How Change Happens<\/em><\/a>, he offers elements of a theory of change, along with case studies and some practical direction for people who want to change the world. <\/p>\nHe takes a \u201csystems approach\u201d that emphasizes the complexity of social phenomena; uncountable variables interact in all sorts of ways with each other. \u201cMany of the mental models we use are linear plans,\u201d he writes, \u201c\u2018if A, then B\u2019\u2014with profound consequences in terms of failure, frustration, and missed opportunities.\u201d Because we expect B to follow A, failures and backfires are obstacles to change. <\/span><\/p>\nEncouraging social change in a complex system, he claims, is more like the experimental process of raising children: <\/span>\u201cparents make it up as the go along. And they should.\u201d Sticking with a theory of parenting come thick or thin is a recipe for disaster and dysfunction. Green writes, \u201cWhat really helps parents is experience (the second kid is usually easier), and the advice and reassurance of people who\u2019ve been through it themselves\u2014\u2018mentoring\u2019 in management speak. Working in complex systems requires the same kind of iterative, collaborative, and flexible approach.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nGreen takes a cue from Milton Friedman, who argued that real social change occurs because of crises. In Friedman\u2019s words, \u201cOnly a crisis \u2014actual or perceived\u2014produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. That, I believe, is our basic function: to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes politically inevitable.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nCrises are intrusions into linear, recipe-like plans for change. They should be seen, Green agrees, as manna from heaven.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nIn another possible nod to Friedman, he suggests that activists float multiple efforts at the same time: \u201cActivists hate failure. No one wants to think they\u2019ve wasted their time, or wake up to newspaper headlines about money lost or \u2018wasted\u2019 on failed projects. Compare this risk aversion to a venture capitalist who backs ten projects knowing that nine will fail, but he or she will make enough money on the tenth to more than compensate for the rest.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The world is full of activists and \u201cchange agents,\u201d but Duncan Green doesn\u2019t think anyone has a clear idea of how social change occurs. In How Change Happens, he offers elements of a theory of change, along with case studies and some practical direction for people who want to change the world. He takes a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1675,127],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social-change","category-sociology"],"yoast_head":"\n
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