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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
Appealing to humans' basic instincts to increase influence, buy-in and results Survival of the species comes down to three basic instincts, say behavioural research strategists Dan Gregory and Kieran Flanagan--fear, self-interest and simplicity. These basic human behaviours come into play in all types of relationships, including those between businesses and customers. Selfish, Scared and Stupid: Stop fighting human nature and increase your performance, engagement and influence, demystifies these behaviours and examines the psychology behind why even the best ideas sometimes fail. This book helps businesses design their organisations for reality rather than perfection, and also offers strategies to head off unprecedented levels of disengagement within, and outside, the business. It answers baffling questions around why the public sometimes fails to engage despite overwhelming data suggesting otherwise, why so many new products end up on clearance shelves and why so many great salespeople often fall short of their monthly targets. * Learn how the survival of the species plays into business, including delusionary realities and the reasons ideas can fail * Discover how to offer customers strategic rewards, thereby making the buying process more attractive to selfish natures * Examine the link between fear and the unknown, including strategies for quelling fears and turning them into action * Learn to use a simple mindset to create low-involvement products, helping appeal to instinct and making products hard to resist This provocative book is built on the idea that businesses must return to a more human engagement methodology in order to succeed. It is an informative read for anyone interested in improving influence, growing business reach, improving sales figures or understanding the complexities of human behaviour.
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Seitenzahl: 301
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014
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‘SSS, is a triumph, a great read, stunning insights and the title had me laughing at myself and learning at the same time. It makes me want to be a better man — generous, courageous and intelligent!'
— Matt Church, Founder of Thought Leaders Global and author of Amplifiers
‘How refreshing to have a book that cuts through the myths and hype and gets to the heart of human behaviour and the realities of why we do what we do. Dan and Kieran share a rare quality of not only being brilliant researchers and strategists, but also being able to translate what they do into what we need to know. And they do it with such a fabulous sense of wit and humour that you can't help but turn the page. This book will change how you view behaviour, business, leadership and even society, forever.'
— Megan Dalla-Camina, Strategist and author of Getting Real About Having It All
‘Clever, rigorous and refreshingly real — this fad-free book shows modern-day realists how to unlock real results.'
— Dr Jason Fox, Motivational Scientist and author of The Game Changer
‘Finally someone has the guts to tell the truth! This book will blow your mind and not allow you to look at the world the same. By removing your blinders it will save you time and help you get what you want.'
— Dr Adam Fraser, Human Performance Researcher and author of The Third Space
‘As business leaders we think we know but Dan and Kieran really know what makes buyers do what they do. Buy this book to find out how to get them to buy more.'
— Jeffrey Hayzlett, Primetime TV Show Host, best-selling author and sometime cowboy
‘Clever, funny, thoughtful and passionate about success ... the book is too.'
— Russel Howcroft, Executive General Manager, Network Ten
‘I deeply resent Dan and Kieran's hilariously blunt insights into my human failings — or at least I would — if the opportunity to profit from them wasn't so genuine and compelling. Steel-toed honesty coupled with brilliant original perspectives: Whether your focus is business or philanthropy, this is a book for people who have the courage to understand themselves in order to change the world.'
— Bradley Trevor Greive AM, New York Times best-selling author
‘Dan and Kieran's latest book combines the art of engaging readability with the science of killing sacred cows. This book cuts through the clutter and the rah rah and creates a new paradigm of understanding of human nature, which is essential to create organisations and brands well positioned for a future that isn't just about hype, but about depth and meaning. Hoover it now!'
— Anders Sörman-Nilsson, Futurist and Founder of the think tank — Thinque
SELFISH, SCARED & STUPID
STOP FIGHTING HUMAN NATURE AND INCREASE YOUR PERFORMANCE, ENGAGEMENT AND INFLUENCE
DAN GREGORY & KIERAN FLANAGAN
First published in 2015 by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 42 McDougall St, Milton Qld 4064
Office also in Melbourne
© The Impossible Institute Pty Ltd 2014
The moral rights of the authors have been asserted
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Author:
Gregory, Dan, author.
