Digging the Narrative Approach to Civic Driven Change

I couldn't help myself, to be honest. The opportunity to participate in the dialogue on civic driven change in Jaipur organised jointly by Context, International Cooperation (a Netherlands based social enterprise/consultancy) and CECOEDECON (a 25-year young Jaipur-based NGO), especially getting to spend some time bantering with Fons and his friends/fellow-travellers was just too good to miss... Especially as the subject seemed to be a wedding of two subjects that I am passionate about: social change (of the civic driven variety) and complexity theory.

Admittedly, I was a little confused about the purpose of the gathering (as in what we hoped to get out of our discussion on these two subjects), and I also felt that I would have appreciated more time and space for genuine dialogue on the subjects raised rather than what turned out to be a rather linear (admittedly it was a circle) exchange of views (funny, considering all the concern with social change itself being a non-linear process!)... But there were great time constraints and I had the good fortune of sitting in the debriefing group at the end, where there was more space for this kind of an interaction.

Overall, what was most meaningful for me? I think, it is the insights I got into the following questions (which is also, I realise now, a reflection of my what questions I was carrying with me):

• Why does a complexity perspective mean that should we look at ourselves as explorers rather than experts or traditional researchers? And how do we go about our exploration? Why is it important to do so in a collaborative manner?
  
• What would a large scale, multi-stakeholder collaborative action research - with the objective of understanding how civic driven change actually happens - look like and how would it operate?
• How I should deal with the ugly thing we know as the logical framework (LFA) in the coming 6th Comprehensive Plan and what kind of meaningful, participatory, qualitative-focused learning systems could be used to compensate for the horrible void that is the LFA?
  
• What is the potential for taking up the strengthening of the inter-organisational platform for civil society learning and self-governance at the Udaipur level? How should I get started and who can I to talk to for this (thanks to Pradeep and Marieke)?

I'm leaving them all as questions because what I have gained is a bit more insight than clear answers. But all rather encouraging.

An interesting opportunity has also emerged for Seva Mandir to work with Fons and Co on the narrative based collaborative action research on civic driven change, including - but not limited to - child-centred change. It also seems to reverberate with conversations we have been having within Seva Mandir on the topic of distilling our own understanding of the change process (including the one we had during the annual camp) and our oft repeated pride in being an organisation that learns from and builds its knowledge based on experience!

Some questions, however, that I'm still not totally comfortable with are the following:

To what extent and what kind of NGO intervention can still permit us to call what happens as Civic Driven? For example, if Seva Mandir initiates a dialogue, makes available certain resources and provides facilitation inputs as a result of which citizens begin to organise themselves around certain resources, issues, commons and values - does this count as civic driven change? Where is that fine line between civic driven and not civic driven change (or perhaps we'd be better off talking about a gradient from totally self-organised civic driven on the one side to coordinated with some civic participation on the other)? It seems to me that the nature of the change that we talk about has some pretty serious implications and this need to be unpacked.

In any case, the wonderful company and conversations at dinner provided a great end to a very interesting day! So thanks to all for making it possible!

Post Delwara Realisations

A view of Delwara's roofscape at sunrise while having morning chai at the house of the former Secretary of the Citizens' Development Forum

Today, sitting in Jaipur airport, on my way back from a fantastic day with Fons and team (to be discussed in more detail in the forthcoming post), I find myself remembering Delwara.

I'm not really a believer in regrets. I much prefer the idea of learning from the past in a positive, constructive way rather than dwelling in past failings or shortcomings. Having said this, I will permit myself a couple of backward looking thoughts in the context of Delwara.

First, I wish I had known about blogging while I was in Delwara. I kept a diary in an almost fanatical manner during my time there and was also working on putting together a website. If only I had thought of putting together a blog I could have killed more birds with one stone than you could shake a stick at (not that I am in favour of killing birds with stones). Based on this realisation, I have taken a vow to cover any project that I have the good or bad fortune of embarking on through blogging. It will be my tribute to the world and all the people who are part of my efforts.

Second, I wish I had not been (a) so arrogant; and (b) so confused about my role. Of course, there is nothing I could have done about it at the time - because that's probably where I was at as a person... But if I hadn't been so fixed on doing something related to Planning Monitoring and Evaluation - and more specifically Outcome Mapping - at the outset, I might have been better able to really engage in the change process.

I feel that I placed all kinds of barriers on my role and didn't quite manage to do what Ajay had advocated (going about and having meaningful conversations) - which, to be honest, seemed far too unfocused for me at the time... and my understanding was that more than anything, the project needed a fancy, participatory visioning and M&E kind of a process (which it did but not at that point)... Admittedly, I did manage quite a bit of what Ajay suggested, but still... far too bounded by my own thoughts. Easy to say in retrospect, I suppose.

