The Power of Good: McCrindle Research

8/2/2019 The Power of Good: McCrindle Research

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1. The Power of Good

oo oten we underestimate the power o a touch, a smile,a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the

smallest act o caring, all o which have the potential to

turn a lie around.

Leo Buscaglia

On the nightly news we oten hear stories o random, opportunistic

crime perpetrated against strangers, but rarely do we hear stories

d l h h



wie Ruth and I were backpacking around Australia. Te idea

came to us one dusk as we sat talking in a pine orest on Kangaroo

Island. It had been a random act o kindness that had enabled us

to make it to this beautiul part o the world.

We had let our backpackers’ hotel to jump on our ight rom

Adelaide airport to Kangaroo Island. Ater getting o a local bus

we ound ourselves a couple o kilometres rom the airport withlittle more than hal an hour beore our ight was due to depart.

We were both toting heavy backpacks, there were no taxis around

and we were walking as ast as we could. A young “tradie” in a

ute pulled up next to us and said, “Are you guys alright?” Weexplained to him our predicament and he immediately jumped

out, threw our backpacks in the back o his ute and drove us to

Adelaide airport. We thanked him all we could and as he waved

and drove away we were both struck by the generosity o his act.



Te vulnerability o travel and the naivety o youth allowed us

to experience numerous acts o kindness during our backpacking

adventure around Australia. Far away rom the comorts o homeand the security o everyday lie, we ound ourselves more open

to receiving help rom strangers and oten ound we needed

their help. A man we met at a Christmas carols service in Gove,

Northern erritory lent us his Land Cruiser 4WD to explore thesurrounding areas and then had us over or a BBQ at the end o

the day. wice we were oered accommodation at the houses o

people we had just met. We ound country Aussies swit to oer

a lit or lend a hand. In our wider travels we ound that kindness was not limited to Aussies. In Jerusalem we ound ourselves at

Christmas time with “no room at the inn”. We were oered

accommodation with a Haitian American whom we met at the

Damascus Gate. He then proceeded to cook us dinner and invited



and impact the way we eel about lie in our community. Te

blessing o kind strangers never ceases to surprise and warm our

hearts.Finally, in 2010 we began to collect stories. We personally

invited prominent Australians to submit their accounts o

kindness, as well as receiving stories via our online panel

AustraliaSpeaks.com. Submissions came in rom people romall walks o lie, including politicians, authors, radio and V

personalities, proessional speakers, mums, students, teachers and

business executives. All had amazing stories to tell. Here within

you will nd stories o kindness by people like Morris Iemma(ormer Premier o NSW), Proessor David de Kretser AC

(Governor o Victoria), im Fischer (Ambassador to the Holy

See), David Richardson (reporter, oday onight ) and Anton Enus

(news presenter, SBS World News ).



young Geraldine awoke within her a love o reading which led her

to become an internationally renowned author and winner o the

Pulitzer Prize in ction in 2006. Natarsha recalls or us the act o kindness that cemented her passion or journalism and which also

took her career to great heights. She opens: “I have a very special

story to share where I experienced a wonderul random act o

kindness that changed my lie both personally and proessionally.”For others, their stories were less dramatic but, still, touching

and inspiring with a powerul lesson to convey. Author Libby

Gleeson colourully recalls how a group o punks who “… had the

lot: spiked-up green hair, loads o metal piercing their aces, huge

boots and ripped army clothing” gave more than loose change

to an old, homeless man, while others chose to ignore him as

he shued on by, begging. Tese stories prove to us that in a

seemingly hostile world, kindness can come rom anywhere, at



In a recent survey drawn rom our national online research

panel (AustraliaSpeaks.com), 95% agreed that the media reports

more negative than positive news and 93% elt that this givesthe impression that there is more evil than good in the world.

It comes as no surprise then that only 31% o Australians think

there are more acts o kindness perormed in the world than acts

o terror.However, the reality is that more good goes on in the world

than we are led to believe. In act, o-screen it is good deeds that,

by a large margin, outnumber the bad. Our research shows that

or every reported act o road rage, violence or abuse, there are 38

acts o kindness towards strangers. Further, we ound that 86% o

Australians say they have gone out o their way to help a stranger

in need, and 29.5% or 6.7 million Australians help a stranger

“regularly”.



