Underpromise and Overdeliver

The first person account of Manal Omar's work with the NGO Women for Women International in Baghdad immediately following the American occupation in 2003 begins on a hopeful note as Iraqis greet American soldiers as liberators, but the memoir ends with the fragmentation and dissolution of the country based on ethnic, religious, and tribal affiliations.

This quote on page 142 of the paperback edition of Barefoot in Baghdad is the butterfly effect in humanitarian terms.

Years of humanitarian work had taught me that the smallest intervention could set loose an avalanche of unexpected consequences. I knew better than to dive in on a whim. The key was to anticipate and plan for worse-case scenarios and to take calculated risks to improve people's lives. Even the most experienced aid workers could find themselves stuck in some intractable situation. My organization's motto was "Underpromise and overdeliver."

Manal M. Omar