Raheel Waqar

co-founder and CEO of White Rice

Compiled from 1 recorded interview. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Raheel Waqar is the CEO of White Rice, which he started in 2006 with a partner. In 2001 he had started his first company. He describes behaviour design as understanding human behaviour and the context in which it happens.

Early life and background

Waqar started his first venture at age 14, selling electronics. His father was doing a PhD in the US, and the family lived there for four or five years. He joined a model school system, which he found devastating. He completed his O levels at a private school and also completed A levels. [1]

Education

Waqar did about two years of in-person study before moving to a virtual program. Credits could be transferred to the University of Southern Queensland in Australia on an e-learning basis. [1]

Career

Waqar's first job was as a designer. He also started a part-time job at a company. He says he could not work in a boxed environment or a cubicle doing the same thing every day. [1]

His first company made interactive CDs and multimedia. It focused on corporate production work, including animation and films. He ran it for five years. [1]

He says that staying in Islamabad meant a very limited market. He was told that sitting in Islamabad he was missing a big opportunity in the development sector. He says his team was the first to introduce animation to the development sector as a way of storytelling, and that his team's first project was about child sexual abuse. He says storytelling was his first passion, using film and animation. [1]

Waqar worked at the World Bank for three years. He worked on a World Bank water and sanitation project. [1]

White Rice

Waqar says the name White Rice came from a Chinese restaurant and was chosen because people would not forget it. He says he wanted to create social change and use design to do so. [1]

He says White Rice has pivoted every three or four years and falls in love with problems rather than solutions. White Rice explored design thinking around 2010 to create empathy with clients. He says its campaigns did not produce the scalable change the company wanted, and that it wanted to see a million people's lives impacted. [1]

He says research showed there is a science behind behaviour. He says awareness alone does not change behaviour, and that programmes fail when they are not designed for the context in which the behaviour takes place. He says White Rice designs programmes for the context they run in, such as Sindh. [1]

Projects

White Rice did a project called Aflatoun, an international financial learning program. Waqar says an e-learning series won a Pasha award later on. He says the content was made for children in drop-in centres across the country, not for urban children. [1]

He says juveniles at a jail were given access to a computer for the first time. He says they saw results in terms of reduced crime and fewer fights. [1]

White Rice talked to 11,000 mothers through story gatherings, and he says the exercise is the largest of its kind in the world. He says 90% of the mothers attributed some behaviour change to the campaign. [1]

He says White Rice was trying to run a water nudge project with UNDP in Islamabad. He says the main problem in that project was that water is not metered. White Rice is working with CARE International on a MasterCard-funded project, and he says MasterCard's intention is to reach 5 billion people who are underbanked or unbanked. White Rice is also developing a film series on VR. [1]

Work during COVID

COVID suddenly halted White Rice's access to communities and the frontline workers it worked with. During COVID, White Rice looked at WhatsApp and created community groups. He says they realised there had been an empathy gap during COVID. [1]

He says White Rice had a frontline workforce of more than 250 people. He says they had around 50,000 people on Facebook. He says that in four months they reached 2 million people offline and around 30 million online. [1]

Views

Waqar says development-sector work gives a proof of concept that must then become a revenue model. He says lasting change needs the private sector to become an agent of change, and that he expects development funding to shrink over time. He says businesses must be designed as sustainable from day one, even impact ones, and that a shared vision needs the corporate, development and impact sectors to work together. He says an economy cannot become a middle-income economy until its consumer base grows. [1]

He sees Pakistan as a very vibrant country and says it has one of the biggest philanthropy sectors in the world. He cites a 2016 PwC report that projected Pakistan as the 16th largest economy, and says Pakistan could become one of the top 20 economies by 2050. He advises young people to learn Mandarin. [1]

He says 80 to 90% of the brain develops by age two, and that the brain grows only 10 to 20 percent after age two. He says the first thousand days, from pregnancy to age two, are a key window for development. He cites 43.7% of children in Pakistan as stunted. [1]

He says COVID was a great restart that made people reflect on their values. He says the aim is to change the thinking, and that behaviour change can start with micro habits, such as a five-minute workout. He says people need a vision together with the right tools and mindset to reach it, and a roadmap, not only hope. He says aspirations are the same for everyone, rich or poor, and that money can never be the objective, since it is a byproduct of something else. [1]

He says academics alone give you only a piece of paper, and that he does not see four-year degree programmes as the future of learning. He says unlearning and relearning will be key skills. He says the development sector lives in its own bubble, and that academics also live in their own bubble. He says he would get top development-sector organisations to come in every week and talk about the work they are doing. He says collaboration is unfortunately missing across the board, and that he would want the Karachi kid and the Islamabad kid to work together. [1]

He says Facebook is the biggest behaviour design firm in the world. He says data is becoming the software of every company, and that technology will be the future of his work. [1]

Personal life

Waqar describes himself as an Islamabadi. He says he stayed in Pakistan despite having many chances to go abroad. He has two young children, aged five and two. He says his father still does not know what he does, and that problem identification is his strength. [1]

Timeline

2001
Started his first company.[1]
2006
Started White Rice with a partner.[1]
2010
White Rice explored design thinking, around this year.[1]
2016
White Rice's child stunting project in Sindh with UNICEF took place.[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2021-05-26 Why awareness alone will never change behavior Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Raheel Waqar?