3. Help with shopping:74%

4. Comort a stranger: 69.5%

5. Help with money: 30%3

Kindness and the Aussie character

Tere is an earthy humility in our sel-image. In dening Australia,

the most mentioned quality was that this is the land o the “airgo”. For many Australians this is about equality or all and giving

everyone a go – 68% dene “air go” as “equality – same rules

and benets or all”. Additionally, almost one in our (23%)

Australians believe that this “air go” quality is about supportingthose in need such as reugees.4 Our lives are increasingly busy and

complex yet our culture is down-to-earth. As Dan rom Victoria

mentioned in the research: “Where else in the world can you call a

complete stranger ‘mate’?” While mateship is a term traditionally



We also have a great sense o humour and a larrikin nature that

endears us to all.”

Whether at a street, city, state or national level, the Australianspirit unites us, not just to celebrate success, but also to battle

adversity. Having experienced diverse and sometimes harsh

environments and situations, Australians do not shy away rom

hardship, but bond together to tackle it.In the survey, im rom Camberwell, Victoria, said: “What

makes Australia great is the way we band together when things

get tough.”

Te Australian values o mateship and a air go have oten beenlinked to our convict heritage, the 1850s gold rush, the trenches

and battleelds o Gallipoli, our Judeo-Christian roots and, o

course, the hardship endured by battlers, shearers and squatters in

the harsh Australian bush. As our research shows, even in the 21st



Te amous Australian writer and poet, Henry Lawson, oten

called Australia’s “greatest writer”, once described Australia as “the

Great Lone Land o magnicent distances and bright heat; theland o sel-reliance, and never-give-in, and help-your-mate”. In

his stories and poems, Lawson extolled the virtue o the person

who, in the midst o adversity, typically drought and re, stepped

in to provide aid. Lawson understood mateship as helping inadversity, as “the instinct that irresistibly impels a thirsty, parched

man, out on the burning sands, to pour out the last drop o water

down the throat o a dying mate, where none save the sun or

moon or stars may see”.6

Down on the ground the stockmen jumped

And bared each brawny arm;

Tey tore green branches rom the trees



celebrated this “natural willingness” o Australians to assist,

recounting some o the heroic stories o kindness rom strangers

to emerge rom the tragedy. One story was o Peter Torneycrot who potentially saved the lives o twenty women and children by

hosing down the roo o the local pub they sought reuge in.7

As locals and emergency workers joined to assist bushre

victims, Australians gave generously, clearly touched anddevastated by the horric news. More than $388 million was

donated to the Black Saturday Bushre Appeal und. Australians

also donated 63,000 tonnes o material aid, with an estimated

value o $17.5 million.8

Te Whittlesea Rotary Club recallsthe overwhelming generosity o people at that time, how they

“had clothes avalanching o the tables …” with people working

ourteen-hour, seven-day weeks to distribute it all.9

Te tragic oods that ravaged Queensland in early 2011,



per Australian, while donations made by the British and American

public equated to $3 per Briton and 88 cents per American.11

ales o great Aussie kindness also emerged ollowing theBali bombings which claimed the lives o 202 people, including

88 Australians. wo West Australian men, imothy Britten and

Richard Joyes, became the ourth and th Australians to be

awarded the Cross o Valour, instituted in 1975, or their rescueeorts at the Sari club. Tey ought intense burning ames to rescue

victims and were among 37 people to receive bravery awards.

Te Australian’s willingness to help others in times o need

is commonly celebrated ollowing times o disaster. Former Australian Chie o the Deence Force and Australian o the Year in

2001, General Peter Cosgrove, summed this up best when he said:

Without doubt the best quality we observe across the entire



most precious heritage to hand on to younger and newer

Australians – a nation o people who care or and look out

or each other.

Te willingness o Australians to help in times o hardship

is also demonstrated by the number o them who dedicate their

time to volunteer work. Over a third o Australians over teen

are volunteers. Over 500,000 o these are in the emergency management sector, which includes sur lie-savers and re brigade

volunteers, amongst others.12

Te astounding statistic that one-third o Australians dedicate

their time to volunteer work supports our nding that 79% o Australians would most like to be remembered or their service to

others, while slightly ewer (69%), their contribution to society!

