Setting the Personal Stage

Small things people do That most others do not do that make a BIG difference The Secret Sauce

Positive Deviant Individuals/Groups Ordinary people/institutions who have found better (or even extraordinary) solutions to existing problems – without access to any extra resources.

do *Round 1: Find a partner whom you do not know 4 minutes total sharing time (2 minutes each) *Then find another partner… (4 minutes) *Then find another…(4 minutes) What is your secret behavioral sauce? A small little thing you do [that most other people do not do] that makes a big difference? What brings you here? What do you expect to give? Take? THREE ROUNDS

Setting the Workshop Stage

The Positive Deviance Way is about Beginner’s Mind

Positive Deviance is about a Flipped Mindset…..

PD Flips the Holy Grail Problem Solving by Unpacking Problems (i.e. what is not working) Deductive Reasoning about What Works for Whom (i.e. the logic of regression, the normal curve) Push Standardized Solutions (i.e. no variability; high reliability) Scientific Proof (Evidence-Based Practice) Buy-In Compliance (I know best). Thinking One’s Way Into a New Way of Acting (Cognitive information-processing and stages of behavior change): KAP

PD Flips the Holy Grail We Can Solve Problems by Unpacking Problems (i.e. what is not working) Deductive Reasoning about What Works for Whom (i.e. the logic of regression, the normal curve) Push Standardized Solutions (i.e. no variability; high reliability) Scientific Proof (Evidence-Based Practice) Buy-In Compliance (I know best). Thinking One’s Way Into a New Way of Acting (Cognitive information-processing and stages of behavior change): KAP Problem Solving by finding hidden solutions (i.e. what is working) Abductive Reasoning (“It is elementary”) (Solutions lie with unusual suspects in surprising places) Solutions are distributed widely: They are everywhere Social Proof (Practice-based Evidence) Invitation and Ownership (We care) Acting One’s Way Into a New Way of Thinking: PAK

With Gratitude Jerry and Monique Sternin

Some ideas to get the most out of the two days: Be “fully present” (Body, Heart, Head, Soul) Be “unencumbered of technology” (a notebook is the most you will need) Go with the “flow” (any “discomfort” you experience is part of the pedagogy and andragogy) Use the Curiosity, Wisdom, and Resource Walls

What to Expect Learn the fundamentals of, and gain confidence to begin implementing the PD Approach PD Method (the Five Ds) PD Tools (e.g. Community Scorecards; DADs) PD Lexicon Connect and learn from and with others. Unconference.

The Flip A Narrative Framework to understand the Positive Deviance Approach

Understanding Positive Deviance A foundational story

Positive Deviance Concept  Solutions to problems exist  Stare us in the face  We do not see them  Incapable of seeing them  Don’t know where to look  The territory is uncharted  Conventional problem-solving are quite useless.

The PD concept the observation that in every community there are a few individuals or groups whose uncommon but successful behaviors and strategies have enabled them to find better solutions to problems than their neighbors without special resources while facing the same or worse challenges. Video: Monique on Positive Deviance

A Conversation Cafe What implications do these foundational PD stories hold for “rescripting” the way I work? Or solve problems? Reflection: 2 minutes 3 Rounds: 10 minutes First round: A sentence (a headline) Second round: A short para (fleshing out the headline) Third round: widen, deepen, build (two paras)

Solving Malnutrition by finding the Secret Sauce Welcome to the Rice Fields in Vietnam

Why only Six Months to Show Results?

What did Gretchen Berggren do?

A flipped PD question : Are there children from very very poor households that are well-nourished? Notice: It is an Improbable Question about “What is Working?” Against all odds?

“There is nothing so well learned than that which is discovered“ – Socrates.

We act our way into a new way of thinking Video: Karate Kid

Determine Discover Design Discern Disseminate Define The PD Methodology

Improved Nutrition in Vietnam 2.2 million people (including 500,000 children) Source: Emory University Special Issue of Food and Nutrition Bulletin (2002) Volume 23(4)

Identifying PDs is a Data-Driven Process Source: Arvind Singhal (2013). The Value of Positive Deviations.

When to use PD? Is it a complex problem? Is it specific and measurable? Is it discussable? Doable? Is their local interest and support to solve the problem?

A PD determining question can be asked …..in dozens of different ways. …..looking at different actors. …..at different levels e.g. individual, institutional, geographical

What enables some young Latina women who are presently enrolled in college, who come from poor SES backgrounds, whose mother became pregnant when they were a teenager, who are in a relationship, to remain pregnancy free? Using Data (archival or primary) to find positive deviant individuals/groups.

Using Discovery and Action Dialogues (DADs) to find Positive Deviants Ask seven progressive questions: 1. How do you know when problem X is present? 2. How do you contribute effectively to solving problem X? 3. What prevents you from taking these actions all the time? 4. Do you know anybody who is able to frequently solve problem X and overcome barriers? What behaviors or practices made their success possible? 5. Do you have any other ideas to solve the problem? 6. What needs to be done to make it happen? Any volunteers? 7. Who else needs to be involved?

Are there some nurses, patients, doctors who better prevent and control the spread of hospital-acquired infections than others? Small acts, Big Impact Wisdom is distributed and lies with unusual suspects.

37 1 II III 1V V Wisdom with the Escort Department Jasper Palmer Video

Preventing & Controlling Hospital-Acquired Infections Positive Deviance Project in Six Hospitals 73 Percent

We dance around a ring and suppose… The truth sits in the middle and knows. Robert Frost

The PD concept is based on the observation that in every community or organization, there are a few individuals or groups whose uncommon but successful behaviors and strategies have enabled them to find better solutions to problems than their neighbors without special resources while facing the same or worse challenges and barriers. The PD approach is a problem solving, asset-based approach grounded in the fact that communities have assets or resources they haven’t tapped. It enables a community or organization to amplify uncommon behaviors or strategies discovered by community members among the least likely to succeed (positive deviants), develop some activities or initiatives based on these findings and measure outcomes. The PD approach brings about sustainable behavioral and social change by identifying context specific solutions. A PD individual or group are individuals or groups who have overcome or prevented a pervading problem against all odds, among their peers, by demonstrating special or uncommon behaviors and strategies without special resources. A person is defined as a PD only in the context of a specific problem that require behavior and social change. PD inquiry refers to the stage in the methodology whereby the community/researchers /stakeholders seek to discover demonstrably successful behaviors and strategies among its members. PD Principles : the basic components/ingredients that gives the PD approach its name: the invitation, community ownership throughout, discovery of existing solutions (uncommon behaviors & strategies), leveraging these solutions to the whole community via practice based activities (versus knowledge based activities), monitoring behavior change & evaluating the results. PD Methodology : consists of five basic steps as the backbone of the approach (the 5 D’s: define the problem, determine presence of PDs, discover their uncommon but successful behaviors & strategies through PD inquiries, develop activities based on the inquiries findings and discern (monitor and evaluate) the results. PD Process refers to the entire journey encompassing the skillful use of experiential learning and skilled facilitation applied to the five steps of the PD design through use of existing formal and informal networks, creation of new networks, feedback loops at critical junction throughout the process, supporting leadership for removing barriers and supporting innovation. The PD process is iterative, flexible, chaotic and non linear. PD Tools: are highly participatory activities that are used during each step of the PD methodology: Participatory Learning & Action (PLA) methodology, Liberating Structures (Discovery and Action Dialogues). Positive Deviance Lexicon