The rise of social media has created platforms for people to preach, promote and ‘sell’ what they do and how by and large they would theoretically approach problems. It now appears that we are embracing an age where awareness and opinion is deemed just as important as action…but…
What happens if you don’t talk about doing… you just do it?
What happens if you don’t promote yourself? You just let your work speak for you.
Well I’m pleased to say it wins you a Nobel prize.
Duflo, Bannerjee and Kremer started the fight against poverty in a unique way. Not by shouting at world leaders, not by endless self-promotion or working on behalf of an FMCG looking to penetrate an emerging market. No, this was massively different, the work was structured and underpinned by SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE. This then enabled them to implement policies and measures that fixed the problem. It sounds simple but there are many incidents globally of people ‘talking the talk but not walking the walk’.
The triumvirate that won the 2019 Nobel prize for economics are now changing the way that the world views economists. For too long we have been blindsided by many economists, they have tended to use key world events to drive a positive financial market scenario, primarily, for shareholder gain.
For example, their research in India found a high level of absenteeism among teachers. They found employing them on short-term contracts, which would be extended if they had good results, led to significantly better test results for students.
Another project looked at how the demand for de-worming pills for parasitic infections was affected by price. They found that three quarters of parents gave their children these pills when the medicine was free, compared to just 18% when they cost less than a US dollar, which was still heavily subsidised.
The challenge now is how do we give those that are worth listening to a better platform to educate and advise.
The work of Duflo, Bannerjee and Kremer will not only change the world it is also a timely lesson that actions speak far louder than words, we must remember, as parents and privileged societal members (food, water and shelter) that we are responsible for developing the future and the change we want to see.
Daniel Murphy is a Director and Co-Founder at www.teamecap.com
At ecap we are focused on helping people become the best version of themselves.
