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Why Big Solutions Fail

2017-12-15 · explainer · Hank · 3:58 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Global development (also: Economics) · mode: Advocacy & fundraising · tags: calendar ritual, fundraising ask, civic or action cta, self promotion

For the 11th Project for Awesome, Hank explains the last mile problem (the final leg of delivery is the hardest, as with a package from China to his house), argues it is why big solutions fail, and says Save the Children and Last Mile Health solve it for health care by training local community health workers; he asks viewers to donate, vote and join the livestream.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — The 11th P4A; the last mile problem in logistics, told through a package shipped from China to Missoula

  • ★★ Hank says it is the 11th annual Project for Awesome, so he is here to explain why solving hard problems is so hard. — 00:00:00 · Project for Awesome
  • ★★★ Hank says a near-universal law of logistics is that the last bit of transport to a destination is by far the hardest leg; this is true in telecommunications and the circulatory system, and is called the last mile problem. — 00:00:07
  • ★★ Hank says it takes almost as much energy and work to get something he ordered off Amazon from China to the Missoula distribution warehouse as from that warehouse to his house. — 00:00:24 · Amazon, China, Missoula, Montana
  • ★★ Hank says an item made in China has one place to go, its port; from there maybe a dozen other ports; then a few thousand warehouses or stores. (hedged) — 00:00:45 · China
  • ★★★ Hank says a local warehouse's tens of thousands of products go to hundreds of thousands of places: for 99% of its travels an item had a few thousand possible destinations, for the last 1% hundreds of millions. — 00:01:01

00:01:31 — Why big solutions fail at the last mile; Save the Children and Last Mile Health train community health workers

  • ★★★ Hank says the last mile problem is kind of why big ideas for fixing things often fail: at the last mile one overarching solution becomes tens or hundreds of thousands of hard-to-work-out solutions. (hedged) — 00:01:31
  • ★★★ Delivering health care, water or food where they are lacking used to be work that didn't get done; Save the Children and Last Mile Health now do it, training and employing local people as community health workers. — 00:01:53 · Save the Children
  • ★★ Hank says these health workers then help grow the economy, educate others, and keep their communities, and so the global community, healthier. — 00:02:16 · global health
  • ★★★ Hank says this costs money, but ventures that it may be one of the best things society could possibly spend money on. (hedged) — 00:02:25

00:02:31 — P4A donations, matching, perks, the charity calendar, community voting and the livestream

  • ★★★ Hank says that besides funding this hard work, donors get cool stuff, so viewers should go to projectforawesome.com/donate. — 00:02:31 · Project for Awesome
  • ★★★ In P4A's first part all money up to $700,000 will be matched, and the first half's money is split between Last Mile Health and Save the Children. — 00:02:41 · Project for Awesome, Save the Children
  • ★★ Hank lists perks: smashed pennies, a commemorative coin, a digital download bundle with outtake scenes from Turtles All the Way Down, socks, bandanas and rocks he is painting. — 00:02:50 · Project for Awesome, Turtles All the Way Down
  • ★★ Some perks are sold out or nearly so, including the P4A charity calendar with a photo, not photoshopped, of Hank splashed in the face with champagne. (playful) — 00:03:00 · Project for Awesome
  • ★★★ In P4A's second half, money is split among charities voted on by the community: people make videos promoting charities and viewers vote at projectforawesome.com. — 00:03:15 · Project for Awesome, Nerdfighteria
  • ★★ Hank invites viewers who like the charity videos and charities to vote for them at projectforawesome.com; the top vote-getters get a portion of the second-half money. — 00:03:19 · Project for Awesome
  • ★★ The 48-hour charity livestream is going on now at projectforawesome.com/live, and probably also on the Vlogbrothers channel; Hank really wants viewers to join. — 00:03:31 · Project for Awesome, Vlogbrothers
  • ★★ Hank says donating brings both cool things and the knowledge of helping solve some of humanity's hardest remaining problems. — 00:03:41 · Project for Awesome

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: last mile · Project for Awesome

Also: Works: Turtles All the Way Down

Organizations: Amazon · Last Mile Health · Save the Children

Concepts: circulatory system · community health worker · global health

Places: China · Missoula, Montana

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