Benjamin Todd

Smaller countries have less at stake, but each vote counts for more.

We've used the example of voting since it's quantifiable, but we expect the basic idea, the very small chance of changing a very big thing, applies to other forms of well-chosen advocacy, such as petitioning your congressperson, getting out the vote for the right candidate, or going to a town hall meeting.

We think this is likely to be even more true if you're careful to focus on the right issues.

More on this in the next chapter.

Being a multiplier to help others be more effective

Suppose you don't have any money or power, and you don't feel like you can contribute by working on an important problem.

What then?

One option is to try to change that.

We cover how to invest in yourself no matter what job you have in Appendix 2.

That aside, you might know someone who does have some money, power, or skills, so you can make a difference by helping them achieve more.

For instance, if you could enable two other people to give 10% of their income to charity, that would have even more impact than doing it yourself.

These are both examples of being a multiplier.

By mobilizing others, it is often possible to do more than you could through just your own efforts.

Suppose you've come across a high-impact job, but you're not sure it's a good fit for your skills.

If you can tell someone else about the job and they take it, that does as much good as taking it yourself, and in fact more if they're a better fit for it than you.

It's often possible to raise more for charity through fundraising than you might be able to donate yourself.

Or if you work at a company with a donation matching scheme, you might be able to encourage other employees to use it.

What matters is that more good gets done, not that you do it with your own hands.

We're reminded of an old, most likely fictional story about a time when President John F. Kennedy visited NASA.

Upon meeting a janitor, Kennedy asked him what he was doing.