Title:
Selfish, scared & stupid: stop fighting human nature and increase your performance, engagement and influence / Dan Gregory, Kieran Flanagan.
ISBN:
9780730312789 (pbk.) 9780730312796 (ebook)
Notes:
Includes index.
Subjects:
Human behavior. Philosophical anthropology. Success. Conduct of life. Social interaction.
Other Authors/Contributors:
Flanagan, Kieran, author.
Dewey Number:
128
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All inquiries should be made to the publisher at the address above.
Cover design by Steve York, Cream Studios
Title block and heads graphic © The Impossible Institute
Back cover image by Ian Butterworth
Disclaimer
The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the authors and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based on the information in this publication.
To Kerryanne, Gary and Darcy, the least selfish, scared and stupid people we know.
CONTENTS
About The Authors
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Who we are and how we came to write this book
What really drives human behaviour?
Who this book is for
Part I: We are all selfish, scared and stupid
Chapter 1: A matter of survival
Selflessness is a recipe for extinction
Selfish is hard to resist
Fearlessness leads to extinction
Fear: one of the most motivating emotions we possess
Complication and complexity lead to extinction
Don’t fight your nature: work with it
Chapter 2: The Happy Delusion
What is The Happy Delusion?
How does this delusion form?
The qualities of the mythical hero
But it
is
a delusion and delusions cost us
Chapter 3: Why failure happens
The truth is, we set ourselves up for failure
Discipline is hard work
Human irrationality
Beliefs are hard to shift
Our brains are over-confident
Laboratory conditions don’t exist
We over-focus on results
Failure is an error in design
Part II: Think selfish
Chapter 4: Tell me WIIFM
Selfishness can be a force for good
Build identity congruence
Create values alignment
Demonstrate a connection to broader goals
Show them what’s in it for their communities
Offset the cost
Demonstrate that your issue is my issue
The real question is, ‘What’s in it for them?’
Chapter 5: Offer a reward
On carrots and sticks
The psychology of rewards
The importance of acknowledgement
Rewards must be valuable in context
The greatest rewards are unexpected
The difference between ‘more’ and ‘better’
When rewards stop working
Chapter 6: Make it enjoyable
It’s not just girls who want to have fun
Make it a game
The yawning chasm between pleasure and pain
The ‘no pain no gain’ myth
Eat the chocolate frog
Focus on the boring bits
Why so serious?
Part III: Think scared
Chapter 7: Flip the fear
Fear drives change
Some fears cost us
Learn to see fear as a lever for positive change
Define and contain fear
Instil appropriate fear
Rebalance the fear
Chapter 8: Link it to the known
Familiarity is just so familiar
Something like an analogy
Link it to the past
The language of change
Perception is everything
Chapter 9: Show them they’re not alone
We are a social species
Social media exists for a reason
There is safety in numbers
The desire to be ‘normal’
Help us ‘fit in’
Connect us to each other
Connect us to something bigger than ourselves
Watch our six
Show us the love
Part IV: Think stupid
Chapter 10: Make it simple
Confusion paralyses us
Complexity doesn’t equal intelligence
We’re tuning out and turning off
Too hard is just too hard
Curators needed!
Will it fit on a Post-it Note?
Take the ‘six-year-old’ test
Take something off
Simplify the steps
Use fewer words
Basic needs are pretty basic
Chapter 11: Make it easy (lazy)
Human beings are notoriously lazy
Laziness is the mother of invention
How might lazy be efficient?
