Amendment to “Stab-In-The-Dark-Innovation: Plausible?”

So, soon after I made my last post “Stab-In-The-Dark-Innovation: Plausible?”, I recieved and e-mail from Mr. Joachim Breitner letting me know he had responded to a comment I left after I read his blog Nomeata’s Mind Shares.

After reading his respose, I realized that I probably wasn’t too clear about what I said, so I replied to his response. I posted his response and my response below to help you understand better. You can find another one of his blogs here: http://planet.openghana.org/

Joachim Breitner:

Hi Papa,

I wasn’t there for the money (although it was nice to get it, of course), but I went in the spirit of a volunteer – so I went when I felt that it would fail.

Nevertheless I think the trip would have been worth it for SOSHGIC if it had been used properly. Some of the skills I hoped to teach to the kids were rare in Ghana and valuable everywhere else and would have benefitted them.

Ah, and I just find your blog entry at http://pbaffour.wordpress.com/2008/05/14/stab-in-the-dark-innovation-plausible/
and it has a slightly different tone than your comment here :-), and I agree with what you said there. Please note though that it wasn’t really missing research that caused the failure, but missing internal agreement or even communication.

And BTW, I wasn’t played “a lot” for the standards of a German university student, but it wasn’t cheap for a Ghanian school either.

Papa (Me):

Hi Joachim, thanks for getting back to me. And thanks for seeking out my blog too. I’m really sorry if it sounded a little “stiff” and cold– I can assure you it wasn’t aimed at you. The point I was trying to make in the blog (which I think I need to clean up a bit more) was that SOSHGIC did not do the research THEY needed before deciding that they needed someone to teach Linux. I’ve looked through your blog, so I know you’re very competent in your area of expertise, so again, I do NOT blame you at all for wanting to leave. Rather, I blame SOSHGIC for not taking the time to do the research into how to make sure the students took full advantage of your skills, BEFORE asking you to come in. I hope this clarfies my point.

Also, I agree with you, you probably were not paid “a lot” by German high school standard. I’ll make an amendment to my posting.

Again thanks for going out and trying to help. I am in NY and I work for a non-profit, so I fully understand the heart of a volunteer. Thank you and stay blessed.

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