Jerry Sternin (1938-2008) is regarded as the founder of the Positive Deviance approach. An international development practitioner, Jerry served the Peace Corps for eight years in the Philippines, Nepal, Mauritania and Rwanda, and 16 years as a Save the Children Director in Vietnam, Bangladesh, Egypt, Philippines, and Myanmar. Thanks to Jerry’s passion for this behavior and social change approach and his exceptional communication and training skills, the PD approach has been applied in over 60 countries around the world.
Richard Pascale: The People Who Help Develop and Co-Create the Positive Deviance Approach
Richard was instrumental in negotiating the funding of the PD nutrition Viet Nam project with British Petroleum (BP) for the INGO, Save the Children in the late 1980’s. He championed the use of the PD approach in business via his yearly course at the Oxford Said Business School and at many other venues and platforms. Over the decades, he provided his full and steadfast support to the PD Initiative and was instrumental in making the PD approach part of the mainstream behavior and social change approaches.
Muhammad Shafique on 30 Years of Positive Deviance
Muhammad Shafique is a sociologist with 20 years of experience in social and behavior change communication (SBCC). His aspiration is to bring about positive social and behavioral changes to improve the quality of life for all community members. Shafique’s encounter with Positive Deviance started in his home country Pakistan in the North East Region in 2001. He has applied the PD approach to maternal and newborn health, malaria prevention and control, dengue control, and polio eradication in Pakistan, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar.
David Gasser: Reflections on Positive Deviance
David Gasser is a free lance consultant who has been involved with the Positive Deviance Approach for over 17 years. He first encountered the approach through Jerry Sternin in Mexico in 2003, working on the PD Merk project. His sector of expertise with the PD include the private sector, public agencies, health care, and education in the US, Puerto Rico and a few countries in Latin America. David also volunteered many days working with the PD Initiative in PD training design and facilitation. Here, David reflects on his journey with Positive Deviance.
Gretchen Berggren: Lessons Learned from “Positive Deviant” Mothers and Follow-up Program through Training for Behavioral Change through Recognition of the “Learning Cycle”
Gretchen Berggren has dedicated most of her life to children survival in the developing world and especially in Haiti. She was a health advisor at Save the Children when she introduced the Sternins to the work of Marian Zietlin and others on the use of Positive Deviance in Child nutrition. In Viet Nam, she provided invaluable advice and coaching on growth monitoring and other technical aspects of childhood nutrition.
Lars Thuesen: 12 years of Facilitating Complex Social Change Processes with the Positive Deviance Approach
Lars Thuesen is a global social change leader and strategic innovation facilitator with more than 20 years of experience as a leader, senior civil servant and consultant in the public sector and internationally. In 2014 Lars founded WIN (the Welfare Improvement Network) a network of international consultants that helps leaders, organizations and communities initiate and sustain social change using innovative approaches. He has used the Adaptive Leadership model and the Positive Deviance Approach to solve wicked social problems, e.g. gender and equality challenges, illiteracy in Roma communities and reducing violence among youth.
Maha Abusamra: PD for Gender Equality
Maha Abusamra is a consultant/trainer with over 20 years of experience in gender and programme management. She applied the Positive Deviance approach in the areas of gender equality in the Middle East and is one of the founders of the Palestine UN Gender Innovation Lab. She worked with UNDP, UNRWA and Catholic Relief Services on Gender, Governance, Social Development programmes, as well as in the private sector.
In this short video, Maha Abusamra shares her experiences using the Positive Deviance approach at a project level as a PD facilitator and one of the founders of the Palestine UN Gender Innovation Lab.
Cole Zanetti: Being a PD Facilitator
Author: Cole Zanetti, DO, MPH
Family Medicine & Preventive Medicine Physician
I am from a small town called Otisville, New York made up of about 800 people. My mother was a deli manager, my father a linemen that fixed electric poles. Neither went to college. My grandmother who was a music teacher in a local school helped raise me and my younger sister. I went to an osteopathic medical school in Texas and during my last year my grandmother became ill. It was the first time that I was able to see the healthcare system through the eyes of a family member, a loved one, not a physician. Due to a key medication mistakenly not given my family and I had to see my grandmother so confused she could barely recognize us. Her wishes and our families’ wishes were not considered as the same weight as the "experts."
