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Duncan Green Books

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Limited information is available about Duncan Green, who was born in 1922 and belongs to an unknown profession.

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Related Quotes

“To be effective at selling ideas, at being a lobbyist, influencing other people, you have to be very sure of yourself.”

People Ideas Influence Selling Lobbyists

Author:Duncan Green

“I have to be sure of myself - in a conditional way, always being open to the possibility that I'm wrong.”

Way Possibility Conditional

Author:Duncan Green

“When you get talking to people in positions of power, you find that often their worldview is framed either in terms of their disciplinary studies at university and/or the country where they first got interest in development.”

People Firsts Country Term Interest Talking Study Position Development University Worldview Framed Position Of Power

Author:Duncan Green

“Economists who studied in the '80s tend to have a pretty crude neoclassical view that's just about freeing up prices and markets, and then you'll get the growth and everybody benefits. And they'll just repeat that, because if you're a minister or a senior civil servant, you don't have time to read anything anymore. You get very fixed in your views.”

Ifs Growth Views Benefits Ministers Servant Fixed Repeats Senior Economist 80s Crude Civil Servants

Author:Duncan Green

“The magic formula is there is no magic formula.”

Magic Formulas

Author:Duncan Green

“Floundering around, learning by doing but also by failing, is not only good but inevitable.”

Failing Inevitable Learning By Doing Floundering

Author:Duncan Green

“Some kinds of activists are more willing to try stuff out, see if works and think on their feet, but some of the people who are working on [change] find that very difficult: They've been schooled into thinking you have to come up with the perfect plan in advance. It has become a bit technocratic.”

People Ifs Thinking Trying Kind Stuff Bits Difficult Perfect Plans Feet Willing Come Up Activist Schooled Willing To Try

Author:Duncan Green

“In the end, that's a blind alley - we have to get back to being able to think on our feet and react.”

Thinking Ends Able Feet Blind Get Back Alleys

Author:Duncan Green

“I keep coming back to the phrase "Dance with the system" - not just march onwards no matter what happens.”

Matter Happens No Matter What Phrases March Coming Back

Author:Duncan Green

“People think there's a single solution to complex problems, and the solution is often making an enemy of a group of people - pulling back and rejecting the other.”

People Thinking Problem Enemy Groups Solutions Complexes Pulling Rejecting Complex Problems

Author:Duncan Green

“There's a diversion between economic reality - integration, global village, everybody depending on everybody else - and cultural reality, which is people feeling invaded, undermined, threatened, wanting to have "stand-your-ground" legislation all over the place. It's alarming because at the moment, the fear is outweighing the benefits, and that's partially because the benefits have been so unequally distributed that lots of people don't feel better off. They feel threatened, angry and despairing.”

People Feels Has Beens Moments Feelings Reality Economic Benefits Angry Village Feel Better Legislation Threatened Integration Better Off Diversion Global Village Stand Your Ground

Author:Duncan Green

“What you don't do is just say, "I've got all the ideas and all the knowledge, and listen to me."”

Ideas Listen To Me

Author:Duncan Green

“Activists can get very preachy about things. It's more about understanding people's own experiences and tapping into them.”

People Understanding Activist Tapping

Author:Duncan Green

“The question, "When did you last listen to a poor person properly and try to understand what's going on inside their own experience?" enables you to connect.”

Trying Persons Lasts Poor

Author:Duncan Green

“Often we're having an argument with something imaginary - a fixed idea of the "enemy" and the good. We need to get beyond that and actually develop a deep curiosity about people and systems and understand them better.”

People Needs Ideas Enemy Argument Curiosity Fixed Imaginary

Author:Duncan Green

“We should look at how "the enemy" - people that you wouldn't necessarily agree with - have done change and see whether there's bits in there that we could learn from.”

People Should Looks Done Bits Enemy Agree

Author:Duncan Green

“There's a tendency for people who believe passionately in something to be so convinced of their rightness that if they just repeat themselves a lot at the person, that will convince them. And that hasn't worked on things like immigration or trade deals.”

People Ifs Believe Persons Deals Trade Convinced Immigration Tendencies Repeats Convince

Author:Duncan Green

“The death of deference seems to be general at the moment, so everybody has to earn their reputation and trust all over again. You don't just get it by virtue of being a professor or a politician or anybody else.”

Moments Seems Virtue Politician Reputation Professors Deference

Author:Duncan Green

“People are saying, "I have a right to my opinion. Don't just keep condescending, telling me what to think." There's something slightly liberating about that, but also it lends itself to being taken advantage of, because in come the demagogues.”

People Thinking Opinion Taken Advantage Liberating Condescending Taken Advantage

Author:Duncan Green

“Somewhere like Russia or China, decision-makers have far fewer constraints on acting than in more open systems.”

Decision Acting China Russia Makers Fewer Constraints Decision Makers

Author:Duncan Green

“If you were disabled in Russia, you had to re-register every year, and it took up to six months to re-register, so people who lost limbs in Afghanistan had to prove that their leg hadn't grown back.”

People Ifs Years Lost Months Prove Six Legs Russia Afghanistan Six Months Limbs Disabled Register

Author:Duncan Green

“There are always pressures on decision-makers other than just what is right or what is wrong.”

Decision Pressure Makers Decision Makers

Author:Duncan Green

“When we do work in places like China and Vietnam, research tends to be really effective as a way of getting change, whereas in more open places, mobilization and the creation of public pressure through the media often seem to be the things we try.”

Way Trying Seems Media Creation Research Pressure China Vietnam Mobilization

Author:Duncan Green

“Lots of people in the open system are very determined to try and strengthen evidence-based policy.”

People Trying Policy Evidence Determined

Author:Duncan Green

“You have a huge number of people who spend their time writing papers which show that migrants pay more to the country than they take out in benefits, and they say, "Why don't you approve of migration? Why don't you open up borders?" They're not able to empathize with how people feel about migration.”

People Feels Writing Country Shows Able Numbers Pay Huge Paper Benefits Borders Papers Migration Migrants Huge Numbers

Author:Duncan Green

“I see [activists] getting really angry that people won't just do what the evidence tells them, and that's not very helpful. You need to actually think why that is.”

People Thinking Needs Evidence Angry Helpful Activist

Author:Duncan Green

“The post-Second World War simple system of social democracy and organized labour has fragmented massively, but just because people aren't organized in workplace trade unions doesn't mean they aren't in associations with other people - work-based, place-based, culture-based, sport-based, faith-based - there's a bit of an old rainbow coalition argument.”

“There's no point in just hankering for the big trade unions of the 1950s or '60s.”

Bigs Trade Unions No Point Trade Unions Hankering

Author:Duncan Green

“I sound like a church nut, but look at the role of the churches in the civil rights movement in the States. People are brought together in other ways that can become drivers of change.”

People Way Looks States Together Sound Church Roles Rights Movement Civil Rights Drivers Nuts Civil Rights Movement

Author:Duncan Green

“In any system, there will be change happening without you.”

Happenings Without You

Author:Duncan Green

“Until you have looked in depth at the system and found out where women in Egypt are not being cut through female genital mutilation, or where kids in Vietnam are not malnourished, or where hospitals in America are getting rid of the superbugs anyway - unless you have that level of curiosity about what's going on without you, you will always come in with your great new recipe and just ignore what's going on, and that will make you much less effective at what you're trying to achieve.”

Trying Kids America Found Levels Cutting Achieve Female Depth Curiosity Hospitals Vietnam Egypt Recipes Without You Mutilation

Author:Duncan Green

About the Author

Born: 1922
Known for: Author
Quotes: 31

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