What's the solution?

7/14/2013

Typical adobe construction in rural houses

I've been thinking and talking a lot recently about the current approach to "development" as I see it based on the limited view I have from my remote corner of the world here in Nicaragua. My thoughts have been all stirred up by a number of recent experiences:

Observing a workshop on gender equality delivered by students of ILLS' diploma on Sexuality and Gender Equality
A vacation visit to the island of Omotepe
A couple of discussions on how to define "poor" and by whose standards
Reading two books on the role that a new form of capitalism could play as an alternative to the current development practices

Let me begin with the last point, first, because I was interested to consider what other options there were to the current approach to development, which frankly seems to be failing as fast as developed countries get richer - an ever-widening gap. The books were recommended by a young American consultant working Brazil. I met him while facilitating a course in Leadership Presence, something I love to do and something that pays for my learning experience here in Nicaragua. I am leveraging my relationships with the rich to learn how to work with the poor.

4. Can capitalism save the world?

Capitalism at the Crossroads: Aligning Business, Earth, and Humanity by Stuart L. Hart (2010, 3rd edition)

The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits by C.K. Prahalad (2010, 5th edition)

Claro and Movistar provide all cell phone coverage

When I finished the books, I wrote the following note to the young consultant who had recommended them to me: "Hart was a fascinating read, although I vacillated between cynicism and optimism as I read his book. If nothing else, it opens up another way to look at things."

In the second of the books I read, Prahalad closes his book with the following words (whcih I share at the risk of taking his words out of context):

"...the real test of the entire development process is poverty alleviation. How will we know it is taking place? Simply stated, the pyramid must become a diamond. The economic pyramid is a measure of income inequalities. If these inequalities are changing, then the pyramid must morph into a diamond. A diamond assumes that the bulk of the population is middle class. ... Our Best allies in fighting poverty are the poor themselves. Their resilience nd perseverance must give us courage to move forward with entrepreneurial solutions to the problem. Given bold and responsible leadership from the private sector and civil society organizations, I have no doubt that the elimination of poverty and deprivation is possible by 2020. We can build a human society."

Wow! A bold vision for what can be achieved by 2020, a mere 6+ years away. But what excited me more was a simple but thoughtful model from the other book by Hart, his BOP Protocol Process, which

"...requires putting the corporate 'hammer' down and living alongside those in the community in a spirit of humility and mutual learning. It requires developing a personal relationship of trust, understanding, and respect through which new possibilities for locally-embedded businesses can emerge."

1. Opening Up
Launch a non-business specific immersion guided by two-way dialogue and humility.

2. Building the Ecosystem
Bring together a diverse network of partners to implement the co-created business ideas

3. Enterprise Creation
Fine-tune and grow the business by pilot testing and scaling to new communities

Hart's BOP Protocol Process

Hart explains this approach as follows:

"Multinationals must expand their conception of the global economy to include the varied economic activities that occur outside the formal, wage-based economy. They must embrace informal economy, tailor their business models to enhance the way people currently live. Creating sustainable livelihoods means strengthening local communities and restoring the environment, not extracting resources and forcing people to move in the search of factory jobs. Spanning these worlds provides the basis for developing the climate needed for business to thrive by buidling respect for agreements, transaction transparency, and mutual trust."

Is some version of new capitalism the solution? For me, Hart's protocol comes close to an "ideal" in spirit and methodology. However, the cynic in me doubts the ability of business leaders to reframe their role and the role of their people and their business, as well as challenge the current systems of share-holder reward. No matter how well-itentioned their efforts, I imagine share-holder pressure from both the existing investment community and the emerging middle classes will make this an (almost) impossible task.

3. How should we define "poor"?

Children waiting to receive donated toys

Everything I have considered so far is based on the idea of an enormous "base of the pyramid" that is defined as "poor", but it strikes me that the way we define "poor" is both flawed and in service of a traditional model of capitalism. Whose definition should we use? What would the diamond that Prahalad aspires to actually look like with a new definition that was not based only on income.

At the same time as I was reading Hart, I subsequently discovered that ILLS is investigating this very question. What dimensions should we be measuring to define "poor"?

