Considering the Snail

The snail pushes through a greennight, for the grass is heavywith water and meets over

the bright path he makes, where rainhas darkened the earth’s dark. He

moves in a wood of desire,

pale antlers barely stirringas he hunts. I cannot tell

what power is at work, drenched therewith purpose, knowing nothing.

What is a snail’s fury? AllI think is that if later

I parted the blades above the tunnel and saw the thintrail of broken white acrosslitter, I would never have

imagined the slow passionto that deliberate progress.

Thom Gunn

Organizations in DevelopmentMDP 511

Session 1 Plan

A. Introductions and welcomeB. Why Organizations in Development – Review of the

session’s readingsC. Brief overview of the course• Objectives • Themes and the snail• Trajectory of the course

D. Organizational landscapeE. Power

Introductions and Learning Influences

Organization and country nameOne word that describes your summer

internship experienceThink about the people who were an important

part of your learning over the course of your field internship.….

Can you identify a specific person or group of people that you learned a lot from or learned together with?

Paying Attention to Language

Substantialist Words• Money• Technical assistance• Catalyst• Aid architecture • Incentives• Targets• Mechanisms• Outcomes

Relationist Words• Patterns• Systems• Processes• Waves• Networks• Emergent change• Uncertainty• Relativity

Understanding Adaptive ChallengesTechnical Challenges(Bounded Problems, Difficulties)

• Solutions are known, and often straight-forward

• Can apply technical knowhow• Problem solvers are usually

authorities or experts• Solution is clear• Does not usually require deep

thinking of systemic change

Adaptive Challenges(Messes, • Gap between aspirations and

reality. Narrowing the gap involves difficult learning

• Learning involves distinguishing from what is expendable and what is essential (involves loss)

• Requires skills and competencies outside current repertoire

• Problem solving responsibility shifts to wider stakeholders

• Need to mobilize people’s hearts and minds to operate differently

• Value laden

DRENCHED WITH PURPOSE

ENDURANCE

HUMILITY

DESIRE

KNOWING NOTHING

SLOW PASSION

DELIBERATE PROGRESS

LEARNING

RELATIONSHIPS

FURY

Trajectory of the course

ORGANIZATIONS IN DEVELOPMENT

1. Contexts, Actors, Power

2. Effective-ness,

Accounta-bility

4. Forces at work (global,

local), partners

3. Poverty, Social

change

5. Facing up to

complexity6. Org theory

7. Strategic Planning

8. Learning, leadership,

change

9. Contested Perspectives

10. Wither organizations

in development Introduction

Interf

ace w

ith th

e

socia

l worl

dStrategy and

making a difference

Dealing with the

challenges: the future

Objectives• Types of organizations in development and how they

relate to each other and operate in different social change contexts.

• Major issues, challenges and trends facing these organizations as the operating context and the civil societies they are a part of evolve, and to explore questions for their future.

• Introduction to organizational theory, applied to organizations in development and power in organizations.

• Options for the future, which types of organizations might flourish best, and forms of interaction between them.

• Your questions concerning organizations in development

Key Themes

• Power and power relations• Engagement in complex processes of social

change (what we say and what we do)• Effectiveness and accountability• Organizational learning, leadership and

change• Diversity and differentiation

Organizational LandscapeGroup Exercise

Group 1: Anna E, Connor, Kristin, James, Larissa, Miriam, TrinityGroup 2: Aliya, Anna T, Esther, Jiabing, Linling, Sarah,

Assign a timekeeper and a facilitatorBrainstorm organizations that formed part of the development actor

landscape in the context you worked in over the summer. As you brainstorm, place them at the appropriate level on the diagram, clustering them into whatever categories seem relevant. Don’t forget to draw your office and yourself in there (30 minutes)

Try to cluster your organizations if possible into organization/ actor types. Label your clusters and get them up on flip chart/s (10 minutes)

Talk about some of the relationships between the various actors/ organizations on your diagram

Present your charts with clusters to the larger group for discussion (15 minutes)

Organizational Landscape

International Environment

National Environment

Local Environment

Your Office/ Team

Communities

Understanding Power (JASS)Dynamic, Relational, Multi-dimensional

• Power over – repression, force, coercion, discrimination, corruption, abuse. Those who control resources and decisions have power over those who do not. (Controlling)

But there are other more collaborative ways of exercising and using power affirming people’s capacity to act collaboratively and creatively

Understanding Power (JASS)

• Power with: Finding common ground among different interests to build collective strength. Engenders mutual support, collaboration, solidarity, recognition and respect for differences

• Power to: Unique potential of every person/ group to shape his or her life in the world – new skills, knowledge, awareness.

• Power within: Self-worth and self-knowledge; the capacity to imagine and to have hope

Dimensions of Power Over

• Visible power: Observable unrepresentative decision making

• Hidden power: Controlling who gets to make decisions. Excludes/ devalues concerns of less powerful groups. Framing the narrative and process behind the scenes

• Invisible power: Shapes the psychological and ideological boundaries of change. Prevent issues from being put on the table

Intersecting Realms – Understanding layers of experience with power

PUBLIC: Women, men at work and in their communities

PRIVATE: Relationships/ roles among family, friends, sexual partners, marriage

INTIMATE: Sense of self-worth, confidence, relationship to body

Technical information is vital to effective political work but will not motivate people to act. A song or a

poem might.

Preparing for week 2 – ReadingsEffectiveness and Accountability

Required:Edwards, Michael, 2005, ‘Have NGOs “Made a difference”?

From Manchester to Birmingham with an elephant in the room’, University of Manchester, 27-29 June 2005

Eyben, Rosalind, May 2008, ‘Power, Mutual Accountability and Responsibility in the Practice of International Aid

Ho, Wenny, 2011. From Reimagining to Repositioning Accountability, IDS Bulletin, September 2011

Brown, David L. and Mark H. Moore, Accountability, Strategy and International Nongovernmental Organizations, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 2001 30: 569

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Field Internships in a word(Class comments on September 4th, 2012)

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I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:

two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.