Ease raises confidence and competence
Chapter 12: Make it hard not to
Changing opinions versus changing behaviour
We will resist change if we can
The rise of behavioural economics
Place barriers in the path of unwanted behaviour
Limit the available options
Frustrate previous behaviour
Make the preferred behaviour more available
Control the environment
Selfish, scared and stupid in the real world
For selfish, scared and stupid entrepreneurs
For selfish, scared and stupid leaders
For selfish, scared and stupid teams
For selfish, scared and stupid behavioural change
For selfish, scared and stupid sales
For your selfish, scared and stupid self
We are all selfish, scared and stupid … thank goodness
The Impossible Institute™
Human behaviour and belief systems
Index
Advert
End User License Agreement
List of Illustration
Selfish, scared and stupid in the real world
Figure 1: the ‘selfish, scared and stupid’ combination lock
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Part I
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Dan Gregory and Kieran Flanagan are behavioural researchers and strategists and the founders of The Impossible Institute™, an innovation and engagement think-tank founded ‘to make what’s not … possible!’
Their specialisation is human behaviour and belief systems — our motives, our drives, the things that make us buy and the things that make us buy in.
Over the past 25 years they have helped develop new product lines for Coca-Cola and Unilever, invented new media formats for Murdoch Magazines, created interaction systems for categories as diverse as fast-food chains and government departments, and launched internal and external engagement campaigns for companies as varied as News Ltd, Vodafone and MTV.
They have also worked as directors and lecturers at Australia’s premier creative school, AWARD, lectured at the Miami Ad School, taught postgraduate students at Macquarie University, Sydney and the University of Sydney as well as privately coaching and mentoring CEOs and non-executive board members.
Dan and Kieran are also captivating speakers whose business acumen is matched by a rapier wit and rare human insight — skills that Dan puts to great use in front of 1.4 million viewers as a regular on ABC TV’s Gruen Planet.
Their mission is to turn Impossible Thinking™ into an epidemic.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
An enormous thank you to our amazingly supportive families, who not only allow us to be selfish, scared and stupid with our time but have also been the collaborators who helped us navigate the world of human behaviour successfully. Special thanks to Kerryanne Gregory, Gary Fishburn, Darcy Fishburn, Lillah and Brian Gregory, Toni and Mike Flanagan, Bruce Gregory, Jodie Coates, Simone Carton, Bronwyn Flanagan, George Betsis and Mary Coustas, and Andy and Trish Healy. We love you all and you make the journey more interesting and a lot more fun.
We also want to thank the amazing colleagues and mentors who have shared the ups and downs of our business lives over the years and contributed in their own way to the writing of this book — Matt Church, Adam Fraser, Julie Winterbottom, Leanne Christie, Heidi Gregory, Tanja Markovic, Rebecca Tapp, Lauren Kelly, Siimon Reynolds, Bradley Trevor Greive and Marty Wilson.
Last, but not least, thank you to the extraordinary team around us who helped to bring this book to fruition: Mathew Alderson, Kristen Hammond, Chris Shorten, Sandra Balonyi, Peter Reardon, Ian Butterworth, Steve York, Felipe Neves, Phaedra Fuller and Sharon Zeev Poole.
INTRODUCTION
Know thyself.
Socrates
Why did you pick up this book or even decide you wanted to read something? Why did you choose your career, your employees, your belief systems, your partner? Seriously, what were you thinking, given most of the people you dated over the years? If ever you needed proof that we don’t truly understand what drives us or the people around us, you need only reach for the nearest photo album or trawl through a Facebook archive for a montage of poorly thought-through relationship decisions, ridiculous fashion choices and some cringe-worthy opinions: ‘unlike’!
Given all of us are merely the sum total of our decisions, perhaps a better understanding of what drives these decisions, what makes us buy and buy in, is called for. This is particularly pertinent as many of the theories about human behaviour that are doing the rounds are rather flawed and tend to be based more on wishful thinking than experience.
