Another Environmental NGO Lost Their Way?
An interesting piece in the Telegraph on how Friends of the Earth have lost their way.
Instead of spending their time solving problems they spend their time in internal meetings speaking to themselves.
Belly Button Gazing
Looking at your own belly button may be fun (although I am not sure how) but it is not what people are paid to do.
FoE are providing a service to their members – solving environmental problems. If they don’t want to do that, there is two easy solutions. They can close themselves down and be remembered as an important footnote in the history of the environmental movement. The leadership can fire themselves, take themselves off to somewhere nice for a very long internal meeting, and let other people take over to return FoE to their refocus and deliver on what they are meant to be doing.
When Your Friends Say This!
And this critique is from a friend. Geoffrey Lean is a former FoE insider. He wants FoE to work. He has probably toned down the state of the crisis in FoE. Good friends fire warning shots, they don’t stick in the blade.
And What About the Others?
Public concern for the environment is now mainstream. NGOs are pushing at open doors. But, many seem too focused on themselves, their internal meetings, monthly fundraising targets (often to pay for large fixed costs), rather than the important mission they were set up for.
Lessons to Learn from Kodak
When companies loose their way, don’t focus on delivering value for their customers, and spend time in endless internal meetings, feeding the internal machine, and not delivering outstanding products and services that customers want, something very simple happens. They go bankrupt. Kodak from last week is a good example. There are many others and many companies will continue to ignore basic laws. They’ll go under and let others provide a better service at a better price.
Perhaps something for some NGOs to take a look at.
You can read the piece here @
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/greenpolitics/planning/9044947/How-the-Friends-of-the-Earth-lost-their-focus.html