We are working in our various ways on behalf of the poor, the marginalized, the sick, victims of personal and institutional violence, and those who feel oppressed or powerless. And we are working on behalf of the world where we all live. We feel an urgent responsibility to utilise our resources as effectively as possible.
When we use the term ‘capacity building’, we need to be clear about where we should be focusing our efforts. The term has been used as a euphemism for fundraising, utilising new technology, increasing and training staff, even purchasing vehicles.
As practitioners who seek to influence positive change in a wide variety of contexts, we suggest that the capacity we most urgently need to build is our own capacity to creatively think and innovate. In order to be able to take the risk of approaching our work in new and unconventional ways, and reflecting and learning from these experiences, we need to create and sustain a safe and supportive environment.
Many of the difficulties faced by the various actors represented by or impacted by the sector are the result of small thinking: completing a list of tasks, filling in the log frame, adopting a programme model from another agency. While it can be extremely satisfying to feel that something has been completed,
this approach denies the complexity of our environment and negates the essential truth that development is above all else a human process.
As agents of change we must make a habit of risking. At its core ‘risk’ is a creative impulse. We don’t take risks for merely for the sake of risk, but rather to challenge the status quo, to introduce new interpretive lenses to difficult situations, to launch counter-intuitive interventions. Above all, we takes risks in order to create a safe, nurturing and trusting environment in which personhood is honoured and where individuals are free to show vulnerability.
We risk in order to create a space where questioning, lateral thinking, innovation, reflection and learning are esteemed to the point that they become institutionalized. This is a process that is, and needs to be, anchored by shared values. These values in turn ensure an integrity between belief and action; and a respect for the strong role that theory plays in shaping action.
If small thinking and an aversion to risk have limited the sector’s effectiveness in the past, perhaps expansive, generous thinking and acting will be the key to effecting positive change for the future. The resources are already here. They are free and available to virtually everyone on the planet. The possibilities are staggering. Think about it.