Finally, I thought it would be good to include a link to a paper (soon to be published) that I prepared based on my experience in Delwara. Although it is rather long, and doesn't quite capture the full richness of what has taken place there (there are hundreds of good stories of change from Delwara), I feel that it distills the essence of the change process. It also offers what I believe may be some important insights in the context of the bigger debate on 'good governance'. Here are some snippets...

[...] this paper calls for a more culturally grounded understanding of the role of participation in the development of complex societies and is concerned as much with the value of participation in securing immediate instrumental objectives as in transforming the way that a fragmented citizenry relates to itself.

[...] it is critical to recognize that the Panchayat, at the local level, is a culturally embedded system and that its status is, by and large, a reflection of the society from which it is constituted. It is, therefore, only to be expected that an unaware, fragmented citizenry, deeply embroiled in conflicts of interest, mistrust, etc. will not be able to elect a Panchayat that is able to function in a democratic, transparent, accountable – or, for that matter, even remotely effective – manner. Nor will they be able to make or hold it accountable to themselves or to the village as a whole.

[...] the experience to date in Delwara indicates that when the starting point is a highly diverse and fragmented citizenry, establishing participatory governance systems is primarily a challenge of (i) enabling citizens to engage in processes of self-transformation; and (ii) enabling citizens to form relationships of mutual empowerment amongst themselves. To achieve this involves creating spaces and processes that support this transformation by bringing together citizens of diverse backgrounds in an organisational culture that embodies values of equality, dignity, respect, compassion, transparency, democratic deliberation, inclusiveness, collective strength and learning together.

An organized, cohesive and empowered community is far better placed to collaborate with and leverage the resources of the Panchayat than a fragmented citizenry. This means that the idea of responsible citizenship is about a great deal more than mobilizing people to demand resources from the state. It is, instead, about engaging people in a process where they have to confront themselves – both as individuals and as members of a social group. [...] Differences in ideology, values, worldviews, class, gender, geographical location - all provide pretexts for accentuating or shaping conflicts over decision-making processes. These conflicts have to be surfaced and [collectively] deconstructed in order for positive change to occur.

I will be thinking of ways to do justice to the Delwara experience in the coming months...

...indeed, the journey's only just begun!

This appreciative inquiry thing is rather interesting. Although I had the sense that I wasn't quite managing to do what I ought to be doing, I think that I somehow managed to pull loose ends together and tie them up with a neat little bow. Thanks are due to the appreciative commons through which various ideas about how to present what had come out were made available. The feedback I have gotten so far on the appreciative inquiry and the presentation I made based on it, has been, for the most-part, very positive. Not only the (verbal) feedback though… People seem to have a little bit more spring in their step - though of course its far too early to tell whether (a) this is just because of my own perception; and (b) it is going to last.

In any case, some reflections. First, although I obsessed about what I was doing, it seemed a little bit too easy. It seemed as though I didn't have to do anything. Now, this is also nonsense - because I was working until midnight for several days during the run-up to the annual camp… But that was also due to other reasons.

Once the data had come in and once we had done our group work of analysing the data and converting it into themes and values with their quotes and stories to back them up, it was just a matter of figuring out the provocative propositions. I feel that I didn't do this properly. Somehow, it seemed to be too much a matter of me just piecing the statements together, one after the other… Yes, I did spend a night in the office with some of my workgroup looking at these statements but the word-smithing was mostly me… and that felt like a problem at the time.

Anyway, the first time it got air-space was at the meeting of the sanchalak mandal (the executive committee) meeting - the day before the camp was due to start. It was generally appreciated but there were some tensions and questions: the expected ones - where is the negative stuff? Why focus just on the positive? But you haven’t told us how we are performing in relation to these values (which I very, very clearly stated was in no way my objective whatsoever)? And all the associated points that back up the idea of dwelling on problems… (and the image - shown above - taken from Yes!andSpace (hat tip) didn't seem to help so much as aggravate the idea that things were one-sided, too positive… it triggered the response: "if we only focus on the positive and future things, we are not learning from history - so we will end up just repeating past mistakes" - which indicates that the whole concept of the appreciative inquiry had not been properly digested by the audience).

I tried an array of methods for explaining the principle and ended up using the kind of analogy that I don't usually feel comfortable using in front of people in high posts (because I worry that they will be degrading). I said: "If I want to know how to get to Delhi from here and you tell me - 'don't go to Ahmedabad, don't go to Kota, don't go to Jaisalmer, don't go to Bhopal' and so on it doesn’t really make it much easier for me. However, if you tell me - 'this is the road to Delhi' then I can set off along it more easily and with greater confidence." Which seemed to work a little - though I didn't ask for feedback to confirm this.

