“So what was the measurable impact of….?”
Of course this question matters a lot, a ton, the most maybe.
The catch is that we fail to fully appreciate three truths:
- You can only measure a subset of the things that matter
- We end up convincing ourselves that the things we are able to measure are a good approximation of the whole
- But they might not be
A friend was nice enough to send this Skype chat along to me the other day (names changed):
[9:53:08 PM] Felipe: for lent, i’m going to do the generosity experiment
[9:53:24 PM] Felipe: 40 days of saying yes to everything
[9:53:28 PM] Felipe: you are warned 🙂
[9:54:22 PM] Samuel: wow
[9:54:27 PM] Samuel: 40 days
[9:54:28 PM] Samuel: are you sure?
[9:54:45 PM] Felipe: lent is 40 days…i have nothing to give up
[9:54:54 PM] Samuel: ok
[9:55:09 PM] Samuel: Sasha Dichter will be happy to note this
[9:56:17 PM] Felipe: it’ll be on a smaller scale than his, for sure…but let’s see how it goes
(I’m not sure it will be on a smaller scale, really. The most profound and lasting changes are personal.)
Folks have been asking me: “do we have to wait until February 14th, 2012 for the next Generosity Day.” Of course not!!! Start, go, share, inspire others…and if you have a free moment let me know how it went.
