Omar Ahmad: Political change with pen and paper

Prevodilac: Sandra Gojic Lektor: Ivana Korom

One of the things that

Jedna od stvari koja

defines a TEDster

definiše TEDstera

is you've taken your passion,

je da ste vi uzeli svoju strast,

and you've turned it into stewardship.

i pretvorili je u upravitelja.

You actually put action to the issues you care about.

Vi ustvari dodajete akciju na problem do kog vam je stalo.

But what you're going to find eventually is

Ali ono što ćete vremenom saznati je

you may need to actually get elected officials

da ćete možda morati da tražite pomoć

to help you out.

od izabranih zvaničnika.

So, how do you do that?

I kako da to uradite?

One of the things I should probably tell you is,

Jedna od stvari koje bi verovatno trebalo da vam kažem je

I worked for the Discovery Channel early in my career,

da sam radio za Discovery Channel na početku svoje karijere,

and that sort of warped my framework.

i to je na neki način okrenulo moj način rada.

So, when you start to think about politicians,

Dakle, kad počnete da razmišljate o političarima,

you've got to realize these are strange creatures.

shvatite da su oni čudna stvorenja.

Other than the fact that they can't tell directions,

Osim činjenice da ne mogu da vam objasne pravac,

and they have very strange breeding habits,

i da imaju vrlo čudne navike odgoja,

how do you actually work with these things? (Laughter)

kako zapravo raditi sa ovim stvarima?

What we need to understand is:

Ono što morate da shvatite je:

What drives the political creature?

Šta pokreće politička stvorenja?

And there are two things that are primary in a politician's heart:

I postoje dve stvari koje su primarne u političarevom srcu:

One is reputation and influence.

Prvo, reputacija i uticaj.

These are the primary tools by which

Ovu su osnovna oruđa uz pomoć kojih

a politician can do his job.

političari mogu da rade svoj posao.

The second one -- unlike most animals,

Drugo, za razliku od većine životinja,

which is survival of the species --

što je održavanje vrste,

this is preservation of self.

jeste očuvanje sebe.

Now you may think it's money,

Možete misliti da je to novac,

but that's actually sort of a proxy

ali to je zapravo neka vrsta posrednika

to what I can do to preserve myself.

u tome šta mogu učiniti da očuvam sebe.

Now, the challenge with you moving your issue forward

E sad, izazov u napredovanju vašeg problema

is these animals are getting broadcast to all the time.

jeste to što se ove životinje stalno emituju.

So, what doesn't work, in terms of getting your issue to be important?

Dakle, šta ne radi, u smislu sticanja važnosti vašeg problema?

You can send them an email.

Možete im poslati email.

Well, unfortunately, I've got so many

Pa, nažalost, ja dobijam toliko

Viagra ads coming at me,

reklama za vijagru,

your email is lost.

da je vaš email izgubljen.

It doesn't matter, it's spam.

Nije bitno, to je spam.

How about you get on the phone?

A da probate sa telefonom?

Well, chances are I've got a droid who's picking up the phone,

Pa, šanse su da sam dobio nekog robota koji se javlja na telefon,

"Yes, they called, and they said they didn't like it."

"Da, zvali su i rekli su da im se ne dopada."

That doesn't move.

To se ne pomera.

Face to face would work,

Licem u lice bi vredelo,

but it's hard to set it up.

ali je teško to dogovoriti.

It's hard to get the context and actually get the communication to work.

Teško je doći do konteksta i učiniti da komunikacija ima smisla.

Yes, contributions actually do make a difference

Da, doprinosi zaista prave razliku,

and they set a context for having a conversation,

i postavljaju kontekst za postojanje komunikacije,

but it takes some time to build up.

ali potrebno je neko vreme da se dođe do toga.

So what actually works?

Dakle šta ustvari radi?

And the answer is rather strange.

A odgovor je prilično čudan.

It's a letter.

To je pismo.

We live in a digital world,

Mi živimo u digitalnom svetu,

but we're fairly analog creatures.

ali smo prilično analogna stvorenja.

Letters actually work.

Pisma ustvari uspevaju.

Even the top dog himself

Čak i sam glavni čovek

takes time every day to read 10 letters

svaki dan odvoji vreme da pročita 10 pisama

that are picked out by staff.

koje je osoblje izabralo.

I can tell you that every official that I've ever worked with

Mogu da vam kažem da će vam svaki zvaničnik sa kojim sam ikad radio

will tell you about the letters they get

reći o pismima koje dobija

and what they mean.

i šta ona znače.

So, how are you going to write your letter?

Dakle, kako ćete napisati pismo?

First of all, you're going to pick up an analog device: a pen.

Najpre, uzećete analognu spravu, olovku.

I know these are tough, and you may have a hard time

Znam da je ovo teško i da možete imati problema

getting your hand bent around it, (Laughter)

sa savijanjem ruke oko nje,

but this is actually critical.

ali ovo je zaista važno.

And it is critical that

I važno je da

you actually handwrite your letter.

vi ustvari napišete pismo svojom rukom.

It is so novel to see this,

To je tako novo za videti,

that somebody actually picked up an analog device

da je neko zaista uzeo analognu spravu

and has written to me.

i pisao mi.

Second of all, I'm going to recommend that

Drugo, preporučiću vam da

you get into a proactive stance

imate proaktivan stav

and write to your elected officials at least once a month.

i da pišete izabranim zvaničnicima bar jednom mesečno.

Here's my promise to you:

Obećavam vam.

If you are consistent and do this,

Ako ste dosledni i radite to,

within three months the elected official will start calling you

za tri meseca izabrani zvaničnici će početi da vas zovu

when that issue comes up and say, "What do you think?"

kad to pitanje postane aktuelno, i reći će, "Šta ti misliš?"

