Name: Want to help someone? Shut up and listen!
Uploaded: 2012-11-26T16:15:23Z
Duration: 16 min 52 s
Description: When most well-intentioned aid workers hear of a problem they think they can fix, they go to work. This, Ernesto Sirolli suggests, is naïve. In this funny and impassioned talk, he proposes that the first step is to listen to the people you're trying to help, and tap into their own entrepreneurial spirit. His advice on what works will help any entrepreneur.

When most well-intentioned aid workers hear of a problem they think they can fix, they go to work. This, Ernesto Sirolli suggests, is naïve. In this funny and impassioned talk, he proposes that the first step is to listen to the people you're trying to help, and tap into their own entrepreneurial spirit. His advice on what works will help any entrepreneur.

Ernesto Sirolli: Want to help someone? Shut up and listen!

Want to help someone? Shut up and listen!

Empowering local entrepreneurs, not traditional aid, sparks sustainable development. A call for listening and partnership over paternalism.

In Africa, failed agricultural projects taught valuable lessons on local necessity and the unintended consequences of aid.

Empowering local entrepreneurs by listening can radically transform communities more effectively than external intervention.