From that point on, a new understanding of what expert meant began to grow. I decided to go to Dartmouth for family medicine and preventive medicine residency because it offered an opportunity to test real change in our healthcare system. During this time I had the honor to dive deeper into positive deviance where I discovered a new world of untapped, impassioned, brilliant leaders that not only could change our healthcare but our community and our hearts. I am now working in Denver as a Clinical Innovator with Iora Health applying these same principles for Denver's geriatric population. Making sure that everyone's grandparents and families are listened to, cared for, and respected the way they deserve to be. I have so much to learn from them.
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/colezanetti Twitter: @ColeZanettiDO
Michèle Dabaghian: My Experience of Positive Deviance as a Practitioner
Author: Michèle Dabaghian
M. Dabaghian Advisory,
International Marketing & Communications, Change Management & Business Development
Michele is a multicultural and versatile senior advisor in international business development, sales & marketing and change management with a proven track record of successful achievements across the Middle East, India, the Gulf Cooperation Council, European and African countries.
Context
I first came across the concept of Positive Deviance (PD) in the context of the thesis that I wrote as part of the CCC Consulting and Coaching for Change course 1.
I had decided to explore how Saudi Arabian women become leaders in their country. My interest in this topic emerged in light of the ongoing reforms which have been revolutionising the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia since 2017, when the arrival of the 32 year old Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman instigated numerous decrees that would allow Saudi Arabia to diversify its oil-driven economy. A series of social reforms has begun to ease women’s condition in this religious state that is underpinned by Wahabism – a radical form of Sunni Islam.
These newly-promulgated decrees cover civil and social aspects of life, such as lifting the ban on women’s driving, allowing them to attend sporting events in the national stadium, etc.
In addition, it’s important to note that as part of the 2030 Vision of the Kingdom2, the female workforce is envisaged to increase to 30% by 2030. (vs. 17% in 2017)
Why Positive Deviance?
When I started exploring existing literature around women’s leadership in Saudi Arabia, I was struck by the fact that despite the stringency of the Saudi regime and its cultural constraints, some women had been successful over the last few decades in becoming business leaders in one way or another. I realised I could not ignore these exceptions, the ‘silver lining’, those few outliers who had somehow managed to manoeuvre within or alongside the system to become successful leaders and entrepreneurs – and yet remain in tune with their society, proudly claiming their culture and their national values. This intriguing question led me to consider the potential existence of an underlying PD behaviour within the system. In order to find an answer, I focused my research question on how a minority of Saudi women leaders build and preserve their identity in the context of the prevailing socio-cultural constraints.
Although I had not approached this subject from an interventional perspective, I believed that using the PD methodology of investigation would help me explore how the journey of some Saudi women enabled them to overcome resignation and fatalism - despite the fact that their life experiences remain enmeshed in a complex social system that could prevent such achievement.
Method
I knew that the key to unlocking these ideas would be found at the heart of women’s life stories. To explore these, I spent 15 days in Saudi Arabia and I chose the ‘life narrative’ interview process to talk to 19 women leaders of different ages (28 to 58) in Jeddah, Khobar and Riyadh. The ‘life narrative’3 interview process invites participants to consider their lives as a book, enabling the emergence of key moments, people, influences etc, through their story-telling.
I speak Arabic, the language of their heart, which gave me privileged entry to their confidence and access to their innermost stories. I used the PD investigation method of open listening, remaining flexible and respectful of the sensitivity of the information that they were sharing with me. At times I allowed myself to admit my own vulnerability and share my own stories, which created a safe space for them to express their own emotions. As a result, I was able to collect extensive data about the women’s childhood, their families, their education, their lifestyle, their hopes and fears and also their successes as leaders in the patriarchal society of Saudi Arabia.
Findings
I had embarked on my research with the assumption that each Saudi woman leader would be a ‘warrior’, fighting for her dream against the constraints of her society. What I discovered was that each of the 19 women demonstrated agency and determination to become leaders through their resourcefulness, diplomacy and ability to manoeuvre around the cultural limitations.