The next books on my reading list are the following (sadly only one is available on Kindle):

Ancient Futures: Lessons from Ladakh for a Globalizing World by Helena Norberg-Hodge, and

The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good, by William Easterly

2. What makes Omotepe so special?

Fountain in the park in Moyogalpa

I recently spent three days on the island of Omotepe, made up of two volcanoes, rising from Lake Nicaragua. The still-active volcano, Concepción (last major erruption in 2010) is the world's highest lake island and is considered the most perfectly formed volcano cone in Central America.

Of all the places I have visited in Nicaragua, it feels like "Ometepinos", as the people on the island call themselves, are trying to create a tourist destination that avoids the excesses of San Juan del Sur, keeps the low-key attraction of Corn Islands, avoids the over-gentrification of Granada and has a sense of integrity with what the island naturally has to offer. In Nicaragua, this was a welcome find. Especially since every "Nica-owned" business was proudly touted. Clearly, there were expats who either owned or ran businesses, but you could hear the pride in people's voices when they worked for a "Nica" owner.

I got to thinking about the role of tourism in creating sustainable development, though I'm not sure I have much of a point of view yet.

1. The irony of unequal access to gender equality training

1. My role in the last diploma program to be offered by ILLS was to deliver a 2-day course to the students on how to design and deliver training workshops, observe as many of their nine pilot workshops as I could and then coach the nine groups in how to present the results of their workshops to a jury - all part of their diploma certification. The picture above was one the groups I was able to observe.

2. They delivered their workshop in a village that is part of the municipality of Ciudad Antigua. Their training room was the children's dining room in the village. The students were responsible for finding the location, inviting the participants and desiging and delivering their 2-hour workshops which I video-taped and critiqued while giving them side-coaching as long as I do so without derailing them. Later I rated their work.

3. Like most rural training facilities, they are a far cry from the comfortable, air-conditioned facilities where I usually work. There is no electricity, running water, toilets, chairs or the tables that my employer demands of their clients when I am sent to facilitate courses outside Nicaragua in the for-profit world. Improvisation and flexibility are key skills in delivering any rural training.

4. And yet no less care goes into the design and delivery of the program by the students, albeit with minimal training and preparation. Obviously using methodologies that are completely different from the for-profit world.

5. Their workshop was on gender equality, a key focus of the 6-month diploma program and a common theme in Nicaragua, as the country struggles to change the traditionally paternalistic and macho culture, especially in rural locations.

6. However, this photo was the inspiration for the title of this section, because there were almost no men in a "gender equality" workshop. Mostly women and children. I wasn't clear if they hadn't been invited or if they just didn't show up.

7. The men were all there, just outside the workshop building, hanging around. Seeing this may inspire me to try my hand at designing a gender equality workshop for rural communities, because everything I have seen so far, at all levels, doesn't work.

8. The additional challenge in almost every rural training workshop I have attended is the mixed audience, in this picture ranging from 7 to 70, and everything in between. Break-out groups generally work on the floor, so this low, child's dining table is sheer luxury!

9. One of the biggest challenges in all training is the reluctance of people to evaluate their training experience in a truthful way. Seldom will people say what they disliked. This inability to evaluate and give feedback, for me, is part of the problem of almost all the failures in development work here.

What did I learn?

10. When listening to the comments of the jury in the final presentations, I realized I had under-estimated my lack of knowledge of working with rural communities. If I ever do this again, I will partner with the equivalent of a social worker or psychologist who knows this population. With their inside knowledge and my rigor to "up the ante" and challenge the status quo, it feels like we may have a winning team!

11. Each of the children's chairs is marked with their name in permanent marker. Since it can never be completely erased, I wondered if people were expected to always be in a state of arrested development. Their miniature size and unsuitablility for the adult audience and this idea of a permanent state of partial development became a metaphor for the challenge in development work.

12. The look on this little chap's face suggests to me that people want change, I think, at least in younger generations, but that much development work and many aid programs fall short of creating self-fulfilling solutions. Too many poorly designed workshops, talks and other interventions create the experience of a never-ending merry-go-round of good intentions, that just go round and round in the same circle.

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