Raheel Waqar is the CEO of White Rice. He started White Rice in 2006 with a partner. He describes behaviour design as understanding human behaviour and the context in which it happens.[1]

What does Raheel Waqar do?

Raheel Waqar is the CEO of White Rice. He says behaviour design means understanding human behaviour and the context in which it happens. He says White Rice designs programmes for the context they run in, such as Sindh.[1]

What company did Raheel Waqar found?

Raheel Waqar and a partner started White Rice in 2006, and Waqar is its CEO. He says the name White Rice came from a Chinese restaurant. He says the name was chosen because people would not forget it.[1]

What is Raheel Waqar known for?

Raheel Waqar is the CEO of White Rice. White Rice ran a child stunting project in Sindh with UNICEF in 2016. White Rice also talked to 11,000 mothers through story gatherings, which he says is the largest such exercise in the world.[1]

When did Raheel Waqar start his first company?

Raheel Waqar started his first company in 2001. The company made interactive CDs and multimedia. He ran it for five years.[1]

What is Raheel Waqar's career background?

Raheel Waqar's first job was as a designer. He started his first company in 2001 and ran it for five years. He also worked at the World Bank for three years.[1]

Where is Raheel Waqar from?

Raheel Waqar describes himself as an Islamabadi. His father was doing a PhD in the US, and the family lived there for four or five years. Waqar says he stayed in Pakistan despite having many chances to go abroad.[1]