Now, I'm going to give you

E sad, daću vam

a four paragraph format to work with.

format od četiri pasusa na kojima radite.

Now, when you approach these animals,

Kada prilazite ovim životinjama,

you need to understand there's a dangerous end to them,

morate da razumete, one imaju svoj opasan deo,

and you also need to approach them

ali morate da im priđete i

with some level of respect and a little bit of wariness.

sa određenim nivoom poštovanja i malo opreznosti.

So in paragraph number one,

Dakle, u pasusu broj jedan,

what I'm going to tell you to do is very simply this:

ono što ću vam reći da uradite je jednostavno sledeće:

You appreciate them.

Vi ih cenite.

You may not appreciate the person, you may not appreciate anything else,

Možete da ne cenite osobu, možete da ne cenite ništa više,

but maybe you appreciate the fact that they've got a tough gig.

ali možda cenite činjenicu da imaju težak zadatak.

When animals are going to make a point, they make the point.

Kada životinje hoće da naprave poentu, one naprave poentu.

They don't spend a lot of time dicking around.

ne provode mnogo vremena "zezajući" se okolo.

So, here you go. (Laughter)

Dakle, evo.

Paragraph number two:

Pasus broj dva,

You may actually have to just get very blunt

možda ćete morati da budete vrlo direktni

and say what's really on your mind.

i da kažete šta vam je stvarno na umu.

When you do this,

Kada to radite,

don't attack people;

nemojte da napadnete ljude,

you attack tactics.

napadnite taktiku.

Ad hominem attacks will get you nowhere.

"Ad hominem" napad vas neće nigde odvesti.

Paragraph number three:

Pasus broj tri:

When animals are attacked or cornered,

Kada su životinje napadnute ili saterane u ćošak,

they will fight to the death,

boriće se do smrti,

so you have to give them an exit.

tako da im morate dati izlaz.

Most of the time, if they have an exit strategy, they should take it.

U najviše slučajeva, ako imaju strategiju za izlaz, iskoristiće je.

"Obviously, you're intelligent.

Očito, vi ste inteligentni.

If you had the right information,

Da ste imali pravu informaciju,

you would have done the right thing." (Laughter)

uradili biste pravu stvar.

Lastly, you want to be the nurturing agent.

Na kraju, želite da budete negujući agent.

You're the safe place to come in to.

Vi ste sigurno mesto kom dolaze.

So, in paragraph number four,

Dakle, u pasusu broj četiri,

you're going to tell people,

reći ćete ljudima,

"If no one is providing you with this information, let me help." (Laughter)

"Ako vam niko ne obezbeđuje ove informacije, dozvolite mi da pomognem."

Animals do displays. They do two things:

Životinje se prikazuju. One rade dve stvari.

They warn you or they try to attract you

Ili vas upozore ili pokušaju da vas napadnu

and say, "We need to mate."

i kažu, "Moramo da se parimo (družimo)."

You're going to do that by the way you sign your letter.

To ćete da uradite načinom na koji se potpišete.

You do a number of things: you're a vice president,

Vi radite gomilu stvari, vi ste potpredsednik,

you volunteer, you do something else.

volonter, radite nešto drugo.

Why is is this important?

Zašto je to važno?

Because this establishes the two

Zato što ovo uspostavlja dva

primary criteria for the political creature:

primarna kriterijuma za političke kreature,

that you have influence in a large sphere,

da vi imate uticaj na široku okolinu,

and that my preservation depends on you.

i da moje očuvanje zavisi od vas.

Here is one very quick hack,

Evo jednog vrlo kratkog trika,

especially for the feds in the audience.

posebno za federalce u publici.

Here's how you mail your letter.

Evo kako šaljete svoje pismo.

First of all, you send the original to the district office.

Najpre, pošaljete original okružnoj kancelariji,

So, you send the copy to the main office.

i pošaljete kopiju u glavnu kancelariju.

If they follow protocol, they'll pick up the phone and say, "Hey, do you have the original?"

Ukoliko prate protokol, podići će telefon i reći: "Da li je original kod vas?"

Then some droid in the back puts the name on a tickler

Onda neki robot u pozadini stavi ime na dijagram

and says, "Oh, this is an important letter."

i kaže, "O, ovo je važno pismo."

And you actually get into the folder

I vi ustvari dospevate u fasciklu

that the elected official actually has to read.

koju izabrani zvaničnici zapravo moraju da pročitaju.

So, what your letter means:

I šta vaše pismo znači?

I've got to tell you, we are all in a party,

Moram da vam kažem, svi smo mi na žurci,

and political officials are the pinatas.

a političari su pinjate.

(Laughter)

(smeh)

We are harangued, lectured to,

Ocenjuju nas, drže nam predavanja,

sold, marketed,

prodaju nas, reklamiraju,

but a letter is actually one of the few times

ali pismo je zapravo jedna od retkih prilika

that we have honest communication.

u kojima postoji iskrena komunikacija.

I got this letter when I was first elected,

Dobio sam ovo pismo kada sam prvi put izabran,

and I still carry it to

i još uvek ga nosim na

every council meeting I go to.

svaki sastanak saveta na koji idem.

This is an opportunity at real dialogue,

Ovo je prilika za pravi dijalog.

and if you have stewardship

I ako ste vođa

and want to communicate,

i želite da komunicirate,

that dialogue is incredibly powerful.

takav dijallog je neverovatno moćan.

So when you do that, here's what I can promise:

Kada to uradite, evo šta vam obećavam:

You're going to be the 800 pound gorilla in the forest.

Bićete gorila od 400 kila u šumi.

Get writing.

Počnite da pišete.

(Applause)

(aplauz)