Are you actually positioned to help?

[Rabby]

I keep seeing stuff about "maybe I should do this thing that helps with coronavirus." And if it was a hurricane, murder spree, earthquake, godzilla attack, or flash fire, I might expect to see similar things. Here's the problem. If that's your starting point, but you don't have any skills, people, money, or time with which to solve the problem, why would you start working on something beyond your scope now? Why not help in a way with which you already have at least some skills or experience?

I don't want to be mean, and this is aimed at nobody specific (I'm seeing this outside the forum and, ahem, maybe inside sometimes), but I see people who are like "I've never made a website, or a business, or written copy, or hired anyone, but I wanna make a coronavirus interactive website with amazing new features!"

That's great, but by the time you do that we'll be past this disaster and onto the next one. Or three disasters from now. And everyone thinks the same thing at the same time, so we'll have an explosion of helpful people without the skills they need, all trying to start similar businesses.

I absolutely do not want to discourage anyone from helping. In fact, I have a lot of respect for people who help others. But it's worth considering how you can best help others. Scale your ideas to something you can actually do in the reasonable time horizon. Otherwise you're just talking about things you can't do... is that even up to the level of action faking?

One thing that might help is to make a short list of things that almost anyone can do. If there's something you are really good at or knowledgeable about, write that down too, sure. But something like almost anyone can:

• Help organize other people
• convince a person with other skills to help with something
• deliver stuff
• read maps
• talk to upset people
• make phone calls
• direct someone to an online resource
• help an old person navigate a website
• help someone locate the nearest x

There we go... now even if you're inexperienced and still learning basic HTML there's something you can do. You can even stick to your up-scoped project ideas if you can convince/hire someone with skills to help... if. But if not, you can create a project that is scoped within your current abilities. There's nothing wrong with starting small. Every step along the way doesn't have to be world changing. Just do some good, help someone, and build from there.

 

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