Anyway, I conceded enough on the basis of our discussions to incorporate a question that would give people the space to talk about what Mustafa (on of the structure consultants) called 'the shadow behind the values'… And this was a very interesting part of the whole event for me. Things were happening fast, there were pots and pans banging in the background (so it was necessary to make quite a lot of effort just to hear each other) and we'd just eaten ice-cream (which was very nice indeed). Everyone had just been sitting in the presentation looking and listening (to varying extents). And now we had to talk about performance in relation to the values.

It took almost one hour to get the group to move out of the comfortable silence on the topic of where we were failing to live the values. It took coaxing. It took trust-building, no doubt made more difficult by the presence of Sachin - a representative from PLAN who funds us. To get around this I eventually got the bright idea of getting Sachin to share his own experiences from PLAN. When it came up that they've been having their own challenges (all organisations do y'know!) people got a little bit more open.

After wrestling with conceptual clarity and getting over the fact that it isn't easy to talk about these things - especially as they may be personal, we got into a fairly heated discussion about the values. Some individuals became a little bit too garam and had to get up and cool off. Others sat cold as stones. Various stories came up of ways that leadership had not been sensitive, ways that the organisational system wasn't supporting workers' contribution to change, ways that there wasn't openness (of which the one hour it took to open up was the most striking example)…

The energy was fairly tense. I was doing some fairly active facilitation - though I can't recall many of the specifics - but almost as much energy as went into opening the discussion to the deep dark well of 'what ain't right' went into trying to pull the group back out to the world of 'what we gotta do then'… Eventually we did this and ended up with some suggestions that we then pooled with four other groups who had been talking on the same subject. We were able to compile together from across the various groups into a presentation that pretty much captured everything that need to be captured. This got presented the following morning and seemed to go down relatively well… This is basically what it recommended at the end:

How to take the values forward:

• Start with yourself: be the change that you want to see
• Use the values as a basis for staff performance evaluation
• Create time and space for dialogue on these values amongst staff
• Improve organisational systems so that they support the practice of these values
• Establish a system for grievance redressal involving staff from all levels of the organisation
• Take this conversation forwards

I suppose this means we are at least thinking in the right direction…? Of course, there's a lot more fleshing out to be done... Given the discussion we had the following day (mentioned at the end of my last post), I suppose, means that we are actually doing something about it all? And to think this is only the beginning!

One of my lingering questions though... was the negative patch useful and important? Did it add or subtract from the discussions we had? This is something I will need to ponder on and explore as I continue on my adventures!

And the journey goes on...

Well, today, I'm sitting on the other side of the mountain. The annual camp is over. It was brief. Very brief indeed! And there was less space for dialogue than I might have liked. But the dialogue we did have was, for the most part, pointing in the right direction. In line with the framework that we've been using, there were three main components on the agenda - (1) strategies; (2) structure and (3) culture.

Each of these sessions started with a presentation and was followed by an open discussion (except for the the values one due to time constraints) and a panel.

For strategy, an organisational level perspective was given - highlighting the cross-cutting social issues that Seva Mandir sees itself as struggling with: an absence of trusteeship and too much spectatorship and complicity - issues as relevant internally as externally. It was made clear that Seva Mandir's concern lies with society more than it does with the government: for Seva Mandir, the government is a part of society. It then went on to flesh out the key strategies that Seva Mandir would be pursuing across different program areas to address these.

The structure presentation was made by some consultants and focused on the question of where Seva Mandir wanted to apply more of its 'energy' (a catch all for everything from manpower and resources to capacity, power and attention). While the model (based on ...) was rather confusing because of its ambiguities, abstraction and technical jargon (that people couldn't easily relate to Seva Mandir), it did play the important function of generating dialogue - largely with the intention of seeking clarity.

The culture presentation was based on the appreciative inquiry (AI) that we have been working on over the course of the last few months. This involved an incredibly brief section explaining AI followed by a presentation of 8 core values backed up by quotes from the appreciative conversations we had over the last few months within Seva Mandir and ended with six provocative propositions based out on these core values.

Based on these, the following sub-themes emerged as subjects to be taken forwards in group discussions: (1) how does change take place (and what is our role in this); (2) what are the desired roles and linkages between Seva Mandir, the community, the panchayat and the government; (3) what are the strengths, weaknesses and suggested improvements to the organisation's structure; (4) where do we stand in terms of living up to the organisation's values, what causes us to fail or live up to them, and what can we do to further cultivate our values within the organisation?

Four groups of up to 20 people participated in the discussions on strategy, structure and culture for not quite enough time. However, the basic sense of what mattered emerged in each of the discussions and presentations were prepared on each topic for the following morning. The need for continued, more extended and deeper dialogue on all issues - especially on structure and culture - came up as very important concerns.

