It’s disturbing how many creative, smart, capable, ethical people I talk with lately are feeling really de-motivated and sometimes plain disgusted with our field and our profession. At least a few times a month, people contact me wanting to chat through a crisis of purpose, worried that they are losing their souls if they keep working in the belly of the aid/ development/ humanitarian beast. They wonder if it’s possible to keep doing the part of the work that they still believe in from the margins rather than from the center. As the kind of work that we do turns more and more into big business, they wonder what can be done to maintain a level of integrity that they can live with. I often ask myself the same thing.
I won’t spoil the end of Mad Men for those who haven’t watched it yet, but the finale really resonated. The ad industry – the aid industry. How much are they actually different? How alienated and empty do you feel at the end of the day sometimes, even when you are great at what you do and you are hitting your targets (Don)? How much does your sex/gender/race prohibit you from advancing (Joan) (Dawn) (Shirley)? How much do you still believe that you can keep on keeping on, making your job your life, doing everyone else’s work, and thinking that one day, you’ll be recognized (Peggy)? And the final ad shown on Mad Men (one I remember so well from my childhood) perfectly combines commercialism and ‘saving the world’.
A couple of months ago, Stephan Ladak interviewed me as part of a podcast series over at Aidpreneur. It was a fun talk but (as probably happens to a lot of people) as soon as it was over I started doubting everything I said, wondering if I’d been too honest or if I was not sounding positive enough. It was published today. So, I held my breath and listened to it this morning and I’m actually quite OK with it. It’s about work, personal relationships, children, tech, entrepreneurship, and trying to keep your values and integrity as you navigate life at the margins of the aid industrial complex. Have a listen to it here if you’re interested.
Wait... What? 