Some Good News Navigated Generosity and Stewardship with Impressive Results

Posted by Ann Deaton Share Your Voice

Some Good News (SGN) by John Krasinski is a YouTube channel that Krasinski created and produced beginning in late March 2020 during the COVID19 crisis (see Episode 1). SGN has brought lightness to offset the stresses of this pandemic. With stories of fulfilling dreams and showing people at their best, Some Good News always brings a smile, and often a tear. In its initial two months of production, the show included virtual graduations, proms, COVID19 recovery happenings, and many copy cat videos of others creating their own SGN moments. Celebrities from The Office and Hamilton put in an appearance, as did many typical people like postal service workers, healthcare professionals and regular kids, moms, dads, and pets as special guests. Some Good News was apparently much needed as a pandemic resilience strategy, with episodes generating 2.9 to 18 million views each when I last looked.

Beyond just being fun to watch, Some Good News demonstrated how to navigate the Generosity and Stewardship polarity well when it comes to protecting one’s intellectual property.  From the inception of the show, Krasinski has encouraged and delighted in those who copy him---in videos, pictures, songs, stories. In the process, he has generously enabled others to use his show’s name and his own likeness. At the same time, Krasinski clearly leans into the Stewardship pole in his judicious highlighting of efforts that mirror his intention of bringing joy and hope to others. The result has been an engaging dance of Krasinski and viewers feeding off of one another’s energy. It is the ultimate example of how generosity does not have to lead to being taken advantage of, or having your intention distorted. Balanced by stewardship, generosity can result in spreading and sustaining good work (or good news).

Now (May 2020) Krasinski has sold the YouTube show to Viacom CBS. Krasinski is hopeful that this sale will enable the show to have the resources to continue, since his own time commitments would not have permitted that. The question in my mind is whether CBS will understand the underlying polarities that Krasinski has navigated so well. According to an article in USA Today, Krasinski will stay involved with the show, and that may mean that CBS benefits from his vision, and that the good news of Generosity AND Stewardship create a sustainable future for the show. In challenging times, and even in pretty good times (see Episode 8) we can always benefit from Some Good News.

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Ann Deaton I am a leadership coach, and Managing Partner in Bounce. I love to coach and facilitate with individuals and systems experiencing significant change and growth. The clients I work with, regardless of their age or position, are talented and creative individuals willing to look with fresh eyes at their challenges and opportunities, and to take action based on their discoveries. As a result, they find that they are capable of accomplishing far greater things than they ever imagined. What do you want to accomplish today? Who do you want to be?