Development Entrepreneurs

A ll the consulting assignments I’ve been engaged in so far I can divide into three categories - straight technical assistance, adaptive systems problems, and systems improvement coaching.   Each has its kicks, but I’ve enjoyed the adaptive systems work best. Straight technical assistance is what happens when they call you in to implement a known solution to a known problem. You’re like Chuck Norris parachuting in, solo or with your team, getting the job done badda-bing badda-boom, then getting exfiltrated. Oh, don’t forget to get paid.  In this kind of assignment, the problem and the objectives are clearly defined, there’s a standardized, and there is a by-the-numbers solution. If there’s any uncertainty or variation, it’s usually in with personalities and the political economy of the project site. If that can be handled by project managers, the consultant can very much function as The Mechanic. Samples of straight TA assignments are helping an LGU to make a Comp...

E veryone agrees that the support of Local Chief Executives is important in pushing for local governance reforms. Sadly too many of us fall prey to the fallacy that because the LCE has signed a formal cooperation agreement his support can automatically be counted on. When things go south and program proponents find less LCE support than expected, there’s a lot of sighing about the need for “political will”. But I think the problem does not lie with the LCE - the problem lies with the project proponents, and it has to do with inadequately engaging the LCE through different levels of engagement, and it has to do with not providing the LCE with an exit strategy if and when he feels he could not support certain project activities. Way back in College when I was involved in a student organization we used to categorize fellow students in terms of engagement with our advocacy (back then it was called a “cause”).  At the least engaged level were fellow students who were “Interested” -...

W hen I hear the word “political institution” images of the Roman Coliseum and the Greek Parthenon come to my mind. To me they represent an entrenched arrangement of powers that governed their respective societies. Rome was not built in a day; neither did these powers spring overnight. Roman, Greek and present-day political institutions came to be after years of political and economic maneuvering. They will evolve after more of that. Jaime Faustino defines political institutions as “rules of the game in a society - and the nature of political and power struggles that lie behind them”.   Some of the most powerful rules are formally legislated or ordered; many more, just as powerful, are unstated, assumed, and still strictly observed.   Like the rule that says you don’t give the politician’s relatives any problems when they apply for business permits.   Informal rules often trump formal ones. The Local Government Code says national agencies can only implement projec...

O ne way to describe a Development Entrepreneur is someone who has decided that there is something in his society that needs to be reformed or improved, something that is worth investing so much of his time, energy, and resources. His drive may come from his professional trajectory, personal experience, or other sources. It is definitely not imposed on him; he has made the decision to work on this area with his own free will. He has “self-selected” himself for this path. (Booth’s book “Aiding Institutional Reform in Developing Countries: Lessons from the Philippines on What Works, What Doesn’t, and Why” introduces a trio of Development Entrepreneurs - Chikiamco, Tiamson, and Sta Ana - and shows how their professional interests brought them to the time and place to influence significant legislation.) DE’s select areas where they are able to grow professionally, where they can improve their competencies and capabilities.  Moreover, the DE is able to give a personal significa...

F riends from Bohol were telling me about how difficult it has been to get good, reasonably priced fish. “You must be kidding,” I replied. “You live on an island. You have fishermen. Surely they catch enough fish.” “Yes, they catch more than enough fish,” my friend said. “But they sell it to the high-end resorts in Mactan, which pays more. The tourists there get the best fish.” That got me to thinking about how connected and inter-related our Provincial value chains really are. For the last three years we’ve been involved in an effort to improve road investments by directing these to “Strategic Road Links” that connect key value chain locations for agriculture, tourism, basic services, and other sectors. 50% of the road project identified this way are in the National Government Agencies’ proposed budget for 2015. The other 50% are on the Regional Development Investment Program of RDC 7. Assuming that all of these projects would get funded and implemented on time, cheaper t...