The event wrapped up with thought-provoking ideas from Rajni Bakshi that helped to situate Seva Mandir's efforts within the international context - putting a special emphasis on environmental issues, broader economic development issues, consumerism, communication, dialogue and the need to cultivate spaces and individuals who can help to bring about a broader based social change.

All in all it went quite well. There is no doubt in my mind that we could have benefitted from more and longer conversations - possibly in smaller groups and with more of an explicit action focus built in - i.e. a kind of "this is what we're going to do" rather than a "these are things that we could do"... But the sense of a commitment to doing some of these things is present nonetheless.

This revealed itself the following day when a large body of staff gathered at Seva Mandir to celebrate the founder's birthday and do shramdan (cleaning of the office). At the end of this, there was a good discussion amongst members of the Seva Mandir community on such issues as maintaining cleanliness, how to become more environmentally friendly (someone was commissioned to lead this process), ensuring that suitable facilities (from hygienic water coolers to motor-cycles) were available for the staff and also discussing problems associated with delays in the purchasing system that held up getting work done. All-in-all a promising start for round 2 (of what exactly?)...

Now, it would seem, the focus of efforts will be on operationalising the kinds of changes that we have been talking about - helping people change their patterns of behaviour and relationships, develop more empowering organisational systems and ensure regular and open dialogue on values and structure, etc. This is long-term stuff...

In the meanwhile, I will need to get busy with looking at how to put together the organisation's 6th Comprehensive Plan document which means another round of discussions, thinking about targets, indicators and budgets and fleshing out strategies wherever this may be required... Back down to the dirty work!

The Perplexing Conundrum of 'Uncontacted Tribes' and Development

I recently came across a post via the Neuroanthropology blog over at the Culture Matters blog. This post mainly focuses on criticising the nonsense and stupidity that surrounds the way that the 'outside world' (i.e. us) relates to what end up getting called 'Uncontacted Tribes' (even though this is a myth). And I really appreciate the efforts that these anthropologists appear to be making to put things in their right perspective...

But then, as I lay in bed last night after reading the post, I found myself wondering... How on earth does whatever I am doing and what I want to do relate to all this? And how does that make me feel and do I still feel ok about myself? Or better, what ought I do about it? Wondering what the issue is?

I work in a field that is basically called 'development'. It is a hugely contested field, replete with its hardcore proponents, its alternative champions and its dissidents. Its primary (official) concern is with trying to make the world a better place. Now we all know (don't we?) that a lot of what gets done in the name of development is horrible and damaging - to the environment, to culture and generally to life on this planet. But like I said, development is a huge field and contains lots of alternative conceptions of what positive change really is. I like to think that I am working on one of the more (though by no means the most) alternative and benign types of development.

The organisation where I work has the basic objective of strengthening rural, predominantly tribal communities so that they can become self-governing entities. In the modern age, this means that the communities have to have the power to negotiate with the State (I hate giving it a capital 'S' but it seems necessary in a world where there is no escape from it). These tribals are entangled in the modern world through roads, motorcycles, party-politics, trade, employment, education, mobile phones, radios and so on. So they're nothing like the 'uncontacted tribes' from the Amazon.

They also have a life of increasing hardship. Being a part of the State means being a part of the political, economic and social structure that it entails. Sustainable 'hunter-gathering' has pretty much died out (and the forests that once supported it have by and large been destroyed). Indigenous medicines have either vanished or are vanishing. Population has mushroomed as people have shifted increasingly to settled agriculture. There is a scarcity of food available and child malnutrition - in terms of calories and micro-nutrients - is just ridiculously high. A host of other health problems prevail. At one level, this sorry state of affairs can be linked directly to what would once have been called development. And before it was called development it was probably called something along the lines of 'civilising the savages'. It disgusts me to think about it like that.

What am I trying to get at? First a little bit more beating around the bush. I am about to enroll on a degree - its a Masters in Participation, Power and Social Change. Sound exciting? Well, I think it is. Why do I want to take it? Besides my earlier post which explains the superficial reasons for going to study, this degree will hopefully give the time and space to explore - even more systematically that I already have done - just how society is held together and how people can be brought together in a process that enables them to live the life that they 'really' want rather than one that is sort of imposed on them from outside. What's my point?

The basic conundrum is this: where do these 'uncontacted tribals' fit into my schema of inclusive social change? Now before I get labeled as some kind of destroyer of indigenous culture and human diversity, I would like to make it very clear that I am fascinated by these tribes, the way they live, their belief systems, their healing systems, their socio-political structures. I don't feel that they need to be 'civilised' and I am perfectly happy with them living just the way they do. So, if I feel that way about it, why am I happy to go off and study on a course that is all about interfering with people, getting people connected up and engaged and making them capable of incfluencing the world in a way that is meaningful for them.