References

  1. Why awareness alone will never change behavior . Thought Behind Things , 2021-05-26.
Show the source passages (98 statements)
  1. Raheel Waqar is the CEO of White Rice. In conversation with Raheel Waqar, CEO of White rice
  2. Raheel Waqar and a partner started White Rice in 2006. So we became partners, we started White Rice in 2006.
  3. His father was doing a PhD in the US, and the family lived there for four or five years. So my dad was doing his PhD in the US and we were there for four, five years.
  4. He joined a model school system, which he found devastating. went into a model school system which actually which was devastating for me
  5. He completed his O levels at a private school. then I came back into a regular school system in terms of a private school, did my O levels
  6. He completed A levels. To karte karate after my A levels, I literally was fed up of education.
  7. He did about two years of in-person study before moving to the virtual program. So I did a around two years of of education physically and then I did the virtual program
  8. Credits could be transferred to the University of Southern Queensland in Australia on an e-learning basis. you could transfer your credits to University of Southern Queensland in Australia on an e-learning basis
  9. He started a part-time job at a company. So basically I started a part-time job, LMKR ek company hoti thi us waqt. It was called MathTech at that time.
  10. He says he could not work in a boxed environment or a cubicle doing the same thing every day. I can't work in a boxed environment. I can't work in a cubicle doing the same thing every day.
  11. His first job was as a designer. I was more so my first job was actually a designer
  12. In 2001 he started his first company. So I left that and 2001 mein I started my first company and again during my education, and this was called Magus Multimedia
  13. His first company made interactive CDs and multimedia. so we started doing interactive CDs and multimedia
  14. He ran his first company for five years. so I did that I ran that company for five years
  15. His first company focused on corporate production work, including animation and films. we were more into corporate side, production work, that type of stuff, animation, films
  16. He says that staying in Islamabad meant a very limited market. Islamabad mein reh ke you had a very limited market
  17. He was told that sitting in Islamabad he was missing a big opportunity in the development sector. you're missing out a big opportunity sitting in Islamabad, which is the development sector
  18. He says his team was the first to introduce animation to the development sector as a way of storytelling. we were the first ones to introduce animation to the development sector. Animation as a way of storytelling.
  19. His team's first project was about child sexual abuse. hamara pehla project tha woh tha woh child sexual abuse ke upar tha
  20. He says storytelling was his first passion, using film and animation. storytelling was basically I would say ke mera jo first passion tha na or or the first love was how do we tell great stories and using mediums like film and animation
  21. He says the name White Rice came from a Chinese restaurant. And the name actually came from a Chinese restaurant because we were really trying to figure out ke yaar naam kya rakhein.
  22. He says the name was chosen because people would not forget it. And we also thought no one's going to forget it
  23. He says he wanted to create social change and use design to do so. So I want to create social change and use design to do that.
  24. He says White Rice has pivoted every three or four years. We've been pivoting every three, three, four years our journey gets redefined
  25. He says White Rice falls in love with problems rather than solutions. we fall in love with problems, right? We don't like solutions because solutions are you know, you're already you can change them.
  26. White Rice did a project called Aflatoun, an international financial learning program. There's this project we did which was called Aflatoun. This is an international financial learning program.
  27. He says an e-learning series won a Pasha award later on. an e-learning series, which actually won a Pasha award later on
  28. He says that content was made for children in drop-in centres across the country, not for urban children. that content wasn't for the urban kids. It was for kids in drop-in centers across the country.
  29. He says juveniles at a jail were given access to a computer for the first time. pehli dafa Hadyala jail mein juvenile kids ke saath they were given access to a computer
  30. He says they saw results in terms of reduced crime and fewer fights. we saw results in terms of reduce crime and reduce fights and all that
  31. White Rice explored design thinking around 2010 to create empathy with clients. we explored design thinking in between in around 2010 and we thought okay, this is a great way of creating empathy with our clients and customers.
  32. He says White Rice's campaigns did not produce the scalable change they wanted. we came up with great communication campaigns, products, services, but we couldn't see that scalable change.
  33. He says White Rice wanted to see a million people's lives impacted. In the end, we wanted to see yaar a million people's lives impact.
  34. He says research showed there is a science behind behaviour. it really pointed out that there is a science behind behaviors
  35. He says White Rice designs programmes for the context they run in, such as Sindh. So hamare programs agar Sindh mein chal rahe hain to we understand Sindh's context.
  36. He says programmes fail when they are not designed for the context in which the behaviour takes place. wahan pe then failure start happening because it's not optimized for the context in which the behavior needs to take place
  37. He says behaviour design means understanding human behaviour and the context in which it happens. So our entire work is understanding human behavior, understanding the context in which the behavior needs to take place, and then designing for that space
  38. He says awareness alone does not change behaviour. But we know that awareness alone doesn't change behavior.
  39. White Rice ran a child stunting project in Sindh with UNICEF. we did a project in Sindh with UNICEF, um which was a child stunting project
  40. The Sindh project worked with 100,000 mothers, 26,000 of them directly. we were working with 100,000 mothers, um with and 26,000 mothers directly
  41. The UNICEF project in Sindh took place in 2016. What year was this? This was in 2016.
  42. He says the Sindh campaign aimed to get mothers to adopt three to five simple behaviours. how do you get mothers to start performing three three behaviors, three to five behaviors
  43. He says aspirations are the same for everyone, rich or poor. yaar ghareeb ho, ameer ho, aspirations sab ki ek jaisi hain.
  44. White Rice created mother clubs that gave awards to mothers. So we created these mother clubs where they would come in, they would be given awards.
  45. White Rice talked to 11,000 mothers through story gatherings. And we ended up talking to 11,000 mothers. So these were in story gatherings.
  46. He says the story gathering exercise is the largest in the world. it is the largest world the largest story gathering exercise in the world
  47. He says 90% of the mothers attributed some behaviour change to the campaign. 90% of them, Muzammil, were able to attribute some form of behavior change because of the campaign that we were running
  48. He worked at the World Bank for three years. I worked at the World Bank for three years
  49. He worked on a World Bank water and sanitation project. World Bank ka ek project mein kar raha tha water and sanitation ka
