Press pause on changing the world to read this book

Within a few chapters into Winners Take All by Anand Giridharadas, a book suggested by a friend in philanthropy, I texted him, “Whoah. I’m waiting for the happy ending.” From the not so subtle subtitle to sentences upon sentences criticizing our most heralded citizens and brands, it smacks of heresy at first, but Giridharadas circles back on one phrase we can take both to the helpers and the helped: “meet them where they are.” The author weaves candid car conversations on the way to fancy galas and award receptions into a state of heightened noticing of the do gooding narrative. Who is being heralded? What’s truly important to them? Who’s sponsoring the event and why? His hard gaze lands on the foundations of the Clintons, the Gates’, B Corps and all the conferences frequented by the elite. But he knows how to press for change by sharing the glimmering common thread of optimism — that at the heart is usually sincerity. And when he’s done with his skewering, he admits in the epilogue that he comes by this view honestly as a McKinsey & Company consultant, Aspen Institute fellow, and TedTalker himself. Indeed he shared the first kernels of this book with a keynote in front of the very people with which he found fault.

More dollars are flowing into the social sector than ever, so it’s time to re-examine our top-heavy/top-down investment to solve our most pressing problems. For anyone wanting to “change the world,” “do good,” or craft “win-wins,” this book needs in your queue.

Spoiler alert: we all are making our own happy ending. In the present. Together. With everyone at the table. In the end, it might come down to this: do less harm, not just more good. Live simply so others can simply live.

Lessons I Gleaned from Anand Giridharadas’ Winners Take All

1. Before you do anything, examine your privilege. Reflect on your advantages in this giving situation.
2. Be honest about what problems you’ve introduced into the system as a business leader or as a consumer.
3. Seats at the table should be comprised mostly of people who are enduring the problem. The problem is usually not solved when the same kind of people are all just talking to each other.
4. Rethink “thought leader” as a term. No one has cornered the market on the best ideas.
5. Walk the walk. An example in business: CVS banning tobacco.
6. Treat the root of the problem, not the symptom.
7. Whenever possible, work with the government, not around it. I turned to this as a reminder that we can do hard things.
8. Open the discussion, do not conduct impact conversations in a vacuum and privatize the solution.
9. Don’t dress giving up as philanthropy if it buys powers, access or corrupts.
10. Social equity is not one party carrying out this work for the other, we are all in this together — it’s not a charity, but a cause.