Grounded Theory is ideal for complex environment that need flexible, evolving, iterative and trustworthy research frameworks. I have used grounded theory on numerous development research projects and found it to be a powerful concept. Grounded Theory is a method of analysis that ties research to peoples experience. As the name suggests it is valuable for creating theory that emerges from context and experience. Grounded Theory uses both qualitative and quantitative methods and theoretical sampling. “The purpose of theoretical sampling,” as Corbin andRead more
Posts filed in: Leadership
THE MODEL FLOURISHING: Tipping Points for Social Innovation
A model to create flourishing societies Grounded in context and necessity, THE MODEL FLOURISHING is a powerful method for social change. It originally was developed for use with socially excluded people who live with the ebb and flow of conflict. Using a combination of human capabilities, human rights, human security, complexity theory, and grounded theory, the model takes a participatory action research approach to increase people’s agency and to create organizational and societal change. Previous capabilities approaches have been theoretical—notRead more
Thriving People and Organizations Create Flourishing Societies
The bullet point about “capacity development” in the job description and the catchphrase on the development organizations web-site are both deceptive. It looks simple. Developing people’s professional skills and increasing the ability of organizations is not simple. Power, culture, and diversity of vision all collide when people try to “develop capacity”. Here are six observations I’ve had about the fun (and complex) world of “capacity development”. 1) Developing People is not like building a houses: A+B does not always =Read more
Leading While in the Muddled Middle: Lessons from Development Leadership
International development leadership is a mix of creating movements, managing people and budgets, and casting a constant vision of what a new reality could be. It is a world of emergence. The development leader is in what Michael Patton (2011) in Developmental Evaluation call’s “the muddled middle”. Local culture and organizational culture meet. Customary systems meet log-frames. At the meeting point is the International Development manager, consultant, or director. There is nothing like it in the world! Here are aRead more
flourishing and disadvantage 