Transforming change

94 Pages·2017·2.02 MB·English

Transforming change
How change really happens
and what we can do about it
Paul Knox Clarke
ALNAPSTUDY
ALNAP is a unique system-wide network dedicated to improving
humanitarian performance through increased learning and accountability.
www.alnap.org
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author would like to thank all of the speakers and participants at the
31st Annual Meeting, many of whom travelled signifcant distances and
invested much thought and energy in order to share their experiences of
change. He would also like to thank our colleagues in SIDA, who provided
energy and enthusiasm around the topic of the meeting, and who hosted
and fnancially supported it as a way of commemorating ALNAP’s 20th
anniversary. Thanks are also due to the ALNAP Secretariat team, whose
combined work once again ensured that that content of the meeting, and
the logistics and communications, were of such high quality.
In addition, Chanel Currow conducted the initial stages of the literature
review for the background paper, and Alexandra Warner conducted and
coded the interviews.
Finally, thanks are due to the Centre for Development and Emergency
Practice (CENDEP) at Oxford Brookes University, which kindly provided
offce space and access to online databases.
SUGGESTED CITATION
Knox Clarke, P. (2017) Transforming change. ALNAP Study.
London: ALNAP/ODI.
© ALNAP/ODI 2017. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Non Commercial Licence (CC BY-NC 4.0).
Publication and communications management by Maria Gili
Design and typesetting by Soapbox
Edited by Deborah Eade and Renée Goulet
ISBN 978-1-910454-61-9
List of Boxes 4
List of Figures 5
Abbreviations and Acronyms 6
Introduction 7
What was the meeting about? 8
Different types of change 9
The context of change – humanitarians,
the system, and the world beyond 13
Structure and organisation 13
Attitudes and culture 16
Relationship to the ‘external’ world 17
Good or bad at change? 19
Creating – and understanding – change
in the humanitarian system 26
A ‘mechanistic’ approach to change 26
The humanitarian system today – models
of competition 28
The market model 28
The interests model 33
Other models for understanding change
in the humanitarian system 36
The system as society 36
The importance of politics 36
The role of culture 38
The system as an ‘ecosystem’ 41
The system as a mind 42
con
tenTS
How can we support change in
humanitarian action? 46
Before you start: setting expectations 47
Laying the foundations – multi-stakeholder groups 50
The benefts of multi-stakeholder groups in change processes 52
The nature and functions of multi-stakeholder
groups in change processes 53
Designing change 55
Starting with what works 55
Deciding on an overall approach to design 56
Setting boundaries and parameters 61
Communicating to support change 62
The importance of communication 62
What to communicate 63
Communication as a two-way process 63
Actions really do speak louder than words 64
Monitoring and learning from the change process 64
Leadership and change 67
Resourcing and supporting the change process 68
Final thoughts 72
Notes 73
Bibliography 75
Annex 1: How this paper was written 83
Annex 2: Select Bibliography of works
on Organisational Development, Change
and Change Management 85
Annex 3: Interviewees 87
Annex 4: Panels and Panellists 88
Annex 5: Stories in 5 90
con
tenTS
LiSt of BoxeS
Box 1: Evidence and change 24
Box 2: Supermarkets and change 32
Box 3: Resistance to change 45
Box 4: Changing healthcare – the example
of evidence-based medicine 70
4 A L N A P S T U D Y
LiSt of FigureS
Figure 1: Changing like an ecosystem 40
Figure 2: Changing like a mind 43
Figure 3: Three designs for change 59
Figure 4: A successful container for change 61
L I S T O F F I G U R E S 5
AbbreviationS
and AcronymS
CaLP Ca hs L gn i ra e n Prap i r e t h s n
C E R F Cntre la ycn e gr e m E esnp o R se d n u F
C HS C ero it nanar a i m H u Strad d n a
CSO livCi e t i s o c y sno ta i i n a gr o
DDD D gnio Dn te m p o l e v e Dif yntl e r e f
H 2 H it nanar a i m H u ot it n a n a r a i m H u
HAP it nanar a i m H u Ait l nt i yuco b a Pcetj r o
H RUF it nanar a i m H u h t g R si U p rnFto
IT notaimrIno f o yg l o n h c e t
NGO Nn temrne v - n o o g s n o t a i i n a g r o
ODI reaesO sv Dn te m p o l e v e s I n t i t u e t
R B M lt u sRse B a des n t e m e g a M n a
SAVI St eta Ait l nt i yuco b a dna ec i o V e v ta i i t i I n
TA T evtairs namr o f Aadn e g
W HS drlo W i t nana r a i m H u Sit m m u
6 A L N A P S T U D Y
Introduction
This paper considers how change happens in the humanitarian sector,
and brings together ideas on ‘what works’ in supporting change. It is based
on a background paper produced for the 31st ALNAP meeting in Stockholm,
Sweden. The background paper was the result of a literature review and
a series of interviews. It was discussed at the meeting, and the ideas in the
paper were expanded, challenged and changed in ten expert panels, ten ‘story
in fve’ presentations on change, and 18 ‘agora’ presentations of ongoing
change programmes. These two days of discussion were recorded and
coded, and the paper was then rewritten. This paper, then, is based not only
on interviews and a literature review, but also on the combined experiences
of the ALNAP Membership, as recorded at the meeting.