If we’re completely honest, for the past 100 years — perhaps throughout most of our history — the focus of understanding what drives human behaviour (or behavioural research, as it is currently known) has been searching for levers, both psychological and physical, with which to influence, change and attempt to control people’s behaviour. The aim is to make us more obedient followers, better behaved children, and more productive workers and members of society; and, as our society has industrialised and advanced, more willing consumers and more highly performing teams and individuals. These levers have included some pretty grotesque options over the years, such as coercion, torture, kidnap, stand-over tactics and even slavery. Occupational health and safety is not something the Egyptians, Mesopotamians, Romans or even Dickensians were particularly famous for.
The bulk of this effort has met with mixed success as models of persuasion have come and gone, and human beings have proved to be rather more stuck in our ways and less controllable than we had previously assumed. We are not machines, and trying to alter our behaviour is no easy undertaking.
However, this tendency, rather than signifying failure, has actually armed those of us who work in behavioural research and strategy with a better understanding of what makes the human animal tick, and in fact, it has become quite an asset in this regard.
Having observed all this, it is still true even today, that we do rather romanticise human behaviour, preferring to see the world of motivation, if not through rose-coloured glasses, through glasses tinted with positivism. We like to think that we are motivated by noble thoughts, selfless generosity, a courageous sense of adventure and a capacity to embrace complexity and work tirelessly to achieve success. (How’s that working for you?) But of course we are; it’s just everyone else who needs to lift their game!
This line of thinking is not only largely untrue, highly unrealistic and completely unsustainable, we’ll argue that it is in fact counter-productive. It ignores the power within our natural inclinations and ultimately sets us up for failure. What this ‘happy delusion’ robs us of is a fuller appreciation of who we really are (against the sage advice of Socrates in the quote at the beginning of this chapter); it denies us a broad absolution from what many of us may describe as failings as well as access to strategies based in realities, not academic theory or even the ever-popular pop psychology.
Those of us who lead, who seek to influence, to create change, to sell, to educate or simply to push ourselves and our performance may benefit greatly from a more objective appraisal of the forces that drive our behaviour and some real-world strategies to make us more attractive, motivating, influential, persuasive and successful.
In this book, we’d like to suggest that a strategy based on swimming with the current of human nature, fitting processes to people and enabling individuals and teams to bring the best of who they are (not just who we want them to be) to the table is far more productive and successful than the strategies we currently employ. In an effort to maintain absolute control, our current strategies reduce our efficiency and enthusiasm, and limit our capacity to fully harness our skillsets and talents.
Who we are and how we came to write this book
For much of our professional lives, we have worked as strategic and creative leaders in what may be described as the world’s largest psychological experiment — the advertising industry. Certainly advertising has access to research, sample sizes and cross-cultural results that the academic and clinical worlds cannot come close to. Nor have we been limited, occasionally to our shame, by issues such as ethics, conscience or a moral compass (whatever that is).
However, this has, for the most part, allowed us a great impartiality in our work, an almost sociopathic detachment from values and judgements that may distort the interpretation of results. Quite ironically, it has also provided us with the ability to focus more on the ‘truth’.
In our current business — The Impossible Institute, an innovation, engagement and leadership think tank — we now work in the worlds of training, speaking, and cultural engagement and development. Here, too, we have focused more on achieving results than trying to restrict how these results are achieved to fit with our values, prejudices or personal views of the world. It is not our goal to recreate the world in our own image (at least we don’t like to admit to that in public).
However, it would be wrong to assume that this ‘results focus’ is synonymous within the commercial world — it is quite the contrary, in fact. We had assumed that moving from the cloistered worlds of school and university education into the commercial world would enable us to focus more on results and the accumulation of hard data from which we could extrapolate meaning and process. We expected a greater ‘bottom-line’ emphasis versus the more methodological tendencies of the academic world we all grew up in. It surprised us that this was not the case at all.
The commercial world does, of course, want to lead, influence and persuade both its staff and its customers. It also clearly wants bottom-line results. However, it is also oddly obsessed with the need to control and dictate how these results are achieved. In other words, it wants to be both rich and right, a conflict that not only limits success but also prejudices people’s capacity and willingness to contribute to society as a whole.
