Stories for the heart - Statistics for the mind

People change for different reasons and by different influences. These reasons are usually either linked to the rational or emotional. In advocacy it is about making sure the right statistic or story is produced to the right person at the right time. Advocacy is more of an art than a science, but this does not imply that it is random and by chance. Advocacy and more particularly advocacy campaigning in aiming to achieve positive social change is very strategic, very focused.

At the heart of this work is a mixture of courage and vulnerability. The right mix can bear fruits, the bad mix can yield genocide. In my experience deep human relationships are formed mostly through adversity, not through triumph. They are formed when people are at their most vulnerable, most defenceless, most open. Marketers know this when they have used starving children in Africa to raise money for Aid appeals. They have appealed to a human emotion that opens peoples hearts and makes them want to act. I would suggest that we must take this one step further. We must engage the human heart with the human spirit. In doing so we engage not only sorrow and despair but also all the other aspects of this human existence; happiness, joy, laughter etc. etc.

One of the most powerful ways of opening the human heart is to engage them in human stories. As a species humans love knowing about other humans, they are drawn to their stories, it is in our DNA. This does not mean that stories have to be about hardship or poverty but more about sharing the same human experience we all recognise; life, death, hope, despair. Once the heart is open people want to respond to that story. In theatres people clap, in fundraisers people pay, in the family people hug.

As an campaigner I see that space between the moment the human heart opens and the need to respond fills it, as the most important opportunity. As in science when a space is empty, it only remains so briefly, as something else soon fills it. I suggest when that human heart is open we as campaigners have the responsibility to present how it may be filled. Now I am not talking about donating money or converting to specific world view, I suggesting that that space be filled with compassion, with understanding and with the tools to be more aware of each individual action they take.

Some also say this is a time for presenting the facts, the data. So that when people act they do it not just through emotion but through understanding. This may be so however we should be careful that we do not take from the individual their experience of understanding and replace it with our own. Such efforts will only be short lived. In my experience humans who connect with other human stories keep them for life. Those stories are told through the generations, over and over again. Statistics, no matter how important only last a while. That is because the human experience through stories go back to our origins, the expression of its experience presented through statistics change for every second we are alive. This is the artwork of life.

Theory of Change - Whatever you reckon!

I have been involved in leading and facilitating local, national and global advocacy Theory of Change (ToC)processes. For those in the development business everyone knows Theory of Change as the new fuzzword. Simply though Theory of Change is just an explanation of how change happens. In my experience it has been the construction of a diagram or flow chart explaining how one change leads to another to achieve a certain outcome. Below are some of the main points of the advantages a ToC can bring when setting up your advocacy campaign:

We cannot save the world single handedly...

ToC helps teams understand what changes need to happen to achieve their ultimate goal. As there are many actors that contribute to achieving this goial, it provides a reality check that that team cannot do it all. One of the first mistakes campaigners make is thinking they can save the world single handedly. ToC therefore pushes teams toward their strengths and focuses whilst looking at what partners and other actors are in their space to achieve designated goals.

Operationalising strategy...

In many development and advocacy projects I have commonly seen teams move from identifying problems straight into doing activities. The ToC process allows a process of identifying issues and analysing changes that informs a strategy to be operationalised. That is, once changes are agreed upon then a strategy and associated activities can be set up to affect that change. This stage is often called a Theory of Action (ToA) and it allows teams to analyse how change happens, where they should try affect change and what their organisational strengths and niche may be.

Beyond crystal ball gazing... 

I have found that a ToC process has far greater advantages than a crystal ball foretelling the future. ToCs are often unfortunately used by many as static truths of an ever-changing world. Obviously used this way there is little difference between this and the old model of just identifying problems and then engaging on a range of activities. I contend that the ToC process has many advantages beyond just setting up a considered strategy on a colorful diagram.

Communication tool...

For large global campaigns the ToC is an excellent communication tool. That is if the ToC diagram is complemented with a narrative to explain how change is expected to occur and what will happen to affect that change, then different actors from senior directors to field staff from a range of disciplines can easily see where they fit in. Often change is resisted and animosity can reign as has been the case between traditional development programming and advocacy staff. Development programmers think advocacy people just go to meetings and talk and advocacy people think development programmers only deal with the symptoms not the solutions of poverty. If done properly the ToC process can validate and encourage greater collaboration across multi-disciplinary and multilayered teams.

Unifying tool...

For locally and nationally driven campaigns that encompass teams of up to 30 staff I have found the ToC process as one of the most powerful unifying tools I have worked with. One of the reasons is that identified in the previous paragraph, however there are more. When a group sit together and develop a ToC they must work through assumptions of how change happens and how it can be positively affected. This is usually a long and difficult process but when facilitated well people get to really work through their own capacities, the teams vision of change and a common understanding of the world around them. Often you find in advocacy views of revolution mixed with quiet diplomacy and it is important to unpack these.

Whatever you reckon!

There are very few ultimate truths in community development and so campaigners are continually challenged to kick goals in a world of moving goal posts. Obviously the most accurate ToC is established upon expert advice and close analysis of the issue at hand. However, I would contend that a ToC established by experts with in-depth analysis and not reviewed regularly, is less useful than a ToC established by amateurs but used as a working tool within the campaign. The ToC is ultimately a monitoring and learning tool and should be looked at regularly to continue to unite the campaign group, as well as refine strategy and activities as change occurs in the world around them. The ToC may not predict the future but it helps agreement on 'whatever you reckon' and used that way it can be a powerful driver within advocacy campaigns.

