"How Change Happens" with Dr. Duncan Green

04/03/22 • 35 min

Chasing Impact - The MzN International Podcast

"Duncan, you define yourself as a white, western 'rapidly ageing male' - that is something I can relate to! You then go on to say that our own perspective is limited to what we experience and who we are. How do we guard against that - and should the two of us, two white, western 'rapidly ageing males' really discuss how change happens and how to change the world?"
In this episode of Chasing Impact, Chris interviews Dr Duncan Green, Senior Strategic Adviser at Oxfam GB, Professor in Practice in International Development at the London School of Economics and author of the book How Change Happens and the daily development blog FP2P.
Among other topics, they discuss:
- how to guard against the arrogance of "inheritance" as white western males
- practical information on how to use your platforms to make space for other, more diverse voices
- as a leader, creating an organisational culture that rewards and values people taking (well-argued) risks that allow failure because failure can facilitate (accidental) success
- "prepared minds" that can deal with randomness and who are able to work with accidents intelligently
- the role of money in the incentive system for NGOs, foundations and other organisations
- "positive deviance", localisation, alternative funding, domestic resource mobilisation
- what makes the ideal "ecosystem gardener" - and many other topics!
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Dr Duncan Green is Senior Strategic Adviser at Oxfam GB and Professor in Practice in International Development at the London School of Economics. He is author of How Change Happens (OUP, October 2016) and From Poverty to Power: How Active Citizens and Effective States can Change the World (Oxfam International, 2008, second edition 2012) as well as several books on Latin America. His daily development blog FP2P can be found on https://oxfamapps.org/fp2p/.
He can be contacted at [email protected] or on Twitter at @fp2p.

How Change Happens (Open Access): https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/a2d96f5a-5189-4cf8-a876-d44eda71545f/618650.pdf
From Poverty to Power: How Active Citizens and Effective States can Change the World: https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/from-poverty-to-power-how-active-citizens-and-effective-states-can-change-the-w-115393/

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Intro music:
Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/fugu-vibes/spatial
License code: FFEXMMCJZOEANCT8

How Change Happens (Open Access): https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/a2d96f5a-5189-4cf8-a876-d44eda71545f/618650.pdf
From Poverty to Power: How Active Citizens and Effective States can Change the World: https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/from-poverty-to-power-how-active-citizens-and-effective-states-can-change-the-w-115393/

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Intro music:
Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/fugu-vibes/spatial
License code: FFEXMMCJZOEANCT8

Previous Episode

"The NGO of the Future": Insights from Stephanie Draper, Chief Executive of Bond UK

In this episode of Chasing Impact, Chris interviews Stephanie Draper, Chief Executive of Bond, the UK network for (now over 400) organisations working in international development. He challenges her with the following questions to which she provides some compelling responses:

How likely it is to achieve the SDGs in less than 8 years left - is it even possible?
Bond provides a space for MPs, NGOs and other actors in the development sector to gather new ideas and respond to challenges. But is talking really enough?
There is such a huge funding gap, and it's getting worse. How do you see this as solvable?
What exactly is the role of business and investors? Should they be working more with NGOs? Or donate more? Outsiders looking on might get the impression that they are doing their own thing. Is that the case?
What does the NGO of the future look like for you?
What is the future of BOND, in your opinion?
And, as a leader, how do you stay balanced while continually improving?

MzN is proud of its partnership with Bond. We offer Bond members joint webinars, blog articles and Sprints. Find out more about our partnership and sign up for our upcoming webinars here: https://mzninternational.com/2021/09/08/our-bond-uk-partnership-continues/ We look forward to seeing you there!
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Bond is the UK network for organisations working in international development. It was founded in 1993 with 61 members. Now it unites over 400 organisations, ranging from small specialist charities to large international NGOs with a worldwide presence. Bond aims to connect, strengthen and champion a dynamic network of diverse civil society organisations to help eradicate global poverty, inequality and injustice.
Stephanie Draper is Bond's chief executive. She has spent over 20 years working to accelerate a just and sustainable future, with a focus on sustainable development. She brings extensive international experience in bringing sectors together to collaborate and shape a better future.
Find out more about Bond: https://www.bond.org.uk/about-us

Find out more about Stephanie: https://www.bond.org.uk/person/stephanie-draper

Next Episode

"Preparing for an Uncertain Future" with Reana Rossouw

"I think the only thing that will give us greater certainty (for the future) is we've got to start where we are, and for me, that is in the core. We cannot do any development or humanitarian work if the core is not protected. And what is the core? It is our organization."
In this episode of Chasing Impact , MzN Senior Consultant Carolin Gomulia interviews Reana Rossouw, the owner of Next Generation Consultants, a leading South African Management Consulting firm with a wealth of experience in the social innovation, shared value, humanitarian and sustainable development environments. They discuss how professionals in the development and humanitarian ecosystem can prepare for the future, more specifically:

hindsight, insight and foresight as three concepts that drive future thinking
key trends that define the post-covid world
what organizations should do to respond to these trends:
- multigenerational development, including the youth to dictate the future of the sector
- prepare for more risks, especially regarding climate change
- embrace technology and digitalize our programs, e.g. in the development of the education and health care sector
- become comfortable with new funding mechanisms
- explore new organizational types (both not-for-profit and for-profit)
- be able to prove our value by telling our impact story - impact management and measurement are essential
how organizations can make decisions in a world full of uncertainty:
- "start where we are", make sure the core - our organization - is protected, reinvented and repurposed to be equipped for change
- look at the effectiveness of our programs and work
- look outwards to see who can help us scale and leverage our resources
three key things to focus on when preparing for the future:
1. go deep - leave no stone unturned when looking at operations, programs, partners, etc.
2. go wide - research the areas we are involved in, test our beliefs and assumptions, become comfortable with uncomfortable issues - go far and wide to make sure our solutions are fit for purpose for the future
3. reinvent and innovate - ask yourself: in this new changed paradigm, what is your new value proposition? How is it different to what you have always done? How will you guarantee that you are the right person, the right organization, and that you have the right program to facilitate impact and change in the future?

Who is Reana Roussouw?

Reana has more than 30 years experience in business management at senior executive and director levels. Her expertise lies in creating and implementing strategies for innovation, growth and sustainability.

Reana is a regular speaker at national and international conferences and has delivered various papers on her fields of expertise. She is also the author of three books and annually publishes Africa’s research report on the future and impact of the social development and investment sectors.

Over the past decade, Reana has developed Africa’s first impact assessment methodology and technology platform, the Investment Impact IndexTM, which measures the impact and return on investment of social and impact investment. This methodology is now applied across the continent by social and impact investors, donors and grantmakers.

Next Generation Consultants: https://nextgeneration.co.za/
2020 CSI Trends, Forecasts and Impacts Research Report: https://nextgeneration.co.za/resources/research-reports/
Investment Impact Index TM: https://investmentimpactindex.org/