The topic of change seems particularly relevant to humanitarians in 2017,
as discussions on the Grand Bargain continue, one year after the World
Humanitarian Summit (WHS) process. The Grand Bargain and WHS are
the latest in a line of initiatives that have aimed to change and improve
humanitarian action, going back to the Humanitarian Reforms of 2005,
and beyond.
Much of the discussion around these initiatives has focussed on what
should change, and why. There has, historically, been much less attention
paid to the processes by which change actually happens in the humanitarian
‘system’ (a term that has implications for how we think about change, which
we will consider later). And yet if we fail to understand how change happens,
and how it can best be supported, we are unlikely to be successful in
achieving our objectives – however important they may be. This paper aims to
redress this balance, by focusing on the processes by which change happens
in humanitarian organisations, challenging some of our (often implicit)
assumptions around change, and providing guidance and suggestions on
how to support change, based on the experience of the ALNAP Membership.
INNTTRORDOUDCTUIOCNT I O N 7
What
waS the
meeting
about?
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n t ,e m e v r o p m i ,not ta i r s n a mr o f , mreo fr ,no ta i v o n n i nont i e v n i e r dna s o ) no a sh
nee b de i l p p a ot egu h�a yra r a o f ,sec i t av i t i srno ta i i a p s dna r se o c p ses fa gnce f t i
i t nana r a i m u h .cno a t i el Wi h eth gn et i e m de m i a ot re v co droa b�a daer p s o f
sec n e r i e x p e n i notai l e r ot , e g na h c i t desu o f c yli c �e l p c s a no to h es se g na h c
hc i w h era yl s u o i s c n c o r p o p u s det y b it ,sna n a r a i m u h reta h nat h eth y na m
se g na h c tat h era yl er n t i e dno y e b ruo .ntco l r o I t dl u o w eb ,g n tip m e t , er e h ot og
r f u ret h dna ys a tat h eth su of c a sw no se g na h c tat h era de n na l p dna de g a n a m
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e w of net e v a h re v o , e g na h c ne v e ne wh e w e v a h ’de n n a l p ‘ i t , dna s o ca s t
tb u o d no eth ae d i o f ’ g n i g a n a m ‘ . e g n a h c
nWi i t h si t h aera o f ’ su o i s c n c o ‘ , e g na h c eth gn et i e m de ok o l yli c �e l p c s a ta
se g na h c ot it nana r a i m u h ,ssn o ta i i n a gr o ro ot eth re d r o a b i t nana r a i m u h
, ’ m s y e s t ‘ rreta h nat h se g na h c ot eth ycn e gr e m e x e n t c o t . A ll it nana r a i m u h
r o kw se v l o v n i : e g na h c i t ,s m i a et�ta h r e v y ae s l t , ot eg na h c eth noita t i u s
o f el poe p owh era gn i c f a u etc a taer t h ot r i et h se v i l ro o .shod i l e v i l S emo
it nana r a i m u h –�se c i t va i t i yrraa l p l u c t i t o h es n i eth dl �e o f sn g i a p m c a
dna –�y c o c a vd a og , rf u r e t h dna m ia ot eg na h c eth lcai t i l p o ro ci m o n c o e
s m t sec un a r c i c hc i w h dae l ot el poe p gn i e b n i eset h gn i n e ta e r t h e i f - l sno ita t i u s
n i eth r� s t . ec a l p B o t h larn o e ta i p o dna ycoc a vd a r o kw n tipo , uot ’ s r‘ a d w dna
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se g na h c hc i wh n t ipo , ’ srad w n i ‘ er e w h i t nana r a i m u h sno ta i i n a gr o m ia ot
eg na h c .se v l es m e t h A t eth esm a , e m t i eth gn eti e m r es si na gr o er e w ldfn u i m
eot�f h c f a t tat h i t sna na r a i m u h e v a h ‘ eit u q dsec ta i t i h s p o sy a w o f grne s d i n t u d n a
woh ot od ycoc a vd a u tb�… ne wh er ’ e w n dfco e r n t o i tw h ew�s g n i t h n a tw ot
8 A L N A P S T U D Y