I also discovered that behind each woman stood a strong ‘pillar’, in the form of her father or a fatherly figure, which was another surprising finding. I had assumed that Saudi fathers would be obstacles to their daughters’ fulfilment, whereas I found that they shielded them from the constraints of their society and encouraged their education, allowing them to travel and obtain international degrees, and work in gender-mixed environments.
I found myself wondering: who actually is the Positive Deviant? The daughter? Or the father? I am tempted to speculate that the father demonstrates equal PD behaviour, fuelled by a strong desire for his daughter to become a female leader in Saudi Arabia and a willingness to support her self-realisation.
Conclusion
The PD methodology provided a helpful framework to explore, design and carry out my research. Furthermore, it gave me guidance on how to conduct myself in the interview process, for example refraining from using leading questions, jumping to conclusions, interrupting and giving advice, or allowing my personal biases to contaminate the integrity of the narratives.
Finally, the Saudi Vision 2030 places great importance on growing, educating, developing and enabling a new generation of women leaders. My research took place over 3 months in 2018, reflecting a moment in time at the genesis of this nationwide initiative. These preliminary findings show that beyond the Saudi culture and its societal paradigms, the importance of the family culture is at the heart of the solution.
I believe a PD intervention involving other participants, including women and their fathers, mothers, family members and their support systems, would provide an interesting opportunity to expand the solution space.
1 Consulting and Coaching for Change is a Mastère Spécialisé degree which is run jointly by the Said Business School (Oxford University) and the HEC in Paris
2 http://vision2030.gov.sa/en
3 (McAdams, 2001)
McAdams, D. P. (2001). The psychology of life stories. Review of General Psychology Review of General Psychology, 5(2), 100–122.
Michele Dabaghian
+33783618349
Mohammad Shafique: Tips on PD Facilitation
Author: Mohammad Shafique
PD Facilitator, Behavior Change Communication Specialist
Before entering into a community, try to understand its social, political and cultural context and understand the dynamics of the community very well
Working with community is fun, it’s a great learning opportunity, therefore, take it as a privilege and enjoy this interaction
Always go as learner and learn about their culture, traditions, behaviours and the overall context
Respect culture and values of the community and try to build on these cultural events to disseminate the positive behaviours of the community
Always consider that the community is the expert; they know about their issues, problems, areas and what constitute these issues. Therefore, always engage them as ‘active’ partner to address the problems together
Be inclusive and engage all the segments of the community in the PD process. Avoid any discrimination on the basis of social class, ethnicity, gender or geographical distance. Provide everyone equal opportunities to be part of the project to ensure their ownership
Positive Deviance approach builds the capacity and self-efficacy of the community members so that they could gradually take the lead to solve their issues. Therefore, build their confidence, capacity and skills so that they could take charge and solve their issues without any external help
The PD process takes few weeks to understand the context of the community, therefore, go along-with local leaders, work in the community in a non-threatening way, for example, do not walk through community holding cameras or note books, it makes the community suspicious. Always conduct transact walk empty hand and make the mental notes and when you complete the walk, then sit and take notes.
Respect community’s time and routines and always plan your work when community is available. If you plan your work based on their convenience, they will give you a quality time and you will come up with rich information. But if you go with your convenience, they may want to finish it early or do not give your quality responses.
When you have identified positive deviant individual, make sure, that there is no cultural sensitivity to share their stories using their identify. In case of sensitive topic, always ask their permission to use their identity or names to share their positive behaviours with other community members
Always keep community’s expectation low, do not make false promises or give incentives, it will raise their expectations and they will expect such favours in the future or without incentive they might cease participating
Always wear culturally appropriate dresses and avoid wearing expensive dresses or ornaments as it creates social distance
Use story telling approaches during the PD process and training of facilitators as it helps the communities better understand
Use lots of local games to explain the PD concepts, games help the participants open up and create a very conducive environment for learning
Muhammad Shafique is a specialist in communication and behaviour change with areas of expertise in malaria and dengue prevention and control, maternal and newborn health, and polio eradication. He has worked with Malaria Consortium, Save the Children, and Merlin organzations and in many countries, including Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Pakistan.
To learn about other individuals with experience working with PD, visit our Facilitators page.