Development Entrepreneurs

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...