Build a support network — as I mentioned above, people matter, especially when you’re working on your own sometimes. Don’t isolate yourself, and look after each other.
As part of my series about “authors who are making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Richard Docwra.
Richard is a writer, social change consultant and podcaster who has been helping charities and organisations to seek social and political change for 30 years. He is the author of the new book ‘Humanise: how knowing ourselves can change the world’, as well as ‘Life — and how to think about it’, ‘The Life Trap’ and ‘Modern life — as good as it gets?’. See www.richarddocwra.com for more details.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
I had a very ordinary, comfortable, middle-class upbringing, but growing up I felt discontented with the normal everyday life that I led, and felt that there must be more to know about the world beyond it. I was a curious kid, and just kept trying to read and understand the bigger picture, in order to try to get some perspective on my life and the world more generally. This process built my love of standing back and trying to understand the big picture — of human beings, life and the world around us — and to apply this knowledge to make the world better.
When you were younger, was there a book that you read that inspired you to take action or changed your life? Can you share a story about that?
‘Letters to a young contrarian’ by Christopher Hitchens. It contains a range of hard-won wisdom and advice to people who want to think critically, stand up to power and call out lies and obfuscation — from any source. It gives the reader courage to think for themselves. It gave me the motivation to stand by my principles and challenge established ideas and arguments, even (and especially) some of the most accepted ones.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
In my late 20’s I decided to quit a good Chief Executive job and pursue the work I really cared about, including writing and setting up the not-for-profit organisation Life Squared. This was definitely not a mistake, but I did it without establishing a decent support network of people first — so it took me some time to find my feet again in this new work on my own. It taught me that, even if some of the work I do (such as writing) is done alone, it’s critical to have a good support network of people around you so you can look after each other, check in regularly and keep each other going.
Can you describe how you aim to make a significant social impact with your book?
My new book ‘Humanise’ aims to have a big social impact, by exploring the latest understanding of how human beings think and behave, and showing how we could use this knowledge to tackle some of our biggest challenges, from obesity to violence to climate change, and build a better future for people and our planet.
It argues that the modern world we’ve built is actually hostile to human beings in many ways, given the creatures we really are. We need to build ‘scaffolding’ around us to provide the conditions that will enable us to flourish and have a sustainable future. For example, preventing the activation of our vulnerabilities towards prejudice, hate and untruth, and promoting our ‘superpower’ of cooperation. Its suggestions for scaffolding include banning advertising, giving everyone greater access to basic resources, and re-thinking how we use information so that it benefits people.
It challenges some of our most cherished beliefs about ourselves, and the ideas, institutions and societies that surround us — and could have a significant social impact if it was read and followed by policy makers, business leaders and anyone else.
Can you share with us the most interesting story that you shared in your book?
Perhaps one of the most inspiring ones is the idea of ‘jigsaw classrooms’ — a way to design school lessons in which children have to cooperate in order to learn and succeed, rather than competing against each other for individual recognition, as is currently the norm. For example, when one class used this method to study the background of a famous American, each child was given a different section of the person’s overall biography, and the children had to work together to construct and learn the full picture. Each child had the same importance in the task and needed to play a role. And each child relied on the others succeeding. So, cooperation was essential.
This cooperative approach to learning produced clear results when it was tested in classrooms across America. Children in jigsaw classrooms liked each other more (including across racial groups), liked school more and had better self-esteem than those taught in traditional ways. Ethnic minority children achieved better exam results too. This principle of rewiring our education institutions for cooperation rather than competition could be applied to other institutions and relationships, including workplaces, politics and interpersonal relationships. For example, an office that recognised the mutual interdependence of fellow workers might include different incentive structures, working methods and staff performance measurements than one based on individual performance and competition.
This shows the potential for re-calibrating our institutions and social arrangements to promote cooperative principles rather than competitive ones, and to dilute some of the aspects of our evolved tribal traits that don’t serve us so well in the modern world.
What was the “aha moment” or series of events that made you decide to bring your message to the greater world? Can you share a story about that?
After 3 decades of trying to change the world for the better in various non-profit organisations, I realised that the only way to address our human challenges effectively, from the spread of disinformation to climate change, and build a better future, is to start with an accurate idea of how human beings think and behave. After studying psychology at postgraduate level, I was shocked to realise that most of us (including the political leaders that govern us) have an inaccurate view of how human beings think and behave. This leads us to set unrealistic expectations for ourselves, build societies that actually harm us, and struggle to solve the problems facing our species.
My aim with the book was to help people develop a more accurate view of how we think and behave, and then show what a better society might look like if we took this into account.
Without sharing specific names, can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
A few years ago, my not-for-profit organisation Life Squared ran some courses to help people stand back and get some perspective on their lives and then use this to explore how they could use this to build happier, more meaningful and better-informed lives. People got a lot out of it, and one particular participant explained how he’d been just drifting in his life beforehand, but that the course gave him a much clearer sense of who he was, where he wanted to be, and how to get there.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
- Make the effort to understand how human beings think and behave — and apply this to any policies or challenges we face, as this is the most effective way to address them.
- Take steps to ‘humanise’ the societies we live within, so that people can flourish within them, given the creatures they really are. The book explains how they can do this.
- Take steps to protect rather than exploit people’s cognitive vulnerabilities (e.g. by banning manipulative marketing and misleading labelling on products), and help them dial up their ‘superpower’ of cooperation whilst dialing down their negative tribal tendencies.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
I believe that leadership is about ‘walking the talk’. Anyone can talk about why and how we need to change the world, but a leader is someone who puts their principles into action in daily life and leads by example, to model the right behaviours for everyone else. This also demonstrates their commitment and credibility.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
- Build a support network — as I mentioned above, people matter, especially when you’re working on your own sometimes. Don’t isolate yourself, and look after each other.
- Standby your principles — when you find yourself challenging accepted wisdom it is easy to doubt your own views. But stick by your principles if you feel them strongly.
- Get on with it — lots of people talk about doing things. But not many actually get on and do them. Be one of the do-ers.
- Be kind and help people — this is an obvious principle for life, but it’s also key with work. If you’re a good person and help others, it not only gives you pleasure but reflects well on everything you do.
- Have faith in yourself — this is probably the key one. If you have a good idea, have the courage to tell people about it. And if you want to do it, give it a go and back yourself. Be your biggest backer.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
It’s attributed to Albert Einstein — ‘We cannot despair of humanity, since we ourselves are human beings’. It’s very easy to become angry and disenchanted at how the world is and how people behave sometimes, and feel demotivated to do anything about it as a result. I find that this quote helps me to remember that we are neither good, bad, stupid nor clever — just human beings — and that we can hope that we can make our world better if we have the humility and patience to understand ourselves first and work with the creatures that we really are.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
I very much enjoy the podcasts of David Runciman, Professor of Politics at Cambridge University, including ‘Past Present Future’ and ‘Talking Politics’. He has the ability to drill down into complex subjects — from politics to culture — in an interesting and detailed way that makes the listener feel well informed, whilst making them accessible. A rare gift — and he would be a very interesting person to lunch with!
How can our readers further follow your work online?
You can find out more about my books, publications, podcasts and consultancy services at www.richarddocwra.com.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
Social Impact Authors: How & Why Author Richard Docwra Is Helping To Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.