Commenting on what Deirdre and Taran wrote:

Deirdre Williams wrote:
> >On a related (?) issue this morning the BBC news was reporting the
> >publication of the Red Cross report on disaster management. One of
> >the major concerns was the impediment and wastage caused by rivalry
> >among different aid agencies.

Taran Rampersad wrote:
> My experience has lead me to the perspective that those that operate
> behind closed doors are not relevant to me. They typically solve
> nothing but the massaging of their own egos, which I suppose is
> necessary and also keeps them out of the way of the people who want
> to make real progress.

While Taran might be correct with it comes to making progress in some
technical areas, I fear that the evidence suggests that he is too
hopefull when it come to program areas. All to often those who are
not open and transparent are also well enough placed to:
  (a) capture considerable resources - mainly to sustain themselves
and not to deliver the outcomes, and
  (b) capture the ear of policy makers who wrongly believe the
promises, don't do due diligence, and end up wasting time, resources,
and end up contributing to a lack of progress.

As much as many of us don't like the idea, we have to engage in
"social marketing" to get air time for the good ideas and the good
efforts. It is not enough to criticize the bad social marketing of
the opportunists, nor to ignore them. A better strategy is to run
ahead of them when it comes to the social marketing of one's ideas,
initiatives, and activities. I would wish it were otherwise since I
hate having to do social marketing, but it is part of the cost of
working in these areas, and needs to be done consistently and well.

Sam Lanfranco
Nearby Thu Oct 6 20:07:37 2005