You keep what you give away.

You keep what you give away. This ancient proverb could be part of a solution to alleviate poverty and build wealth among communities. Imagine rural communities or disadvantaged communities dramatically transforming themselves. Imagine a drop in crime, a rise in education, and an increase in individual and generational wealth. And all this without the help of outside groups.

Many rural and impoverished communities are plagued with drug addiction, mental illness, lack of opportunity, limited health care, and, most detrimentally, the lack of jobs. Making the situation worse is the ones who can overcome these community issues tend to leave. With little to no experience in complex problem solving, no idea of business best practices, or no critical mass of resources, these communities will rarely be able to solve their problems and drastically experience a positive transformation.

You keep what you give away. When I first heard the proverb, I could not understand it. It seems counter-intuitive. But this proverb became very clear when I read the “Give and Take” book by Adam Grant. In his book, Grant finds that the most successful people are Givers or persons that happily give up their time and resources. Moreover, leaders, especially Givers, can significantly influence the culture of people around them.

You keep what you give away. This advice sounds like a formula to be taken advantage of by many. Others have experienced burn after dedicating themselves wholeheartedly to a cause. And many others seem still to have nothing as a reward for their efforts. Grant also confirms in his book that Givers were the ones who were the least successful, the most taken advantage of, and with the least wealth.

The differences between the two groups of Givers were the ability to say ‘no’ and be more selective on whom to give to or help. This could also be the key to helping rural and disadvantaged communities to transform. Teaching the communities to be selective givers could spark self-rejuvenation in them.

For community self-rejuvenation, the following should occur:

1. Explain to the wealthy and business owners in the community that their wealth will increase if they become selective givers. Explain the need to publicly show they are selective givers, as this would encourage others.
2. Educate business owners and community leaders on better decision-making processes like design thinking, the MECE principle, Porter’s 5 Forces, the solution-neutral approach, etc. This will immediately increase the margin of impact and reduce the time and resources needed to be used to accomplish these decisions.
3. Creating a simple, informal mentoring system. In a simple system, for example, where a more experienced parent can mentor new parents, successful business owners could guide novice entrepreneurs, and fathers and grandfathers could mentor children whose fathers are absent.
4. Encourage the community to sponsor activities that teach children and the most impoverished critical life skills. Life skills include the ability to read, problem-solving skills, empathy, basic financial and economic principles, and most importantly, the advantages of working and thinking as a team.
5. To say NO and not fund anyone unless there is confidence that the persons and objectives are sincere and align with your goals. Moreover, they have the competence to accomplish their goals of helping the community.

Every community is unique, and the idea is not to aim for perfection but to begin on the path of self-improvement. The above five tasks do not require large investments in time or money yet can have a profound impact that can be measured in weeks and months instead of years and generations.

You keep what you give away. What will you keep as your legacy?