Tuesday, February 13, 2018

TOTALLY WITHOUT SELF-AWARENESS

Do you remember Johnny Carson's great character, Carnac the Magnificent? For those who don't, Carnac, in elaborate feathered tiara  and flowing robes, would appear to provide the questions and then the answers. Example: "What is Sis Boom Bah?" Answer: "What is the sound when a sheep explodes." Here is my own version: "What organization totally lacks self-awareness?" Answer:  "What is JFNA?" Indeed, what is JFNA?

The question arose this time from of all places, the unmatched waste that is FedWorld. (Some of you may recall that I was dropped from the mailing list and now must rely upon the generosity of friends to have a shot at reading the thing.) It was back on January 11, when the headline to this mindless thing was "How do great organizations know they're great?" Then, as the preface to the link to the article: "Why measuring your impact is key, and how you can up your grant making game."

I mean, WTF?? I know that there is no one at JFNA who read the article before it appeared in FedWorld; and I know that whoever is responsible for the fish wrap didn't appreciate the irony; and no one at 25 Broadway is into self-deprecation -- but this? If anything, the article, reprinted from the brilliant ejewishphilanthropy, should be read as if it were written as a direct criticism of JFNA itself. Read the article for yourselves at http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/how-great-organizations-know-theyre-great/#more-111358

I wrote one of the FOBs that this whole thing evidence "a basic lack of self-awareness." My FOB responded:
"This is not a basic lack of self awareness 

This is advanced and a Post doctorate level of lack of self awareness"
OK. So I was wrong again.

Rwexler

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Did you expect self-awareness from JFNA? Then YOU have no self-awareness.