While we don’t wish to appear too Machiavellian in our description of ourselves, neither do we want to suggest that the existing system is quite as noble as it may like to portray itself. What we have found is that our current systems of leadership and process for building cultures and performance are far more judgemental and limiting, and in fact, more values biased than they may first appear.
This tendency to want to control ‘how’ a result is achieved, and hence people’s behaviour and process, as opposed to aligning the result with the values and the pre-existing motivations of the people involved, turns out to be immensely frustrating, not simply for the people involved in the process, but also for the people leading them, their co-workers, customers, students and other people working around them.
What’s perhaps more disturbing is that this practice of forcing people to conform to unnatural processes at odds with human nature is virtually universal. We have witnessed it in clients on almost every continent; in every business, educational and government sector; and in innovation projects, cultural audits, personal development and the coaching and mentoring we conduct with leaders of various genders, cultures, ages and persuasions.
In fact, this pattern of trying to create change in line with an imagined ‘noble intent’ has actually led to some pretty awful, large-scale and ignoble results.
This leads us to the central question of this book.
What really drives human behaviour?
In answering this question, our approach has tended more towards quantitative research than qualitative, though both have informed our conclusions. We have relied less on what human beings say and focused more on what they do so as not to be biased by our own values or expectations — or theirs. This being said, we have as much as possible tried to include research and case studies from our own experience and what we have gained first hand rather than relying exclusively on the work of others. We have also resisted the temptation to frame our results in the classic ‘Top 10 tips to be totally terrific and thoroughly influential’ format, preferring instead to outline three core principles that work more like a series of combination locks that are interconnected with each other. These locks can be tweaked, adjusted and personalised as required.
In doing so, our aim is that this book supports a perceptual and behavioural change that offers you, our readers, points of view that you have not previously had access to. Along with these perspectives we wish to arm you with a more holistic and integrated understand of human motivation and a sequence and process that improves your judgement and effectiveness in whatever sphere of life you choose to apply it to.
In our research for this book, perhaps the greatest failing we encountered has been people’s capacity to understand one another, to see the world through another’s eyes. As you may have surmised from the title, what this means is that we are all just a little too selfish, scared and stupid to notice that so too is everyone else. Consequently, the world suffers from poor communication, fractured connections and little engagement. Instead, we all bleat on about ourselves and then complain that no one is listening.
But why does this quest to understand human behaviour matter so much?
Who this book is for
Truthfully, we are all behavioural researchers and strategists. It starts at birth and it is a skill we develop and refine throughout our lives. Every child who dominates their parents’ attention, every attractive man or woman who uses their physical beauty to their advantage and every rebel who captures the imagination with their charisma is an expert manipulator and behavioural strategist. However, even though there are some supremely gifted practitioners of this art, few have mastered this skill, which informs virtually every decision we make.
Clearly, this is a book about business applications in leadership, sales, human resources, training and motivation; however, it also informs all the areas of our lives where we want to increase our influence and enthusiasm. Human behaviour and motivation also affects how we educate; how we support our children; the achievement of our goals; and our ability to play a larger role in our communities, drive change at a political level or simply increase our capacity to engage those around us socially.
There is no doubt that the central premise of this book is a challenging one — few of us like to think of ourselves as selfish, scared or stupid. Indeed, for decades, self-help and self-management tomes have argued to the contrary, blowing smoke up our collective backsides, seducing us with the messages we’ve secretly longed to hear, such as, ‘You are magnificent, unique and a bundle of pure potentiality’. Their extraordinary and often unsubstantiated theories enable us to drink the Kool-Aid, editorialise our behaviour and turn a blind eye to the reality that we are perhaps not as ‘pure’ of intent as we may like to think.
