Identity

February 13, 2012 • Blog, Ideas • by
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This week Elements is starting back up. Elements is a gathering here in Chicago around ideas that matter. This month’s gathering is with Clementine Ford and is 7pm at Roscoe’s here in Chicago. Click here for more information.

The theme this month is identity and to prepare I wrote the below post.

There is nothing more core to the human experience than identity. The ability to see ourselves at once a part of the world and yet separate from everyone else in it, is at the heart of the human experience. Our identity drives us, shapes us, is the deepest experience of ourselves and yet far too often it is a poor reflection of who we really are.

My wife and I were just talking this weekend about how funny identity can be. We were both sharing ways in which we view ourselves. We were talking about areas of brokenness and places that caused us pain. But the way the other saw us was radically different from the way we saw ourselves. Our self-identity was wrong from our true identity.

This is what makes identity so interesting. Identity is not who we actually are, it is how we see in ourselves.

Far too often we determine our identity by looking in the broken and dirty mirrors that surround us. We are constantly surrounded by mirrors; our families, friends, society, religious system, they all are mirrors that we look into to get another reflection of ourselves and yet these mirrors do not offer perfect images. They are distorted, cracked, and foggy. The image that they provide is not who we really are.

What mirrors are you looking in to determine your identity? In what ways have they reflected back to you a distorted picture of yourself? What distortions or cracks do you believe to be true about you?

How Mobile Money is Changing the World

December 14, 2011 • Blog, nonprofit, Public Policy, Research • by
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An M-Pesa Client

Mobile money is one of those revolutions that not many people in the U.S. are familiar with but which is having profound implications in much of the rest of the world. The Stanford Social Innovation Review highlights the most successful mobile money system in the world, the M-Pesa in Kenya. The article, entitled Mobile Money: A Game Changer for Financial Inclusion, is a great introduction to the mobile money movement and its implications.

The basic idea is that in rural, poor countries, access to financial institutions is essentially non-existent. Yet in many of these places, large portions of the population use cell phones. By moving currencies from physical bills to virtual money on their phones, financial institutions can be opened up to entire communities without ever opening up a bank branch.

Financial inclusion is one of those things that has grabbed my heart lately. I know its a weird thing to say that I’m passionate about financial inclusion, but I am. Financial institutions move economies forward. They make people’s lives better. They move capital around in (hopefully) efficient ways. Communities without access to financial services are significantly worse off because of it. Whether on the south side of Chicago or in rural Kenya, individuals’ lives are made better when they can open up a savings account, easily move their money around, and begin to access markets first-hand.

Read the SSIR article here to learn more.

Steven Honors Steve

October 8, 2011 • Blog, video • by
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Stephen Colbert memorialized America’s other Steve this week on his show. What I love about this short clip, and what I think Colbert does better than anyone else, is use humor to pack and emotional punch. I was laughing right along with him and then in 15 seconds and fewer words he was able to draw a tear and warm my heart. Check it out below.

 

Assessments Matter: A Gym Story

October 1, 2011 • Blog, Measurement & Evaluation, Stories • by
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I had a brutal reminder of why assessments matter yesterday. Our gym has been doing free health assessments with a trainer this week and my wife got one and then signed me up. I felt like I have been doing pretty well. I ran a half marathon a couple weeks ago and while I have not been super active the last couple weeks I felt like I would handle what he threw at me.

Was I wrong.

We started off with this circuit routine (I had never heard of such things) that had me nauseas and crying for mommy within 10 minutes. After another 10 minutes my heart was pounding, my breathing difficult, and I felt like I did at the end of my half marathon. Thankfully he let me stop there.

Walking home with my tail between my legs I realized, this is why assessments are so important.

Assessments show us reality. I felt like I was healthy because I did a half marathon, but the reality is, I’m out of shape.

Assessments provide us with a baseline to compare to later. I will always be able to go back and do that routine again and compare my results.

Assessments can kick us into gear. You better believe that I’ll be going to the gym more next week, cleaning out my cupboards of junk food, and focusing more on my weight and health than I have been. My eyes have been opened and I can’t stay the same. Assessments do that for us.

All of these things are true about organizations. As a nonprofit organization you need to assess your performance, progress, and current situation. It is vital to your organization health.