The Thrill of the Chase

Most of us are chasing something; the ideal partner, the best fitting clothes, a new house, the latest music, the perfect wave. There has been much written about the dangers of retail therapy, of our cravings and attachment to material things. Whilst I agree with this general observation I would argue that 'the chase' comes from a good place. It comes from a place where our ancestors chased to find shelter, food, water, and clothes for ourselves and our loved ones. This chase goes on for many still today. It is a place that spawned the diverse cultures that populate the planet, the solutions that supply us with what we need, the satisfaction that gives us purpose to wake each day. It is deep within our DNA. I contend we embrace the chase rather than shun it.

As community development workers and campaigners many of us are angry at the fact that there is enough food on the planet to feed everyone but there is still famine, that we know about the need for environmental sustainability but we still live unsustainably, that people are so wealthy they don't know what to do with it whilst many have none. How do we react to this? We set up goals and objectives, we get people to sign our petitions, we gather our troops for protest and we point to tried and tested solutions. I will not argue the merits for and against this, however, I do suggest that we must take one step further and inspire our brothers and sisters in 'the chase' for social good. The chase is the place where vibrant social movements are born. A chase where we can vision a better future for us all.

To truly empower people, for them to own their own solutions, we can't deliver it to them. We know this but we continue to design community change through logframes and design documents years into the future. What we we must do however is give others a chance to catch a glimpse of positive change. It may only be for a second but once individuals and communities catch that glimpse they will start to follow it, just as many of us chase a new pair of jeans. In doing this we must find ways of inspiring people to follow the path and avoid providing a destination.

We can do this through engaging individuals, groups and communities in creative processes that give them the tools to follow this change to their own destinations. The journey is more emotional than a logical conclusion. We must also combine this chase with an experience that exhilarates, that affirms, that encourages and that does point to real and tangible outcomes for individuals and communities; better health, better education, better nutrition, better well being (even better jeans!). So next time you are tempted to provide someone a solution for change, think more about inspiration and help them catch a glimpse of the place we call Utopia. I have caught my own glimpse and am on the chase, I hope you are too! 

Making Mistakes in the Right Direction

In the pursuit of causing positive change there are different types of actors. These actors have many things in common, such as they are all generally well meaning. However, when you ask them how and why they see change (especially positive change) occurring they provide surprisingly different answers.

The first group I call 'the believers'. These people see God, or some other powerful force, as the ultimate power behind change. God or a powerful force such as a political Dictator is in total control. People in this group are often also people doing a lot of work closely with community. They have a belief that if they are good and they try to do good things then their work and the community will head in the right direction. If not there is nothing much they can do about it.

The second group I call those with a 'God complex'. These are often so called 'experts' believe they have the answers to everything regarding their sphere of work. However, we have seen this approach fail time and time again. In fact we have often found that just believing (as the first group) and doing good deeds is often a better approach than bringing experts in to decide what to do. This leads leads me to the third group, the group that believe in 'trial and error'.

Those that believe in trial and error are somehow a strange mix of group 1 and 2. Basically those from this group do not believe that we can know anything and that our simple human minds cannot compute or understand the complexity of development (a little like the believers). But they also think that we can follow change via trial and error to see what the best solution is for a community development dilemma (see also Tim Harfords TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/tim_harford.html). So if we follow a structured approach to trial and error we may find a pathway rather than thinking we are all knowing experts and can predict the future.

Whilst I know the above groups exist in working with and shaping our community development work, I belong to a fourth group, those that try to make mistakes in the right direction. Before I talk about this group, I should say why I do not fully agree with the above three groups. For group 1 'the believers' I think that a belief that 'God is in total control' is a coping mechanism that a community development worker may use to just make sense of it all and get on with life. For group 2, those with a 'God complex' I believe that this group mistaken Ego for understanding. I believe this group come from a colonial past where 'the masters knew more than the savages'. I think having external experts with a 'God complex' is an unproductive and very dangerous route to take. For the 3rd group, those that believe in a structured approach of trial and error, I would more closely sympathise  with this group except for one small difference - this approach whilst merited, just wont work for humans. Humans want to understand the world around them. And through this journey of seeking understanding and meaning we all develop beliefs about how the world works. That is if we all have a little bit of the 'God complex' in us. There is no way of removing this from us in my opinion.

So what do I mean by 'making mistakes in the right direction'. Firstly it is important to realise that we are not independent of the environment around us and affecting us and we are not independent of the individual and collective beliefs that make meaning out of it. I think in the process of making mistakes in the right direction in community development, these are the steps that should be followed:

• Understand your environment and your beliefs. Spend time with your community and those interested in it in investigating and interrogating the environment that affects the lives of community members and the beliefs that shape meaning of it.
• Based on this assessment spend time envisaging where the community wishes to be, to make positive and lasting change for all in the community. Think through what specific changes should lead to that state of being.
• Set up some activities that the community think will lead to these changes happening. And start doing them.
• Find a way of sharing how things are changing (positive or negative) and how the activities may be acting upon those changes. 
• Adjust and constantly reflect as a community if you are heading in the right direction and what activities are best carried out to get there.

The above process is the process I follow in my work. It is a process that allows for a framework of understanding to result in collective solutions being sought to issues that arise. It is a process that balances trial and error approaches with our internal God complexes. But most importantly it is an approach of constant dialogue and collective reflection that brings community together and moves people in the same direction for positive change. It is not always easy but this is the life of an engaged community development worker.