However, what we hope to offer our readers is a level of freedom from the restrictions of the past via a more open embracing of the things that make us human, as well as some strategies and tools to make our very same humanity an asset that helps us be more effective leaders, more persuasive salespeople, more respected parents and much more satisfied with the results that we produce in our lives.
But first, we have to admit that we are all selfish, scared and stupid …
PART IWe are all selfish, scared and stupid
Please, don’t be offended by this heading. As you will learn, we owe rather a lot to being selfish, scared and stupid. In fact, these qualities are not to be shunned but rather understood and even applauded.
A matter of survival
Being selfish, scared and stupid has shaped our evolution and helped us rise to the top of the food chain despite other species having better strength, speed, more acute senses and even, occasionally, more cunning.
The Happy Delusion
We delude ourselves about what really drives our behaviour and how this can cost us success, effectiveness and a connection with reality — but why?
Why failure happens
We have structured our systems, processes, organisations and entire communities in such a way that we fight our human nature and instead expect laboratory-like consistency in the real world.
CHAPTER 1A matter of survival
Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception.
Carl Sagan
Congratulations. If you are reading this book, you have descended from a proud line of selfish, scared and stupid people. Those who came before you managed to look after themselves long enough to reproduce, although back in the days when your forebears wandered the earth, this was not what we would now consider a ripe old age. In fact, back then the age of reproduction was a great deal lower, an age that most cultures today would likely consider a ‘land yourself in jail’ age.
However, it is still a feat worth acknowledging as so many generations before us failed to pass on their genetic material to our current generation. If they had not been such a selfish, scared and stupid (not to mention horny) lot, you would not be reading the book currently resting in your hands (or on your tablet, if that is your preferred medium).
In fact, your line would most likely have been erased from history in an act of over-complicated bravery or selflessness that perhaps involved a cave, a large ferocious animal or a strange-looking plant and an overly curious palate. And so, this is rather a strange book in that it begins with a happy ending — your arrival at this point in history — bravo!
Charles Darwin is often described as the first proponent of the idea of survival of the fittest. Many of us presume it was Darwin who coined the phrase, but it was actually British polymath philosopher Herbert Spencer who, as part of an impressive résumé, lays claim to this honour (although it must be pointed out that this was achieved only after reading Darwin’s On the Origin of Species).
In modern usage, the phrase is taken in a context that is perhaps at odds with its original meaning, but let’s suppose the widely (mis)-understood context is correct and it simply denotes that ‘the strongest and most dominant survive’. At this point it seems worth reminding our readers that human beings were far from the strongest species on the planet. Nor were we the fittest.
In fact, humanity survived and thrived principally because we were acutely aware of our frailties. We lived in a world where we were in constant danger and it is this that forced us to work hard at compensating for our weaknesses and doing whatever it took to keep ourselves breathing and breeding.
And so, we improvised, we invented; we adapted; we looked for ways of protecting ourselves; and we laid low when we needed to. Perhaps ‘survival of the fittest’ would be more reflective of our evolution if it were phrased thus: ‘survival of the most uncomplicated, terrified and self-interested’.
Now, before you begin to take offence at what some may call a disparaging description of our shared origins, take a moment to consider just how successful a strategy it has been. Which other species has been selfish, scared and stupid enough to conceive of sending another species into a mine in its stead to test whether the air is safe to breathe? Or wary enough to persuade another of its own kind to test its food for fear of poisoning? ‘Praegustators’, as the Romans referred to them, are a uniquely human invention (not an entirely foolproof plan as, in ancient Rome, the praegustator to the emperor Claudius failed to detect the supposed poisoned mushrooms that are widely believed to have ultimately sealed his fate). Adolf Hitler was also renowned to have been so acutely paranoid about his food being poisoned that he didn’t just have one food taster — he forced 15 women to taste his food before he ate it. Even in today’s White House, the president of the United States is believed to have a food taster of sorts, although naturally the White House will neither confirm nor deny the rumour. Leaving aside the moral repercussions of this practice, you still have to admire the ingenuity and creativity a little selfishness and fear provides.