These 'uncontacted tribals' are not animals. So why are we keeping them in some kind of giant nature reserve and tracking them (a bit like we do with endangered species). Perhaps this is our way of preventing the destructive force of Development from completely obliterating them. In that case, perhaps we should keep on protecting them until we (the 'outside world') become sufficiently benign so as not to present a threat to them (is this even possible anymore? will we eradicate the common cold?). Or else does this preservation thing go on indefinitely until the collapse of modern civilisation (which seems like an increasingly likely possibility, as Dave Pollard is keen to profess in his wonderful blog - How to Save the World).

And what does all this mean for me and what I do? On the one hand, my new job description ought to be something along the lines of: 'salvaging Development's cultural wreckage'. My work is to try and help people whose lives are falling apart as a result of Development to organise themselves and recreate meaningful and sustainable community as a way of life so that they can be free from hunger, exploitation and the misery and hardship that this entails.

But the next step after salvaging is to enable people to no longer be the passive victims of the Development-Monster-On-A-Rampage but be empowered agents of their own destiny, creators of their own culture, cultivators and communicators of their own values, evolving collectively in some kind of sustainable wonder-land where people live in a perpetual state of harmony, ecstatic joy, meaning and fulfillment.

Not realistic? OK. But really, I find myself wondering what I will be able to learn from my degree in participation, power and social change about how I should relate to these 'Uncontacted Tribals'. Perhaps, I should just stay well away and avoid even thinking about polluting them with my own confusion!

What do you think about all this?

Teetering toward the big day

Today I read a brilliant harvest of a workshop in which a diverse group of people tackled the question of how they could move towards a 'Person Centred Culture'. As I scanned through the material, I found myself deeply inspired and connected with what came out. I will not try to paraphrase it but you can read the whole article here.

Over here in Seva Mandir we are engaged in the preparation of our 6th Comprehensive Plan. One important part of this is exploring our oragnisational culture. The discovery and dream phases of our Appreciative Inquiry have now pretty much reached completion. A small group of us will sit together next week and try to craft the 'provocative propositions' (statements about what the ideal organisation would be like based on what people have been surfacing). The plan is that when we get to the annual retreat (coming up in about 9 days - horribly close by!) we will present the major findings of our appreciative inquiry along with the provocative propositions.

These provocative propositions will then provide the basis for group discussions. The group discussions will have a set of guiding questions that aim to take the group from understanding what it (the provocative proposition) actually means (from diverse perspectives) to figuring out what concrete steps can be made at individual and organisational levels to make it real. After the group work, people will be able to take a break and reflect, go for a walk or chat with their colleagues... Then dinner and some relaxation.

The following morning the groups will present what they have come up with on each of the identified themes. And then we will see what we have got on our plate :) I am still not completely sure about how this is going to work and I have half a dozen naggling concerns to deal with. Is this all too pre-planned and do we need to build in more space for open topics (a la open space)? How will the little groups be facilitated and what preparation will be required for this? Will there be overall support for the process and what is coming out of it?

I realise that we can't do everything with the limited time we have... So more than anything, this is going to be about securing the optimal usage of our time - having contributions that lead us further in the right direction. And like I've mentioned before, this is my first time... ;)

What do I do?

It just struck me today, right now, as I was walking down the corridor to respond to nature's call, that my work can be divided into three broad categories:

One. The work that I do directly for the organisation that is necessary (mainly from the organisation's point of view), routine and somewhat tedious - for example, writing progress or annual reports. I have an inbuilt resistance to actually doing this kind of work that I have to struggle against in order to get things done on time. Sometimes it actually hurts me to do these kinds of things. I still find myself unable to say no.

Two. The work that I do directly for the organisation that is necessary (more from my point of view), non-routine and in-line with my own passion - for example, facilitating group discussions on vision, strategies, organisational change, monitoring and evalaution, action research, participation, etc. Though I am not yet so great at this, I pine for opportunities to do this kind of work and struggle to create the space to do this in the way that I want, based on the principles that I either believe in or am trying to learn about.

Three. The work that I do primarily for myself, for my own learning and personal development - for example, reading articles, blogs and emails, writing my own blog or in my diary, posting comments on discussion forums and mailing lists, doing some meditation or reflection... and so on. This work fills me with satisfaction but has the danger of making me narcissistic or self-obsessed and tends to stop me from focusing properly on one. It does, however, have the fortunate advantage of helping me understand myself better.

Obtaining balance between these elements seems to be key. My service to the organisation (one) opens up a space for me to do what I am passionate about (two) - which (as far as I am concerned) is more of a service to not just the organisation but the world in general - and is, therefore, very important. On the basis of my experiences in two, I have a basis and grounding for my personal learning and development (three), which also helps me become more effective in two. Three, therefore, is integral to two and is also very, very important.

