Deborah Rhodes A new approach to achieving shared + relevant developmental change

Cross-cultural approach to
developmental change
Development
Futures
Conference
Deborah Rhodes
November 2013
©Deborah Rhodes and Ernest
Antoine, Leadership Strategies

Why a new approach?
• 60+ years of aid and development fads
– Practitioners and academics from donor countries
inventing new approaches after deciding the
current one doesn’t appear to work
– Maybe, they have all been limited by lack of
recognition of fundamental differences in cultural
values between those who contribute aid and
those who are expected to change?


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©Julie Smith

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Why isn’t there a stronger correlation between
aid and development progress?
Lack of shared agreement/understanding about causes of
poverty in diverse contexts
Complexity of motivations & inconsistent political will behind aid
Complexity of identifying context-specific and effective
development responses
Aid is just one of many contributors
Too many players using inconsistent approaches
Development takes a long time: aid programs too short
Not enough aid relative to scale of issues
Complex or over-ambitious objectives
Lack of shared commitment to particular kinds of change…..

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Central argument of this workshop:
• ‘Aid will be much more effective if donors and
aid practitioners consider, understand and
take account of the cultural values that
underpin the process of change in
people, organisations and societies’
• Specifically, aid efforts are more likely to be
relevant, owned, locally led and address
shared priorities if cultural values are factored
into practice

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Cultural values have an influence on:
Not only who we are, but also:
The way change happens
The nature and extent of capacity of people and
organisations
Perceptions about whether change is needed
Perceptions about leadership and ownership
Perceptions about risk and uncertainty
Perceptions about relationships and partnerships
Perceptions about what success looks like
And many other aspects of life

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Values, norms and behaviour
Values
Norms
Behaviour


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Values, norms and behaviour
• The influence of cultural values is not just
peripheral (or about cultural practices), but
fundamental, because values underpin norms
and behaviours
• Thus, as aid practitioners:
– We need to understand differences in values
– We need to understand diversity and dynamic
nature of values and influences on development
– We need the skills to work cross-culturally if we
are to work effectively as aid practitioners

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So, this workshop introduces…
• A framework for understanding differences in
cultural values for aid practitioners
• An opportunity for participants to consider
implications for aid approaches & practices
• References to some tools and qualities that
will help aid agencies and practitioners to do
better in future


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Cultural Dialogue for Change


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Elements of Cultural Dialogue for Change
• Values and beliefs influence people’s behaviour
• The more people from different cultures get
together, the more they are likely to be able to explore
differences
• If people from different cultures negotiate with each
other, they can achieve more
• If people’s strengths are recognised and valued, they will
be motivated to change
• If there is trust and respect, then results of collaboration
will be maximised
• Changes will be sustained if changes are consistent with
and supported by those in parallel systems and other
factors in the enabling environment

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Simple theory of
change
Poverty reduction

Effective
development

Increased capacity

More effective
engagement
Understanding of
cultural values


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How are cultures different?


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Gert Hofstede and the GLOBE study
Dimensions of cultural values
• Power Distance
• Uncertainty Avoidance
• Humane Orientation
• Collectivism and Individualism
• Assertiveness
• Gender Egalitarianism
• Future Orientation
• Performance Orientation

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Cultural
values along
different
dimensions,
based on
Hofstede
and GLOBE
Study


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Power Distance


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Individualism or collectivism


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Humane orientation


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Avoiding uncertainty


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Assertiveness
This is so frustrating:
everyone is so
polite, even when
nothing gets done!
(NGO Program
Manager, Indonesia)


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Gender egalitarianism

As a woman, how can I be
credible to the Chiefs in
the National Council of
Chiefs?

(Aid Worker. Consultant
on a design mission)


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Future orientation
Pacific time is great! But I have to
find a way of working with it, so I
can keep the donor happy.
(Project Team Leader, Scholarships
Program, Solomon Islands)


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Performance orientation

.. what can I say to
motivate my staff to
complete tasks and meet
deadlines in Namibia?
(Community Development
Coordinator, World Vision US


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Plotting
differences

©Leadership Strategies
Practitioners’ Handbook
for Capacity
Development: A Crosscultural Approach


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Plot your differences
In pairs, discuss and agree on where to plot the
following along 3-4 dimensions:
1. Australia
2. Your organisation
3. You
4. A country that you work in
5. A partner organisation
6. A colleague in an overseas country


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So what?
• Discuss in your pair:
– What are implications of these value differences:
• For your own practice
• For the work of your organisation
• For perceptions about aid effectiveness


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Summary: Cultural values and capacity
• Plenty of evidence that cultural values influence:
• Behaviours of people, teams and organisations
• Who has capacity or who does not
• How capacity changes over time in people, teams
and organisations
• How people, organisations and teams learn
• How learning translates into changed behaviour

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Implications of differences in cultural
differences for aid practice?
• There is little research on this topic, except:
– Jenny Pearson, 2005 ‘The Multi-Cultural Iceberg:
Exploring International Relationships in
Cambodian Development Organisations’ INTRAC
– Tonbias Haque, 2012 ‘The Influence of Culture on
Economic Development in Solomon Islands’, SSGM
Discussion Paper


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Lots of implications for capacity
development (CD) work
• Any consideration of CD needs to start with
understanding definition and assessment of
capacity in the particular context
• CD is a process ‘owned’ by people, groups and
organisations themselves – others can at best
contribute, but can easily undermine
• CD is both a means and end in itself
• In aid settings, CD is an inherently crosscultural process

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Implications of values for CD


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Tools to help you
For building shared understanding:
– Talk about cultural values that
influence capacity and be open to
learning
– Consider/reflect on your own
cultural values
– Read about cultural values in each
context
– Use a strengths based approach
– Build trust
– Use a cultural guide

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Tools to help you
• For assessment
– Use elements of capacity and criteria for
assessment that are generated by the holders of
capacity themselves (i.e. try not to use external
definitions/measures of capacity)
– Use strengths based approaches which focus on
existing capacity and identify priority objectives
(i.e. do not use ‘needs analyses’)


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Tools to help you
• For implementation:
– Consider the kinds of capacity-contributing tools
that are culturally appropriate (not just the ones
you are familiar with)
– Use strengths based approaches
– Build trust
– Consider culturally appropriate coaching and
mentoring


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Tools to help you
• For review and evaluation:
– Take cultural perspectives of success into account
– Give value to cultural values and their influence on
perspectives about success
– Use participatory approaches to data collection
and analysis, so cultural values are reflected in
results
– Recognise cultural values in reports


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Qualities you might need to be
culturally competent
• Ability to reflect on your own values and
understand their implications for your practice
• Ability to suspend judgment while observing
and learning about others’ values
• Ability to adapt
• Ability to navigate different cultural values
• Ability to translate perspectives between
developing countries and donors

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Your thoughts and reactions?


Reference
Deborah Rhodes and
Ernie Antoine, 2013
Practitioners’ Handbook
for Capacity
Development: A CrossCultural Approach 36

References
• Hofstede, G. 1980 Culture’s consequences:
International differences in work-related values.
BeverleyHills, CAP: Sage.
• Hofstede, G. and G.J. Hofstede. 2005 Cultures
and organizations: Software of the mind. McGraw
Hill
• House, R. J. et al (editors), 2004
Culture, Leadership and Organizations: The
GLOBE Study of 62 Societies, SAGE
• Rhodes, D and Antoine, E, 2013 Practitioners’
Handbook for Capacity Development: A CrossCultural Approach, Leadership Strategies

37

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