In development, Moments Matter

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12/25/2013

In development, Moments Matter

As I reflect on the year, I thought I would pick up on some themes that stick with me about how change happens in development. The first is simple, but must be one of the most important observations I constantly make when observing successful change that fosters better government and development results: Moments matter.

What I mean is that many change events happen when contexts become ready for change; 1. when there is disruption that forces people to accept change, 2. when incumbent structures are being questioned, 3. when there are viable alternatives that local people are willing to try, and 4. when the weight of agency shifts from the old and discredited ways to a search for new ways (that may be untested but promise better solutions to pressing problems).

Interestingly, I find that these moments are not always a product of lucky timing. In fact, I most commonly see years of activity and engagement in advance of any 'moment' that seems to spawn change. Understanding the moment requires going back in time five or ten years (or longer) and learning about how coalitions were emerging, drawing attention to problems, and experimenting with new ways of doing things. These activities are often at the margin of the story until 'the moment' arrives... But without them there would probably have not been a moment at all.

The bottom line is that we should spend more time preparing for moments than we currently do. Moments of readiness matter more than the development solutions we try to stuff into contexts that are not ready for change.

Posted at 01:40 PM in 2013 year end thoughts: what matters in development | Permalink

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12/25/2013