I remember someone, somewhere, talking about something called 'a social life'. As I struggle to retain a happy balance between one, two and three, I am still trying to figure out where and how this 'social life' thing fits in to my schema! That must be the bit where I go home and eat food with my house-mates, chat nonsense, jump about, have a beer and make silly jokes. And what, exactly does all that contribute to?

Grudges and Forgiving

Sometimes, in the course of our interactions with other people we find ourselves not being able to understand each other, being unjust or receiving injustice... and more often than not this leads us to hold grudges. Perhaps there is a fear of appearing weak. Perhaps we feel insecure about something. These little mistakes and misunderstandings, inevitable in the course of our day-to-day interactions - if not dealt with in the appropriate manner, can turn into a grudge.

A grudge is rather like a virus. A virus spreads by infecting more and more cells. In some ways, a grudge is rather like the HIV virus - in the sense that it attacks the immune system - the very life-force that holds the organism (or organisation) together. I say this because grudges undermine the relationships that hold us together. It is through our relationships that we create meaning and achieve great things - none of this is done by individuals alone!

It doesn't take long for this little virus to grow inside us - at times it can become overwhelming - filling us with anger, frustration and negativity. This has direct effects on our behaviour - how do we relate to the person against whom we have a grudge, how do we talk about these people to others, what effect does that have on other people around us? Soon we are getting over-run by this virus!

Now, if I hold a grudge against you and this affects my behaviour towards you... it won't be long before you feel that there is something not-so-nice going on - and this leads to distancing. A little vicious cycle appears. I act unpleasantly with you. You act unpleasantly with me. The words I use and the way I use them suck you into my whirlpool of animosity. I bad-mouth you. I complain about you to my friends. Little undercurrents of mistrust begin to spread and soon the system is attacking itself. Like the HIV virus, this state of infection can remain incubated for a long time before it breaks out into full-blown AIDS.

Now, it may be that there is no cure for AIDS - at least not yet. But the same is not true of problems with our relationships. Relationships need to be nurtured in order to thrive. This is not some fluffy nonsense. This is real science.

And believe it or not, there is a special cure for damaged relationships. That cure is FORGIVING. It is a curious little action that is incredibly powerful - especially when it comes from the heart (superficial forgiving tends not to work). This little article might just help to make the role and importance of forgiving in the workplace a little bit clearer.

All this leads me to wonder: what is the relationship between organsiational change and organisational healing or reconciliation? Can an organisation really embark on a meaningful change journey without addressing its internal fragmentation - the rifts between people who are supposed to be collaborating with each other? Or is this healing process actually a part of the change process itself? Does the need to change bring to attention the need to heal?

It seems that so much of what organisational change is about is bringing people within an organisation together, helping them to understand each other (which may include forgiving when required) and enabling them to co-create a shared purpose that they can all strive for together. Many of the rifts that get created are of deep psychological significance - just what might it take to bridge them? What kind of conversations? What kind of facilitated reflection and interaction? Who would need to be involved?

My mind is already a-bubble with ideas! Please share yours!

Inside Out

Today, I got a link to an article on Hypergene MediaBlog forwarded from someone on the appreciative inquiry mailing list (Stephanie West Allen). The article is an interview with Karen Stephenson and deals with the tricky question of trust - particularly looking at the whatsit 2.0 world of blogs and so forth. One part of this interview really caught my attention - perhaps because it gets to the heart of what people 2.0 (forgive me) are pining for from their institutions (can I call it institutions 2.0 without getting beaten up?). I would rather call it the authentic institution - where authenticity is basically about being inside out... In any case, I'm sure you know what I mean... So enough of my rambles and on with the quote:

Today, I trust no institutions. But institutions are made up of wonderful people. But often times those wonderful people aren’t the decision makers.

So, if you want me to pay attention to the institution, you let me see inside. Let me see the men and women behind the curtain. Give me their blogs. I want to know who they are. I’ll form my relationships with them thank you very much.

Then if I like what I see. I might trust your institution.

This is part of our evolution. To do this means that we are freeing ourselves of the so many complexes and structures that systemically obstruct our free association and our access to truth and what is right. It enables us to see through the institutional smog, greenwash or straight plain lies and deceit to what is really going on...

Of course, it demands great courage to go inside out and any individual, organisation or institution that is ready to swallow its fear, ego and pride to make this happen is, in my mind nothing less than a hero.

Lets all go inside out!

The (premature) tribulations of an uninitiated but aspiring mid-wife

Yesterday was the last-but-one meeting of our Appreciative Inquiry work group. The idea was that over the last few months a group of 12 people had been busy running about the organisation having conversations with people about such things as: "... a time when you feel you were really able to contribute to bringing about change...", or "... what you like best about the organisation and why"... and so on. Before the meeting I was, admittedly, a little bit nervous. What would I find? What would people have gathered? How many surveys would have been carried out? How representative would they be? Would the material be really useful? How on earth would we analyse and then present the output of a gigantic stack of interviews?

