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The P o w e r of Positive Deviance

The P o w e r of Positive Deviance. Solutions before our very eyes. The Premise:. In every community there are certain individuals whose uncommon practices/behaviors enable them to find better solutions to problems than their neighbors who have access to the same resources.

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The P o w e r of Positive Deviance

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  1. The P o w e rof Positive Deviance Solutions before our very eyes The Premise: In every community there are certain individuals whose uncommon practices/behaviors enable them to find better solutions to problems than their neighbors who have access to the same resources

  2. Positive Deviance (PD) Approach • Identifying Solutions to Community Problems Within the Community Today What enables some members of the community (the “Positive Deviants”) to find better solutions to pervasive problems than their neighbors who have access to the same resources? The Key Question?

  3. The Positive Deviance Inquiry The PD Inquiry is the tool that enables the community to discover the uncommon PD behaviors/strategies • The community must discover what the PDs are doing that is different from their neighbors

  4. PD Inquiry Establishes community behavioral norms related to the problem to beaddressed Uncovers successful uncommonbehaviors/ strategies practiced by the Positive Deviants

  5. Analyzing PD Findings PD Behaviors strategies PDI findings are passed through a conceptual “accessibility sieve” practices Only those behaviors/strategies accessible to all are kept Accessible to All The rest are “TBU,” True but Useless (i.e. not accessible to all) and are discarded

  6. Focus on PD Behavior • We can’t (yet) clone people • But we canadopt their successful behaviors/strategies

  7. PD Focus on Practice Rather than Knowledge “It’s easier to ACT your way into a new way of THINKING, than to THINK your way into a new way of ACTING”

  8. PD Enables us to Act TODAY Although most problems have complex, interlinked underlying causes . . . The presence of Positive Deviants demonstrates that it is possible to find successful solutions TODAY before all the underlying causes are addressed!

  9. PD Inquiry is an “Ends” as well as “Means” and MUST be repeated in each Community To discover successful, replicable PD behaviors MEANS ENDS To empower community to discover and “own” their own solution, based on their own resources

  10. D The SixDs of Positive Deviance Approach D D D D

  11. community Define Stakeholders • Define the problem, its perceived causes and related current practices (situation analysis) • Define what a successful solution/outcome would look like (described as a behavioral or status outcome)

  12. Define • Define the problem:Children from poor families are malnourishedCommercial sex workers (CSWs) are unable to get clients to use condoms • Define successful solution/outcome (behavior or status):Children from poor families are well nourishedCommercial sex workers are able to get clients to always use condoms

  13. Determine • Determine if there are any individuals/entities in community who ALREADY exhibit desired behavior or status (PD identification)

  14. Determine • Determine if there are any individuals who already exhibit desired behavior (Identify PDs) :There are some children from poor families who are well nourishedSome commercial sex workers are always able to negotiate condom use

  15. Discover • Discover uncommon practices/behaviors enabling the PDs to outperform/find better solutions to the problem than others in their “community”

  16. Discover • Discover PDs successful practices/strategies :PD families using activefeeding and feeding children uncommon but nutritious foods, and feeding more frequentlyCommercial sex workers carry their own condoms, possess special negotiating strategies, including taking onus off client and relating risk to own status

  17. esign D • Design and implement activities enabling others in “community” to access and PRACTICE new behaviors (focus on “doing” rather than transfer of knowledge)

  18. esign D • Design intervention enabling others to practice new behaviors :Create a Nutrition Program to which parents of malnourished children bring daily contributions of uncommon PD foods, practice active feedingEnlist willing commercial sex workers as peer educators, sharing and role playingsuccessful condom use strategies with other CSWs

  19. Discern community • Discerns the effectiveness of activities or project through ongoing monitoring and evaluation

  20. Discern • Discern effectiveness of intervention (M/E):Measure change in nutritional status of children in program and spillover effect on all children in community over timeMeasure CSW’s reported increase in exclusive condom use

  21. Disseminate Disseminate Disseminate • Disseminate successful process to appropriate “other” (scaling up)

  22. Disseminate • Disseminate to Appropriate Others:Create a “Living University” (Social Laboratory) where others wishing to replicate the program come for hands-on participation in successful ongoing programsCreate a “Living University” (Social Laboratory) where others wishing to replicate the program come for hands-on participation in successful ongoing programs

  23. Positive Deviance Disseminate Discern Design Discover Determine Define

  24. Traditional vs PD Problem Solving Approach PD Flows from identification and analysis of successful solution to problem solving Traditional Flows from problem analysis towards solution Fixed Solution Space Actual Problem Parameters Actual Problem Parameters Expanded Solution Space Perceived Problem Parameters Perceived Problem Parameters Perceived Problem Parameters Actual Problem Parameters

  25. PD: Crossing The “Knowledge/Behavior Change Gap” • Social proof • Perceived advantage • Opportunity for practice Behavior change Knowledge

  26. TRADITIONAL VS POSITIVE DEVIANCE PROBLEM SOLVING APPROACH TRADITIONAL Externally Fueled (by “experts” or internal authority) Top-down, Outside-in Deficit Based “What’s wrong here?” Begins with analysis of underlying causes of PROBLEM Solution Space limited by perceivedproblem parameters Triggers Immune System “defense response” POSITIVE DEVIANCE Internally Fueled (by “people like us”, same culture and resources) Down-up, Inside-out Asset Based “What’s right here?” Begins with analysis of demonstrably successful SOLUTIONS Solution Space enlarged through discovery of actual parameters Bypasses Immune System (solution shares same “DNA” as host)

  27. PD and Attributes Dictating “Speed of Adoption of Innovation” Diffusion Attributes relative advantage compatibility complexity triability observability Everett Rogers “Diffusion of Innovation” PD Behavior Innovation identified as “advantageous” created within cultural context Requires no special resources opportunity to practice through PDI and personal experience

  28. PD & The Diffusion of Innovation Life-Cycle Communityparticipatesin discovery of innovation Thereby jumping the “early adopters/early majority” chasm Geoffrey A Moore. Crossing the Chasm.

  29. Current Applications of Positive Deviance

  30. Illustrative Uses Of Positive Deviance

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