There’s an experiment that I read about involving sand fleas. I really don’t know if it’s BS or not, but there’s an important lesson in here nonetheless.
To wit: scientists place sand fleas in a glass jar. Ordinarily, the fleas just jump out of the jar. They then put a lid on the jar for three days and left the fleas alone. They lifted the lid off the jar and the fleas did not jump any higher than just below the lid height. They learned the limits of the jar and did not escape. More amazingly, their offspring also did not jump higher than their parents thus trapping generations of sand fleas in a glass jar forevermore.
What I find astonishing is that 1) the fleas learned the limits of their circumstance and adhered to it even when there was no lid AND 2) they passed that knowledge onto their offspring.
I’m having a serious Neo-in-the-Matrix-there-is-no-spoon moment.
In the nonprofit sector, how many stories do we pass onto each other about the nature of the work that we simply accept as true without question?
No, we can’t afford that.
Fundraising is hard.
People are not generous and unwilling to part with their money.
Sacrificing yourself for the cause is the only way to show you really care.
What if we were to challenge these “truths” that we have all come to accept as facts? What if they’re not really facts at all and instead just an invisible lid that we have told ourselves are the limits of what we are able to accomplish?
And, even if it is true, what benefits could we realize if we act as if there is no lid?
What is your favorite nonprofit story? What would you be able to do if that story was fiction?