Tis is compared with only 31% who would like to be most

remembered or their achievements, such as career success.13



1. Ambulance ofcers: 1.15

2. Fireghters: 2.38

3. Nurses: 3.42

4. Pilots: 4.41

5. Doctors: 5.3414

Australians are also big on charitable giving with one in ten

Australians having donated to the Salvation Army alone.

Te reasons Australians give to strangers in need o charity are

genuine, and urther demonstrate our nation’s value o lending a

hand in times o need. Te main reason or giving to a charity is

because people want to make a dierence, with hal o Australians

strongly agreeing with this statement, according to our survey o

500 Australians, on charitable giving.15 Other strongly agreed with

reasons which include that they give because it’s the right thing



lives or the reedom o their countrymen and women. However,

there is oten much debate in the media about the role o Australian

combat orces in oreign lands. In the minds o Australians theirrole in history has generally been a positive one though, with 69%

o Australians believing that Australian soldiers (and members o

the Australian Deence Forces) have done more good than harm.

Tis is more evident with older Australians, but even most young Australians agree that the role o our diggers has generally been a

positive one. O those aged 46-85, 90.5% agree that Australian

soldiers and members o the ADF have done more good than

harm, compared with 54% o those aged 16-45.16

Amongst the best-known Australian wartime Samaritan

stories is that o the “uzzy-wuzzy angels”, the indigenous people

o Papua New Guinea who, during the Second World War,

carried wounded Australian soldiers to saety, risking their own



o the saety and the care o doctors

at the bottom o the track

“Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels”, Bert Beros

Misplaced step means a atal plunge,

to the rivers ar below,

But clambering on through knee-deep mud,on sure ooted way they go.

Muscles bulge under ebony skin,

as they climb over rocks and logs

Sometimes sinking to heaving chests,in the treacherous loathsome bogs.

“Native Stretcher Bearers”,

Corporal Peter Coverdale



SAS mates were caught up in a aliban ambush which turned

out to be the worst single attack on Australian soldiers since the

Vietnam War, resulting in six Australian soldiers being injured. Ater taking two hours to ght their way out, he realised a badly

wounded Aghan interpreter had been let behind.

Still recovering rom wounds received in an earlier battle

in Aghanistan, rooper Donaldson turned around and dashedacross open ground, under machine gun re, to collect the man

and bring him to saety.

Te citation states: “With complete disregard or his own

saety, on his initiative and alone, rooper Donaldson ran back

80 metres across exposed ground to rescue the interpreter and

carry him back to the vehicle. rooper Donaldson then rejoined

his patrol and continued to engage the enemy while remaining

exposed to heavy enemy re.”



has been no current serving member that I salute until now,” he

said. “radition holds that even the most senior ofcer will salute

a Victoria Cross recipient as a mark o the utmost respect or theiract o valour.”

At the investiture o the award, the Governor-General Ms

Quentin Bryce delivered one o the best speeches o recent times,

which read in part:

We are here to dedicate your contribution.

Your unconditional surrender to duty and humanity.

Your abandonment o your own necessities so that

others’ may be secured.

Your courage, generosity and compassion.

All o these things: while in thrall to peril’s brutal glare

and might.



Tese are the tenets o the Victoria Cross or Australia,

and you have met their rigour.

While very ew acts o helping others will measure up to that

o this 29-year-old soldier, the same character lies at the heart o

every altruistic act: compassion, generosity and a commitment to

others.

Our Christian roots

While most o us (61%) don’t think religious people are more

likely to do charitable works, o those who believe in God, 88%

have gone out o their way to help a stranger in need, comparedto 84% o non-believers. Religious people are also more positive

about the state o kindness in our world today. Tose who have

neither a religious afliation nor a belie in God are most sceptical



ollowing the example o Christ who articulated the greatest o

altruistic acts when he stated, “Greater love has no one than this:

that he lay down his lie or his riends” (John 15:13). Ater loveo God, to “love your neighbour as yoursel” (Matthew 22:38) is

the greatest commandment or the Christian.

In the Bible, a lawyer asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbour?”

