Understanding and Using Patterns

In the sections of this Guide on Resource Transfers and Messages through the RAFT, we look at patterns of impacts of interventions. These patterns are ones that users of Do No Harm find repeated in multiple contexts and, because they are commonly seen across contexts, users have come up with categories for identifying them.

These patterns are significant because they explain how the Actions and Behaviors of interveners affect Dividers and Connectors.

There are two types of patterns. There are five patterns of Resource Transfers and four patterns of Messages sent by behavior. The following Sections examine these patterns and their details, including some thoughts on using them.

The patterns emerged from the experience of humanitarian and development workers all over the world and have been confirmed by people of many other professions operating in other contexts. While the patterns identified here may not exhaust the possibilities of human interaction, they have been identified over and over as among the most important ways of understanding how people interact with one another. They work.

Recognizing a common pattern is important because it gives you something to hold onto and work with. A pattern provides understanding. It can be tested against experience and often can be changed by simple acts. Chaos—or, rather, the perception of chaos—by contrast, is incomprehensible and our efforts at impact will be hit or miss, with no rhyme or reason.

Although the two sections look specifically at Resource Transfers and at the Messages sent by Behaviors, it is important to note that the concepts are inevitably and inextricably linked. Behaviors of people providing resources are inseparable from the resources themselves. Actions, the facts on the ground of what is delivered, are themselves Behaviors. The ABCs formulation makes clear that both Actions and Behaviors convey messages.

Do No Harm users say that when they see something changing in a Divider or a Connector (for good or for harm), they can look at the patterns identified in the Resource Transfers and Messages through the RAFT sections of this Guide, and these patterns help them see immediately how they can change their Actions and/or their Behaviors to ensure that the consequence of these are positive (reducing Dividers or Supporting Connectors) rather than negative (worsening Dividers or undermining Connectors).

Effective users of Do No Harm use their recognition of the patterns to change, improve, and heighten their impacts.

Previous Page Impact Analysis
Next Page Resource Transfers