantly facing challenges and changes, I think the ability to learn and unlearn is very important.” Another stated, “My habit of doing things determine[s] the outcome of the things I'm doing. I need to reflect on my goal, focus on [my] desire[d] outcome, and adjust my cycle of habit.”

Overall, participants in this pilot seemed to derive value from the ideas we presented because of the relevance to their current circumstances, namely their job search and the introspection associated with moving career sectors. They also strongly recommended allotting more time for future students to engage even more deeply with the activities, indicating the power of the exercises we shared for sparking group discussion.

Our team looks forward to further developing the course in collaboration with partners from SIM and to learning as we potentially reach new audiences.

Good Resources

by Dr. Shelby Clark

There is so much “good work” happening in the world, that it’s often hard to keep up with it all in this age of information. Each month we share with you our Top 5 articles, but in this vein, we wanted to spend some time sharing with you some of the ways that we are finding out about some of the good work happening in our world, whether that is academic research, practitioner-based, professional, or otherwise. Keep in mind, this is certainly not an exhaustive list and we hope to add to it in the future. Moreover, we hope you’ll send us your recommendations as well!

Newsletters you might want to sign up for… (links in titles)

Vox’s “Future Perfect” 

“Finding the best ways to do good.”

McKinsey Shortlist

“Our best ideas, quick and curated.” 

The Decision Lab

New behavioral science insights in your inbox every month. 

John Spencer- The Creative Classroom

“...weekly tips, tools, and insights all geared toward making innovation a reality in your classroom.”

Podcasts for potential listening… (links in titles)

Speaking of Psychology 

“Speaking of Psychology is an audio podcast series highlighting some of the latest, most important, and relevant psychological research being conducted today.”

A Slight Change of Plans

“Dr. Maya Shankar is a cognitive scientist who studies how our minds work and how we change. There are few things in life that are as complex and messy—and potentially magical—as change. On A Slight Change of Plans, you’ll hear intimate conversations that give an unvarnished look into how people navigate changes of all kinds and use that change to ultimately grow.”

Work Life with Adam Grant

“Organizational psychologist Adam Grant takes you inside some truly unusual places, where they’ve figured out how to make work not suck.”

Short & Curly

“SHORT & CURLY is a fast-paced fun-filled ethics podcast for kids and their parents, with questions and ideas to really get you thinking. It asks curly questions about animals, technology, school, pop culture and the future.”

Back to School: 5 Articles Worth Sharing

by Kirsten McHugh

The “back to school” season is always a busy time of year for teachers, parents, and students. The load seems particularly heavy this September. Many of us believed the pandemic would be subsiding by now, and yet the Delta variant has left us in much the same spot we were in at this time last year. 

Thankfully, there are a lot of amazing folks out there lending their professional wisdom and perspectives to support good work in education---and to help us push through the not-so-good things happening in the world. Take a look below for some particularly insightful resources and reads from the last few weeks. 

1. The Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues at the University of Birmingham in the UK is well known for their work on character. This fall, their team of researchers has put together two free workbooks on Character Education. One workbook is intended for primary schools, and the other for secondary (link here). You may also wish to listen to their podcast, “Conversations on Character” (link here). In particular, Series 2, Episode 6 focuses on going back to school. 

2. The discussion of mental health on college campuses is hardly new, but COVID restrictions and the threat of closures brings a new level of stress and anxiety. Last week, The Chronicle of Higher Education published a piece examining the impact of COVID on the mental health of college students (link here).

3. The mix of students teachers will welcome into their classrooms at the start of school is never entirely predictable, although experience gives seasoned educators a general sense of what to expect. However, due to the pandemic, students’ educational experiences over the last year and half are all over the map. How are teachers planning to assess their students’ progress and get everyone up to speed? The Atlantic explores this predicament and offers suggestions about how teachers might think about the topics they choose to cover, and which to let go of, as they move through this unprecedented academic year (link here). 

4. Without federal mandates in the US, states and school districts are left to make their own decisions about how to best manage COVID restrictions at school. Superintendents and school board members are finding themselves in the political crosshairs. Facing backlash and sometimes fearing for their safety, many are questioning whether they want to remain in these positions. NPR shares the experiences of board members in two recent articles (links here and here).

5. Many kids have missed out on key social interactions (and growth) due to COVID. It’s safe to say that, in going back to school and interacting with many more peers and adults, big and small mistakes will be made. Instead of resorting to punishment, how might we respond more effectively to difficult situations? Greater Good Science Center suggests a different approach (link here).