Principle to Practice
social dynamics. social change. pattern languages
Marshall Wallace
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I’ve worked around the world on the dynamics of social and cultural change. My question: how do we do good work in complex circumstances?
I've run global research projects, that earned insights I’ve turned into training programs and pattern languages. I’ve trained thousands of people from civil society groups, governments, militaries, corporations, and communities in practical methods of organizing and managing change. Thousands more have been through programs by trainers I trained. My work is used, not just gathering dust on a shelf.
I've written a couple of books and dozens of articles about the social dynamics of conflict, the challenges of social and organizational change, and, yes, how to do good work in complex circumstances. I've consulted with governments, UN organizations, international and local NGOs all over the world, as well as companies large and small.
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The Do No Harm Project, which I directed from 2001 to 2013, looked deeply at the interactions of interventions (humanitarian, development, etc) and how they interact with and shape social change.
Aid given in a context of conflict is itself a part of that context. The way in which aid is given can make a conflict worse.
Aid’s negative effects are unintentional, but we still need to avoid them. We can, first, be aware of these effects and, second, do our work in such a way as to minimize them—to “do no harm”. It is also possible to give aid in a way that can help mitigate violence. It is possible to provide the people involved in the conflict with the space—the breathing room—to build their peace. x
If aid is found to support a war effort, should aid agencies and practitioners continue to give it? Yes. The resounding answer given by aid workers all over the world is that the needs of suffering people are too important to ignore and, further, that there can be no justification for not assisting suffering people. Inevitably, the next question is: How?
The Do No Harm Project learned how.
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Collaborative Learning is a powerful methodology for tackling complex issues, learning what is really going on, and developing useful, practical lessons.
Marshall, with Mary Anderson, developed Collaborative Learning from a branch of action research, where participants are themselves also part of the research team. Collaborative Learning is a framework for fitting participants’ observation into, first, a knowledge gathering structure and then a knowledge dissemination one.
It’s most important characteristic is the sheer number of people the method can involve in any learning process. It’s power derives from the direct involvement of hundreds or thousands of people as observers of their own selves and organizations and an ability to iterate upon findings that comes from the participants’ repeated involvement and engagement. The stages of Collaborative Learning are designed to simultaneously expand the number of people involved while sharing and testing tentative findings. Good ideas are swiftly shared across an expanding network.Bad ideas are identified quickly and rejected.
Cataloging the general patterns allows for the isolation of context specific and unique events and behaviors so that a more rapid understanding can take place, providing avenues for creative solutions. This is why all solutions are unique and cannot be transferred across contexts, while at the same time a collection of solutions tried elsewhere can spur idea generation.
The collaborative learning methodology has three key strengths. x
Inductive
Field-based and experience-driven approach to research, rather than theory or model-based approach.
Collaborative
Develops a process through which organizations learn from and with each other more than they can learn from their own experience alone. Hundreds of organizations and tens of thousands of individuals have engaged the key challenges of the day through collaborative learning projects. Collaborative learning brings people and organizations together in ways that are unlike any other.
Practical
This collaborative approach produces lessons, tools and concepts that are broadly applicable and transferable across contexts. For example, Do No Harm was developed by development and humanitarian workers, but its lessons have permeated policies and peacebuilding efforts, they are being used by ministries in transitional governments and in bilateral organizations, and they have been codified in the policies of several governments.
Projects and Publications
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- Opting Out of War
- From Principle to Practice
- Social Change Matrix
- Practical Legitimacy
- Listening Project
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These are five key frameworks for understanding and working with social dynamics, each developed through a Collaborative Learning project.
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Opting Out of War: Strategies to Prevent Violent Conflict
In this book, we looked at communities in civil wars that found ways to "opt out" of the violence. These are their strategies.
Opting Out of War is the product of the Steps Toward Conflict Prevention Project, which I directed. We'd heard stories of communities that were "weird", that acted differently during a civil war than their neighbors. We set out to find the full stories and what we could learn from the "weird" people.
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From Principle to Practice
A pattern language for interventions, from humanitarian or development aid at any level, by any actor, to government programs and corporate outreach.
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Social Change Matrix
A practical model of how change happens. I've used the SC Matrix to run programs and political campaigns. It's magic. -
Practical Legitimacy
Legitimacy is the relative willingness of someone to act on a request. The more likely a person is to act willingly upon a request (or order), the more legitimacy the requesting government, institution, organization, or person has. This model explains the components necessary to generate willing, cooperative legitimacy, as opposed to unwilling, coerced action. -
Time to Listen: Hearing People on the Receiving End of International Aid
A project that went and listened to what people say they want.