It is at this point that I humbly acknowledged that there is a great deal about the way I have handled this work over the course of the last few months that I would do very differently if given the chance. Easy to mumble this to myself in retrospect, of course - but that doesn't make it any less present right now. I would have tried to be more organised, sending out letters informing people what was going on instead of relying on word of mouth. I would have printed out lists of names for each of the people in my team to interview and tried to set fortnightly targets to avoid the last minute rush. I might even have explained the entire concept a little differently... But then it's not as though I hadn't thought about all these things... I just didn't do them... and I did have my reasons too...

So, before heading off to my meeting, I prepared what I considered to be a clever little meeting-plan that I thought might just do the trick. After going through the formalities (basically checking that at least 25% of the organisation had been conversed with) I would give a spiel in which I re-explained the purpose of all these conversations from a slightly different vantage point - one that I felt would gear people up to dig through their experiences, accept diversity and complexity and move, pretty rapidly, towards getting us some provocative propositions. After this (and making sure that I didn't drone on for more than 5-10 minutes), people would split into groups and start sharing, verbally, their experiences from the conversations, at four levels:

First, sharing of the stories, experiences or perspectives from the conversations that were most inspiring, most powerful. Second, identifying the various themes that seemed to be surfacing again and again. Third, culling out underlying values and principles that these pinnacles were founded on. Fourth, selecting quotes that communicated some of these complex ideas in very few words. And I got to spend this time sitting in silence. Then a break for lunch. Then the sharing.

The sharing is when things started getting really interesting (for me). The first part proceeded quite smoothly as the first group shared its points. There was a little discussion - mostly for the purpose of clarification - and I was primarily occupied with note-taking (which I did quite thoroughly thank you very much!). The second group then got busy with its sharing. This time, people were a little bit more eager to pipe up and share some of their own views in this context... Perhaps the sitting and listening during the first group's presentation had made them feel itchy?

Up until then, things had proceeded smoothly, there was only minor evidence of tension or emotional strain. Now, however, things got a little different as the discussion started to acquire a direction, tone and life of its own. It appeared that somehow, the discussion had got latched onto a personal issue of one of the group members. It was not long before the platform had started turning into a space for people to vent their frustration. For some reason I only seem to have managed to realise what was happening until it was a little late. The droning of the construction work going on outside was certainly not of much help!

Eventually, I managed to get us out of our ugly little rut by explaining that the issue was not getting neglected since the underlying positive principle had been duly noted by me and that we were running out of time a little and couldn't possible handle dealing with every individual worker's issues during the annual camp since (simple maths: we have 250 staff and three hours)... This led to a little bit of thinking and I got some good support from one of the most senior staff member present who explained that what we were doing could be looked at rather as (a) finding out what's best; and (b) giving suggestions of how what isn't best could become best... rather than simply pretending that everything is ok. It seemed to work. There was a pause.

I then shared a lesson I had once learned - it was about apologising. Apologies have secured me a great deal of internal peace when deep inside I have been furious. I think I have asked for apologies from just about (though not absolutely) everyone that I have entered into some kind of a conflict with. My asking for apologies is as much about me forgiving them as it is about me wanting them to forgive me... somehow asking for apologies entails a kind of general spiritual release on all sides and makes life much more bearable - certainly a great deal easier than having an ego throbbing in my chest, throat and brain and brutally suffocating what little of the divine might exist within me! There was a silence. Then I mentioned that sometimes tears would come to my eyes when I asked for apologies. There was more silence. Someone said what I had been thinking: "that's because you have to deal with your ego." There was some more silence.

I broke the silence. I wondered immediately afterwards if that was a mistake. Silences can be very good. Especially the meaningful ones. They can be better than words, I believe. But I ended it and we moved on with our work. It was getting late in the evening and some people had a long way to travel home and we were really running out of time. So we finished off with some formalities. A core team was formed to assist me in figuring out how we would get all the material that had come out into a meaningful presentation... and then I went home.

At the end of it all, later that evening, I found myself thinking. I imagined the proceedings of the camp,: groups of people sitting in circles and discussing Seva Mandir's burning issues; sharing perspectives; listening to and learning from each other; coming up with ways of creating a new organisational reality based on the emerging visions... It was really like a dream (the one I've been having for the last three years or so) - to early to say come true - but definitely imminent.