These survival strategies have been highly useful. Human beings have managed to overcome species and dangers that were larger and far more dangerous than ourselves. We have survived countless natural threats and endured famines, diseases and disasters. We have lived and even thrived in hostile environments with no fur, fangs, poison or claws to speak of. Of course, there may have been a few million or so casualties along the way, but you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs now, can you?
Survival is a feat thousands of other species failed to achieve. In fact, scientists estimate that the success of the human species has accelerated what is considered to be a natural rate of extinction by 1000 to 10 000 times. Judging by those numbers, we did not simply survive — we conquered, becoming the dominant species on the planet. Although, in retrospect, this domination may come to be our ultimate undoing as we push this planet to the brink of perhaps our own extinction.
The members of our herd who were strategic enough — or rather selfish, scared and stupid enough — to survive and rise through the ranks of the food chain were not the brave, selfless souls who engineered complicated solutions and stood fearlessly to face impending storms or rampaging armies, or who nursed people in times of famine and disease. No, they were far more likely to be the ones bunkering down in the storm, standing well behind the battle lines and keeping conspicuously to themselves in times of viral epidemics.
So, given our cultural biases to celebrate the generous, brave and intellectual, how is it that being selfish, scared and stupid was not only an asset to our ancestors, but remains an asset to those of us who live in the modern world?
Selflessness is a recipe for extinction
Nursing the sick is one of those moments moviemakers love to employ to reassure us of the power of hope, faith, love and belief. We’ve all seen the moment on screen, stirring strings that slowly swell as a lone tear trickles down a pale cheek. A sleepless night. A fever. Despair. You think all is lost until … the music stills. A finger moves and then … a breath. Joy. Relief. Love at first bleary sight. Most certainly, those keeping vigil at the bedside of a stranger may be generous, noble and selfless, but in times of epidemic and rampant disease, it’s hardly the most effective survival strategy.
Let’s be frank, the best approach for survival in these circumstances involves selfishness, quarantine and a vast distance, preferably over a large body of water or an impenetrable mountain range.
Throughout history, being selfless has often meant extinction. Consider the ultimate expression of selflessness: the martyr. Whether they be religious or political zealots they all have a few things in common: putting themselves last, an unwavering belief and a family tree that looks like it has had a rather too severe pruning.
Much of our success as a species is due to our innate pull to protect our lives and those of our loved ones first and foremost. It is not in our still very primal natures to act in a selfless way towards strangers or other species that may threaten our own wellbeing (or else contribute to our diet).
This is one of the problems faced by charities. Their primary communications largely revolve around persuading the rest of us to look after a poor, unfortunate soul who has nothing at all to do with our own wellbeing. Though heartfelt and inspiring, it is a message that goes against thousands of years of hard wiring.
It should come as no surprise then, that organisations that try to enlist our help by garnering a sympathy vote, or confronting us with images designed to make us feel guilt or pity for complete strangers, are often more likely to elicit a desire to change the channel, or flip or click through to the next page.
People tend to think of charities as largely kind and benevolent organisations, driven by the need to serve the greater good. And this is mostly true, at least at the level of conscious intention until, of course, it comes to competing with other good causes for limited support and attention.
There are more than 2 million registered charities in the US, more than 1.7 million in the UK and more than 60 000 in Australia, with numbers growing rapidly. The world of charities is as competitive as The Hunger Games and the generosity of people finite. It is a jungle out there and to get through it, you need a machete. As callous as this probably sounds, there is only so much open generosity available to provide the help or headspace these worthy causes need.
While it may sound oddly contradictory, charities need to Think Selfish. Instead of starting from a position of, ‘Who are the people they wish to help?’, a more effective strategy may be to start with why the people they want to engage would want to help. In other words, understanding what drives human beings to give in the first place.