Jesus responds with the parable o the Good Samaritan (Luke10). Te charity that a Christian is called on to aspire to is seen

in the example o the Good Samaritan who bandaged, clothed,

ed and housed a badly beaten Jewish man let or dead on the

side o a road. Te signicance o this parable is that the Jews

and Samaritans did not get along at this time. One’s “neighbour”,

thereore, includes even his or her enemies.

Charity has always been a big part o the Christian Church’s

mission. From the very early days, Christians organised church



evidence. Tis lucky country has or a couple o centuries oered

a welcome to those rom other lands looking or a resh start. Our

cultural mix is in our national DNA, it’s part o our liestyle –

it’s who we are. Te act that more than one in our o us wasn’t

born here seems unremarkable – as though it has always been

thus.18 Te second verse o our national anthem articulates this

generosity:For those who’ve come across the seas

We’ve boundless plains to share;

With courage let us all combine

o advance Australia air.In a recent survey, Prasad, writing rom Noble Park, Victoria,

returns the thanks: “Tere’s a world o opportunities waiting

or me post-high school – this country opens the doors to those



Table 1.1

Source Quote

King Hammurabai o his subjects: See that justice be done to widows, orphans and the poor.

Conucius He who wishes to secure the good o

others has already secured his own.New estament,

James, 2:14-18How does it help, my brothers, whensomeone who has never done a single good act claims to have aith? Will that aith bring salvation? I one o the brothers or one o the sisters is in need o clothes and has not enough ood tolive on, and one o you says to them, ‘‘I wish you well; keep yoursel warm and



Old estament(Micah 6: 8)

And what does the Lord require o youbut to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God.

Te Koran, 4.57 And (as or) those who believe and do good deeds, We will make them enter gardens beneath which rivers ow, to

abide in them or ever; they shall have therein pure mates, and We shall make them enter a dense shade.

Dalai Lama We fnd that not only do altruistic

actions bring about happiness but they also lessen our experience o suering.Here I am not suggesting that the individual whose actions are motivated



Buddha I do not believe in a ate that alls onmen however they act; but I do believe

in a ate that alls on them unless they act.

Ramakrishna Trough seless work, love o God grows in the heart.

Ten, through His grace, one realises Him in course o time.God can be seen. One can talk to Himas I am talking to you.

Swami Vivekananda Te more we come out and do good to others, the more our hearts will be purifed, and God will be in them.o devote your lie to the good o all



William Penn I expect to pass through lie but once.I, thereore, there be any kindness I

can show, or any good thing I can do toany ellow being, let me do it now, or I shall not pass this way again.

Business

Business people have got wind o the power o acts o kindness

in recent years in boosting one’s health, mentally and physically –

and even nancially. Te power o the practice o kindness as a

tool in business has been explored in several books.19

In Te Power o Nice, How to Conquer the Business World with

Kindness , Linda Kaplan Taler and Robin Koval o the Kaplan

Taler Group, the astest growing advertising agency in the US,



Mother eresa and Gandhi among their ranks, to be the most

inuential. Such leaders are not just or the history books; in

business, it is the supportive and generous leaders who inuenceand impact the most. Te majority (82%) o Australians agree that

it is the people-centred leader, one who serves and supports, who

has the most inuence and impact. Te traditional authoritarian

leader (only 13% ranked as inuential) and the task-drivendelegator (just 5%) are rated as having ar less inuence.

In contrast, Australians consider dictators and rulers who have

included inamous war tyrants Hitler and Stalin, to be the least

inuential. Tis is testament to the power o good! Military and

political leaders also rank low, while others who also rank high

include scientists and inventors, philosophers and thinkers, and

writers and artists, those who help and inspire others.



to common courtesy. Here are some examples: “Drop a ew coins

in an area where children play, where they can easily nd them.

Do you remember how excited you elt, when as a child youound a coin lying on the ground?”; “Spend a ew minutes going

through your old photos, and send whatever you can part with to

the people in the photos”; “When phoning someone, ask ‘Have

I phoned at the wrong time?’. I they are busy, ask when you cancall back.”22

Table 1.2

For a list o kindness websites, see able 1.2, Appendix, p. 220.

A global phenomenon?

For some, the practice o good deeds is incentive-driven. It’s about



Multiple motivations to do good

1. Delight: 38.5% o Australians lend a helping hand to a

stranger simply because o the joy they receive in putting a

smile on another’s ace!