But how would I facilitate it? There would be at least 12 groups of as any as 20 people each. There is no way that I could be everywhere at once. What if someone starts ranting or getting upset? What if a cascade of grievances start to emerge? How could I get the genie back into the lamp? And then a whole load of other questions started emerging: what if management doesn't back our findings (this has been a latent, hanging around kind of a fear)? Do we have the right kind of data? Will they be picking holes in our methods? Will they challenge our 'objectivity' or question that we are not a representative sample of the oragnisation? Will they say that we have just been fed nonsense or been conned by simple, self-interested people in the organisation?

And that's the point where I wondered whether I hadn't chewed off more than I can swallow. I set myself up for something really rather big. I can imagine that for some management consultants this seems like a splash in a baby's paddling pool... but to me, this feels very much like the deep end. As I try not to drown in the multiple other commitments that I have - the organisation's annual report - things related to Delwara - I will need to pray for balance, strength and courage. There is a whole new world out there, waiting to be born. I feel like I am the mid-wife, about to conduct my first delivery, with no formal training, with no clear mentor - only concerned family members watching. And it's not just any old baby: it might just be the next messiah!

Now that is food for thought! I need to get myself ready!

Going to University

Going to university is one of those things that I have been contemplating for the last four years while working with Seva Mandir, here in India. Every year I have looked at courses, every year I have ended up finding only one course that satisfied me - and even then, I found myself uncertain. Why is this and why do I feel ready now?

Over the course of the last few years I have steeped myself - mind, body and spirit - in the work that I am doing. I have been obsessive. I have tried out all kinds of experiments, methods, approaches and ideas. I have dissolved, by and large, the lines (if there were any) between my life and my work. I developed the habit of writing my thoughts, of reflecting on my self and my 'professional' practice. I have read vastly on the subjects that interest me and are related to my work - on evaluation, on organisational learning, on change, on governance, on participation, on leadership, on complexity science and its multifarious applications... the list goes on.

As a result of all this, I have learned a huge amount. I have also gained the opportunity to work directly at the field level in a community development process - crossing cultures - transforming my own perception of myself. Who I am and where I am from - questions that the answers 'Andre' and 'England' really don't seem to do justice to anymore (if they ever did). I sometimes forget that I wasn't born in India. I have known that this has been happening to me over the last few years. Before coming - although I didn't know what it would feel like - I knew that this is what would happen to me... and that is why I chose to come here.

As I traveled this personal journey of learning and change, the idea of going to university lingered on the peripheries. The more I read, the more I immersed myself and the more I strived to apply what I had learned - the action research and inquiry frameworks (internal and external, personal and participatory) and a host of methods and tools - the more I wondered what a degree might give me that I wasn't getting anyway. When I went to visit IDS (the place I just got accepted to) a few summers ago, I spoke to Robert Chambers - a hero of sorts in the field of participatory development. I told him about my work here and my interest in doing a Masters at IDS. He asked me: "If you're already doing these things, what do you expect to get from here?"

To be honest, I don't remember what I answered. I don't even know if I had an answer... But the question only added fuel to my general confusion about why I wanted to go to university at all. So I returned to my little world here in Udaipur and continued to immerse myself in my life of learning and doing. And the learning hasn't ended - it has only deepened, expanded, engaged me more thoroughly - taking me precisely in the direction that I had wanted to go in. The reason for my coming has been getting fulfilled - much as I had imagined it would - and much quite differently indeed!

So why off to study now? If I've achieved all this, then what's the point? I recently sent an email to my friends back home in England in which I laid out the following reasons:

There may be several reasons. One - it will help me to figure out if I am living in a bubble - and if so, to what extent. Two - it will put me in contact with lots of people who are basically crazy about and experienced in the same things as me. Three - it gives me a good excuse to take a break, catch up with family and friends and be a student again. Four - I might really learn something new and exciting that I hadn't had the chance to learn before. Five - it will end with me getting a little piece of paper that opens many doors faster than years of persistent effort (which sounds rather like another way of saying 'cheating' - hehehe... especially when considering the whole thing costs 11,000 quid!). Six - it's the only degree, after much searching, that I'm actually prepared to subject myself to! Six good reasons. There are probably lots more but after years of questioning... these are the ones that I'm confident about.

Is that it though? Isn't there more to it than this? One thing that struck me is that this is all about things that I hope to 'get' or 'receive'. What about what I am going to give? What about all the experience that I will now be able to take with me from here - experiences and insights that I can share with the people studying with me? Why didn't I factor this into my reasons for going? As I think about it, there is a great deal that I am already thinking about doing once I get there - ideas I want to share, experiments I want to engage in, processes I would like to set up, interactions I would like to have... Perhaps I should view my student experience not just in terms of what I get to take away but also - and perhaps more importantly - what I get to share and contribute. Indeed, perhaps this will be what I truly get to take away the most: what I put in.

Now isn't that a nice thought for the day!