Y esterday one of my buddies went to a government office to check on the status of a project partner’s applications. From his island hometown he had to motorbike over a bridge and several kilometers just to get there. In a previous trip to the same place he had been given the run-around. It  only  stopped after he went straight to the office head. He was hoping that, on this trip, he wouldn’t have to go through the same experience. Wrong. They bounced him from one table to another - again. And this time the boss was not around. He was exasperated, but he did not want to have traveled all the way for nothing. So he got creative. He told me he “used his charm” - and I didn’t even know he had any! Whatever he did, he got the results we wanted. In one of our previous jobs we reported directly to the head of the organization. We could count on his backing for any of our service improvement projects. One thing that could get people to cooperate on our projects was the autho...

L ast month I had the pleasure of reading the book “Seven Triggers to Yes” by Mr Russell H Granger. Mr Granger says that there are seven ways to get your client to say yes to your ideas, proposal, or offer. Briefly, these are: Friendship - it’s easier to say yes to a friend, so before you offer anything to clients, establish rapport with them.  Authority - people are more likely to accept the recommendation of somebody they recognize as an expert. Consistency - clients will go with somebody who has a reputation for delivering on commitments. Reciprocity - people feel compelled to give you something in return - after you give them something first. Contrast - clients are always on the lookout for the better offer. Because “better” means “compared to something else”, you will need to contrast your offer against something that’s less appealing. A reason - people say “yes” just because they have been given a reason - more often than they realize. Like the song says, “...

O ver the last few months our partners have been working on a new way to identify the most strategic road investment projects in a three different Provinces. Last week I accompanied one group as they presented their proposed projects before various National Government Agencies.  NGAs are required to submit their budget proposals for 2015 within this month and our partners wanted to convince some of them to include their priority roads in their proposals. I listened as they started their pitch by explaining their method for identifying what we have come to call “Strategic Road Links”. They applied the concept of Value Chain Analysis to trace the flow of strategic products for their target province (in this case, mango). They identified roads, regardless of classification, through which raw materials passed on its way to processing plants, consolidation points, local markets, and RoRo ports (for export to other Provinces and abroad).  Then they culled out segments of these ro...

W hat constraints are preventing lot owners from accessing credit? How can lot owners get over these constraints? My colleagues and I have been going over these questions as we work on an assignment to enhance access to credit through property rights. Years ago somebody told me that the first thing to do in any development effort is to look for “Dollente” - the ones in pain. Who are the people experiencing problems, whom we want to help? So I started looking closer at our target population: lot owners. Lot owners may be thought of as belonging to two groups: those with titles, and those without titles. Now you may ask, "How can a lot owner not have a title? Don't you have to have a title first before you can be considered a lot owner?" Lot ownership is something like being a champion boxer and winning a belt. You first have to beat your opponent fair and square - that makes you the champion. Then they give you the belt (and the title) to recognize your champi...

I t’s not unusual for a Development Entrepreneur to hit a wall.   There are times when reforms are just not happening and interventions are, for one reason or another, not working. When this happens, there are several things a DE can do. Instead of trying to do everything at once, you can try to break down your work into more manageable parts. Focus on one part at a time and do each part better. Little improvements in the way you accomplish each work segment can have a synergistic effect on the whole effort, help you achieve a breakthrough. You can also explore other modes of intervention. It has been said that insanity is doing the same thing and expecting other results. So stop doing what you’re doing, and try something else. In practical terms this means adopting a new behavior, which might require different capabilities. The new thing might also have to be done in a different time, place or context. In other words, it might challenge you to go out of your comfort zone...

W hen I was learning to write BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) I was told to make “vivid descriptions” of the desired outcomes. When I learned to write Wholly Formed Outcomes I was also told to write about what I wanted to achieve “in sensory terms”. Someday somebody could explain to me the difference between vivid descriptions and sensory descriptions. For now I can see their similarity: they both mean describing what I want to achieve in a way that I can see, feel, hear or touch. I find that when I ask people to describe “what they want to see” within a planning period, they respond in two ways. Some respond in abstractions, such as “I want financial independence.” Others describe specific, observable (and measurable) conditions - “I have 25,000.00 US dollars in the bank and zero debts.” When I ask the guys who give the abstract answers exactly what they mean, some of them think for a while, others take only a second - and they all explain what they mean in sensory terms....