2. Conscience: 69% o Australians help because they eel bad

i they don’t.3. God/belie in an aterlie: 22.9% perorm good deeds

because o religious belies.24

Some say that the “random acts o kindness” movement was

started by peace activist Anne Herbert who, in the early 1980s, wrote the ollowing on a napkin at a restaurant in San Francisco:

“Practice random kindness and senseless acts o beauty”. Te

amous words saw a chain reaction o kindness – rom bumper

stickers25 to a spate o books, movies and video clips which



But why the global trend? Eleven years on rom Anne Herbert’s

message, Proessor Chuck Wall o Bakerseld College in Caliornia

challenged his students to perorm “a random act o senselesskindness” ater hearing a radio report describing “another random

act o senseless violence”.26

Te world o violence that we are so requently reminded o

by the media has caused a longing or its opposite, as seen in theexample o Juan Mann.

In Australia in 2004, Juan Mann received much international

attention or his unusual stunt in Pitt Street, Sydney, where he

stood in the street, holding up a sign, saying “Free Hugs”. Juan

received so much attention, in act, that the lead singer o the

band Sick Puppies, Shimon Moore, lmed him or Sick Puppies’

song All the Same , which quickly enjoyed notoriety on Youube.

Te lm, which has had nearly 34 million hits at the time o



how what she needed now, when she elt most alone in the world,

was a hug. I got down on one knee, we put our arms around

each other and when we parted, she was smiling.”28It’s no wonderthat Juan Mann received the international attention that he did –

while it may seem like the world is in adoration o sel-satisying

celebrities, in reality it is kind-hearted people who we most highly

regard.For Australians, treatment o others is the most important

attribute in determining what we think o someone – 76% say it is

“an extremely important actor”. Te amount o money/material

possessions someone has, looks/appearance and status/success areconsidered by Australians to be the least important attributes.

Table 1.4

For an analysis o the “Free Hugs” phenomenon, see able 1.4,



Scotland, Singapore, Tailand, USA, India, Italy, Nepal, Nigeria,

New Zealand and South Korea. Te movement has approximately

3 million members.30

Giving back

In putting this book together, we have joined this growing world

movement o kindness. We hope it gives some encouragementto those who wonder where all the goodness has gone, and some

acknowledgment to those kind-hearted strangers who have

helped us all out. We hope it encourages others to show random

kindness, and indeed it’s already doing that.

One dollar per book will go to the work o Hope Street

(www.hopestreet.org.au), who look ater some o Australia’s most

marginalised people.

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Research is most useul when all stakeholders hear the insights.

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Media activity requires new, robust, independent research with a

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The ABC of XYZ: Understanding the Global Generations by Mark

McCrindle, with Emily Wolfinger. 238 pages. Published by UNSWPress, 2011. RRP $30.00

From explaining the labels and quantifying the numbers to outlining

the definitive events of each generation, the best-selling The ABC of

XYZ is a comprehensive and fascinating look at the generations.

The ABC of XYZ is a rollicking journey across time, generations and values that

has been forensically dissected by one of the best social analysts i n Australia.

Bernard Salt, Demographer & columnist; Partner, KPMG

The Power of Good: True stories of great kindness from totalstrangers by Mark McCrindle. 232 pages. Published by Hybrid

Publishers, 2011. RRP $24.95

Seventy short, heart-warming stories of acts of kindness by strangers

with contributions by prominent Australians, including Jean Kittson,

Peter FitzSimons, Tracey Spicer, Father Chris Riley, and many others.

This book provides many examples of the power of doing good works, the

betterment conferred in so many different ways and, on occasions, leading to

the saving of lives. Tim Fischer A.C. Former Deputy Prime Minister

Word Up: A Lexicon and Guide to Communication in the 21st

Century by Mark McCrindle. 208 pages. Published by Halstead Press,

2011. RRP $30.00

A fascinating insight into how English changes, a quirky look at youth

slang today, and a window into the minds of the different generations.

Mark McCrindle deserves a medal. Mapless, he’s entered the alien t errains of

text-speak, web slang, Gen-Z dialect, among other domains, and returned with

a guidebook should we ever lose our way.

David Astle, Co-host of Letters and Numbers (SBS TV),columnist and crossword compiler

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The Power of Good: McCrindle Research