Using the RAFT

Using the RAFT

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle

The RAFT is the fourth technique of using Do No Harm, and it is perhaps the most difficult because it requires us to reflect on and recognize how others perceive us. We want to be liked, trusted, and respected. It can be uncomfortable to find out that we are not. It is even more painful when we realize that we are responsible for how others perceive us. Our behaviors matter to our relationships in our work. Positive behaviors enable positive relationships which are essential for lasting, positive impacts.

Interveners should ask themselves and their colleagues what is their dominant mindset. Is it a dividing mindset or a connecting mindset? Do we expect the worst and act with mistrust and in secret? Or do we open our processes to others, respecting the ideas and priorities they have, and believing that if we work transparently together, we can be fair? Do we hold ourselves accountable at all points for our demonstrated respect for others and our impacts on their societies?

The RAFT is a matter of habit. It is not only about double-checking a list of factors (though this is not a bad way to begin learning and internalizing the RAFT), it is about continually observing our own behaviors, listening to how they are perceived, and changing if necessary.

We should ask ourselves whether our habits are characteristic of a dividing mindset or a connecting mindset. All of us have both in us, but one tends to be in the ascendant. The RAFT helps us recognize the difference, and identify the specific areas where we need to work to strengthen our connecting mindset every day and the connecting mindset of those around us. Keep watch on yourself and invite your colleagues to watch as well. Do the same for them.

Generating Options

The RAFT is a powerful tool for generating program options.

When we identify that a Divider is strengthening or a Connector is weakening, we can use the RAFT to identify the patterns of behavior that are contributing to the negative impact. Options developed to correct the negative impact should first address that pattern of behavior that lies behind it.

For example, if you identify that surrounding hostilities are currently increasing tensions within your staff and the community, then find some way to emphasize collaboration and cooperation in order to reinstate an area of normalcy. “Normality” and cooperation can be reassuring and counteract external tension. Or, if you realize your decision making process has been closed, open it up and make a show of opening it up with all appropriate apologies and invitations to participate. Show that new decisions reflect others’ ideas.

This kind of immediate switch in behaviors works because the positive and negative patterns of behavior are incompatible. When you change competition into collaboration, the competition disappears. Looking for and finding value in others makes unfairness impossible to ignore. It may still take time and effort to make changes, but identifying what needs to be done is clear.

This may sound too easy, but it is the strength of Do No Harm and the use of the RAFT. The techniques of the RAFT have been tested all over the world and been found to work.

Codes of Conduct

Some organizations have discussed incorporating the RAFT into their Codes of Conduct. Obviously, this is a good idea and would, experience shows, improve the organizations’ impacts on the ground. Any Code of Conduct should adhere to the RAFT.

“Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.” – Gandhi

Gandhi makes clear the linkages we have been discussing in the RAFT. His is a magnificent formula for living. However, contra Gandhi, our words do not automatically become our behavior. Interveners too often express “right” words but behave in ways that belie the values of these words. The old proverb “actions speak louder than words” is a better guide for interventions. Our actions and our behaviors are “heard” more clearly than our actual words.

But the third and fourth sentences of Gandhi ‘s formula are found to be true by Do No Harm users. Our behaviors do develop into habits and those habits do show the world our values.

In Do No Harm, when we use the word Messages, we are describing how we demonstrate our true values through our actions.

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