TED Talk – Listening, Essay Example

Ernesto Sirolli argues that one of the major mistakes we make in trying to help others is our failure to listen to the very people we want to help. Sirolli says that he learnt some of the major lessons in life through his work as a member of an Italian NGO in Africa from 1971 to 1977. Every project the NGO took would fail despite their best intentions because they didn’t seek ideas and opinions from the locals and instead tried to enforce solutions (Sirolli).

Sirolli mentions an interesting story of trying to help people near the Zambezi River in Zambia become self-sufficient in agriculture. The valley was quite fertile yet the locals demonstrated little enthusiasm for agriculture which puzzled the members of Italian NGO including Sirolli. When Italians grew tomato that turned out to be even better than those grown in Italy due to the fertile land, one night 200 hippos came and ate the whole produce which finally gave the answer to Italians as to why the locals didn’t engage in agriculture. This story shows that Italians failed because they never tried to understand the real causes behind local hesitation to grow farming products and they tried to bribe the locals in doing something the locals had little motivation for.

Sirolli states that the insights persuaded him to change his approach to work because people want respect and not forced solutions upon them. Sirolli claims it is not possible to help people unless they are interested in being helped. A person has to have the passion to solve a problem before he/she can be helped which is why a better approach is to talk to people, gain their trust and confidence, instill passion in them, and then introduce them to entrepreneurial mindset. When Sirolli first tried the approach in Western Australia, he had 27 projects running within a year and fishermen themselves started coming to him for ideas to boost their business. Even the government got wind of Sirolli’s success in helping the locals and approached him and Sirolli’s reply was that he listens (Sirolli).

Sirolli argues that planning is unnecessary because truly smart people and entrepreneurs do not engage in planning process because future is unpredictable. The solutions to problems are always solved by entrepreneurs and not governments or universities and solutions after involve novel technologies. Sirolli also emphasizes the fact that no one always has all the skills to succeed such as coming up with a great idea, translating idea into a product/service, managing financial aspects, and marketing. It is often a group of people who come together to create a great business and each one brings in a different kind of skills set (Sirolli).

Sirolli’s lecture has several implications for both NGOs and businesses. First of all, effective solutions cannot be designed and implemented unless the underlying problem or issue is understood really well and there are resources to tackle the problem including both financial and human capital. NGOs have failed in Africa because they go with the mistaken belief that they already understand the problems and do not consult with the locals to find out facts they may not have. In addition, they fail to secure cooperation from the locals because they come as imposing and arrogant. Sirolli is also right in arguing that one cannot help others unless they are interested in helping themselves so it is important to persuade them.

Reference

Sirolli, Ernesto. Want to help someone? Shut up and listen! September 2012. 27 November 2012 <http://www.ted.com/talks/ernesto_sirolli_want_to_help_someone_shut_up_and_listen.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TEDTalks_video+%28TEDTalks+Main+%28SD%29+-+Site%29&utm_content=FeedBurner>.