doing good
Doing good is cool, it’s hot, it comes back to you.
There have always been projects and funds, NGO’s to which to send money, even corporate initiatives to make a difference in the larger world but there seems to be a qualitative shift taking place in terms of how doing good has become part of ‘doing better’ as humans, as organizations, as companies in multiple ways, not only humanitarian.
Mind the subtle difference (yes, we are repeating ourselves) between harming less or even not harming at all and doing good. In that sense it is about proactively creating and adding value in a positive sense. This applies not only to the environment, but to many socio-cultural, economic, technological situations as well.
The design-world appears to be especially active in upping the stakes on doing good instead of merely doing it well. After all, a designer (in the broadest sense of the word) sets out the lines, gives birth to what was previously merely an abstract idea; action and matter are molded to have an effect on the world. Doing good for people, planet and profit (instead of only the one of them) is a design challenge time and again, whether one is designing a product, a service, a business model, a social system, policy etc.
For years, Doors of Perception‘s first perceptron John Thackara has been hammering on designers to remind them of their responsibility in designing (for) the world, its inhabitants, its systems, etc. The wave is rolling it seems …
Bruce Mau’s Massive Change initiative is well known by now, as is Cameron Sinclair’s Architecture for Humanity‘s, which baseline reads ‘Design like you give a damn’. The Danish INDEX Design Prize carries the baseline ‘Design to improve life’. Sometimes baselines are meaningful.
Ben Goldhirsch founded GOOD Magazine to put the big spotlight on ‘doing good’. They involve all kinds of people, including artists etc. not only to create a printed magazine, but also develop documentary films, organize events, set a movement in motion for the good.
Philips Design’s Stefano Marzano kickstarted the Philanthropy by Design project, which led to for example the Chulha stove, a low-tech solution designed to combat health problems and death from indoor cooking with biomass fuels, codesigned with local designers, an NGO and users in India. In that respect, also check out the inspiring work of Amy Smith (MIT, Mechanical Engineering) who takes her students to developing countries to develop sustainable smart solutions to enhance the quality of life within the local context.
Most newer generation initiatives are not (merely) based on donation, but work on a participatory basis, reminiscent of p2p-like ways of going about things (e.g. OpenArchitectureNetwork). It is not so hard to imagine that ‘doing’ something yourself is different from buying it (off), so is its reward. Real action is immersive, it enhances experience, hence has a potentially higher impact on true change, change that starts from within and works its way outward into the world through human hands, minds and hearts.
Doing good makes sense in a lot of ways, beyond altruism, charity or mere feel-good motivations. It also makes business sense, economic, political and socio-cultural sense etc. Although the belief is held by some that bad news and fear sells better than good, doing good is on the rise … yet also its need.
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