  50. He says development-sector work gives a proof of concept that must then become a revenue model. now you go and convert it into some something that's more actionable, something that has a revenue model
  51. He says lasting change needs the private sector to become an agent of change. the private sector sort of starts fueling in that uh or become that agent of change
  52. He says he expects development funding to shrink over time. the development funding and the cycle is actually going to reduce over time
  53. He says an economy cannot become a middle-income economy until its consumer base grows. jab tak aapka consumer ka size nahi badhega, Exactly. aap you can't be a middle income economy.
  54. He says White Rice was trying to run a water nudge project with UNDP in Islamabad. we were trying to do a water nudge project with UNDP around how to get Islamabad, you know, the Islamabadis to basically conserve water
  55. He says the main problem in that Islamabad water project was that water is not metered. But sabse bada masla yeh hai we have no data point. It's not metered.
  56. He says Pakistan has one of the biggest philanthropy sectors in the world. Aap philanthropy philanthropy dekhein, we have one of the biggest in the world.
  57. He sees Pakistan as a very vibrant country. I see Pakistan inshallah as a very vibrant country.
  58. He advises young people to learn Mandarin. my a lot of my advice to young kids is learn Mandarin Mandarin
  59. He says COVID was a great restart that made people reflect on their values. COVID ne by design, it was the great restart that allowed us to reflect
  60. He says the aim is to change the thinking. is to change the thinking. Thinking pe kaam nahi hota.
  61. He says behaviour change can start with micro habits, such as a five-minute workout. let's start with five minute workout
  62. He says people need a vision together with the right tools and mindset to reach it. you give a vision and then along with that vision you need to give them the right tool sets, right? The right mindset
  63. He says people need a roadmap, not only hope. sirf hope nahi dilani, you need to tell them what's the roadmap for this.
  64. He cites a 2016 PwC report that projected Pakistan as the 16th largest economy. PWC has a report from 2016 where they said Pakistan would be 16th largest economy.
  65. He says Pakistan could become one of the top 20 economies by 2050. Pakistan does have the opportunity to become 2050 mein maybe one of the top 20 economies in the world
  66. He says Facebook is the biggest behaviour design firm in the world. there's the biggest behavior design firm in the world is Facebook
  67. He says data is becoming the software of every company. So they might not be producing software, but they data is going to be the software.
  68. White Rice is developing a film series on VR. So we are actually at this point developing a film series on VR, Right.
  69. He says they realised there had been an empathy gap during COVID. where we also realize ke COVID mein na the there's been an empathy gap
  70. COVID suddenly halted White Rice's access to communities and the frontline workers it worked with. because suddenly COVID happened and our access to communities, the frontline workers that we worked with, woh suddenly all all came to a halt
  71. During COVID, White Rice looked at WhatsApp and created community groups. We looked at simple things like WhatsApp. So we created community clusters, groups
  72. He says they had around 50,000 people on Facebook. we had around 50,000 people on Facebook and all that
  73. He says that in four months they reached 2 million people offline and around 30 million online. in four months mein we were able to reach 2 million people offline and around 30 million people online
  74. He says White Rice had a frontline workforce of more than 250 people. we had a workforce, 250 plus people, jo frontline log the and they were all scared
  75. He says technology will be the future of his work. I think technology is going to be the future for whatever we do
  76. White Rice is working with CARE International on a MasterCard-funded project. We are working on a project with uh with CARE International. It's a MasterCard funded project.
  77. He says MasterCard's intention is to reach 5 billion people who are underbanked or unbanked. But their intention is that how do we reach 5 billion people that are either underbanked or unbanked
  78. He says academics alone give you only a piece of paper. Academics alone will give you nothing. It gives you a piece of paper at the end of the day that's just a piece of paper.
  79. He says the development sector lives in its own bubble. And the development sector lives in their own bubble
  80. He says academics also live in their own bubble. Academics ke saath I see the challenge is they live in their own bubble
  81. He says he would get top development-sector organisations to come in every week and talk about the work they are doing. I would get top development sector organizations to come in and every week literally talk about the work they're doing
  82. He says collaboration is unfortunately missing across the board. collaboration I feel like ke hamare yahan across the board unfortunately uh missing hai
  83. He says he would want the Karachi kid and the Islamabad kid to work together. I would want the Karachi kid and the Islamabad kid to work together
  84. He says a shared vision needs the corporate, development and impact sectors to work together. Jisme the corporate sector or the private sector and the development and the impact sector have to work together
  85. He says businesses must be designed as sustainable from day one, even impact ones. If businesses are not designed from the day one as a sustainable business, even if it's an impact, it's not going to sustain
  86. He says the brain grows only 10 to 20 percent after age two. after you cross two, there is a certain percentage your brain will grow, 10, 20%, but it will not go 50% after that
  87. He says 80 to 90% of the brain develops by age two. 80 to 90% of your brain develops by the age of two
  88. He cites 43.7% of children in Pakistan as stunted. Pakistan mein 43.7% bache are stunted
  89. He says the first thousand days, from pregnancy to age two, are a key window for development. so we call it the first thousand days. So nine months when they're in their mother's womb till the first two years, so it's a window
  90. He has two young children, aged five and two. I have two young kids, five and two
  91. He says he stayed in Pakistan despite having many chances to go abroad. what keeps me in Pakistan, right? Because I had a lot of opportunities to go abroad as well
  92. He says his father still does not know what he does. my father still doesn't know what I do
  93. He describes himself as an Islamabadi. mere andar sabse badi cheez as an Islamabadi missing yahi thi
  94. He says problem identification is his strength. Mere liye problem identification mere andar bahut achi thi
  95. He says he does not see four-year degree programmes as the future of learning. I don't see a world of four four year degree programs, to be honest, Muzamil. I see a world where there's going to be a subscription program
  96. He says unlearning and relearning will be key skills. But the future is learning on the go. Right. That is going to be a skill. And to be honest, unlearning as well
  97. He says money can never be the objective, since it is a byproduct of something else. money can never be your objective. Money is a byproduct of something
  98. He started his first venture at age 14, selling electronics. I literally started my first venture when I was 14 years old. Selling electronics.