When asked to write a guest column, one usually starts with a riveting topic. But ‘openness’? – Where’s the sizzle in that? - It sounds so mundane as to verge on a ‘motherhood’ (parenthood) issue! I agree and hopefully will have more compelling articles later. But to use ‘sizzle’ as an analogy, I’d say openness is not the food sizzling in the fry pan, nor the fry pan, nor even the fire, oxygen or wood – the best analogy would be that it is the possibility that bringing together wood, oxygen and a spark will create a fire.
Fine. But isn’t this blog about the gritty topic of poverty and its elimination? – surely such esoteric topics should be discussed elsewhere! True. But occasionally it is worth some reflection to ensure things are well-anchored.
As a crusty-old activist who has been involved in peace and justice activities for over 30 years, including many years on the Board of a similar international development organization in Canada – World Accord - I have found that almost any issue has openness as one of the core components for a lasting resolution. So that is always where I like to start. In fact it is why I like this blog, for its basis – to redefine poverty – is an acknowledgement to remain open to how old and even current thoughts may need refining.
Indeed, the history of international development over the last few decades is one where you can delineate organizations like Outreach International, that have been open to new insights, from those which continue patterns that keep the organization successful in terms of size but are not maximizing true development. Most organizations started with very caring people who were trying to insert our “First World” patterns into “Third World” countries as they were called. But for those who were open, the apparently easy “Do unto others . . .” wasn’t quite so simple. Context was crucial and it became apparent that it was a paternalistic “doing for others” – drilling wells, building houses (things which even today can still be appropriate in the right circumstances) - and needed to shift to a “doing with others” – partnering in a way that honours each other’s place and dignity. And through such healthier interactions there emerged notions about sustainability; the catalytic role of women; concepts like capacity building, micro-credit, and so on. And even now it continues, as Nobel Peace Prize winner MohamadYunus and others dabble with appropriate roles for the “for-profit” sector.
Openness has been crucial for solid international development. That said, it isn’t a panacea – it requires other building blocks that will be sketched in future blogs. And you may have noticed, I haven’t even defined it yet. While one can sketch some basic principles (See Openness Principles), one can’t just hand someone a list and say “Be open!” – it is an inner dynamic. My push is that the world needs to explicitly focus on openness, do fundamental research on it, etc. To me it is one of Life’s great mysteries but we needn’t leave it at that. Next time I’ll illustrate an unbelievable way it can pop up.
How would you define openness? How do you think it comes about? Do you think we actually could focus on it, or is it like trying to catch the wind? Share your ideas.
To give a hint at the potential effect of openness on human dynamics if it really was given the type of overwhelming attention that preventive dimension should be given, consider the difference between perspective and ideology. One can’t help but have a perspective on something. But to me the key difference is openness – if someone is presented with new evidence, ideology will filter it out unless it reinforces the ideological base points. This may all sound esoteric, at least until one finds themselves, as I do today, listening to reports of the 10th straight day of bombardments by Israel into the Gaza Strip. Or the earlier denials of Zimbabwe’s President Mugabe about a cholera outbreak or past denials for years of African or other world leaders of the presence of HIV/AIDS in their country. Multiple factors are at play in these situations, and underlying many is the lack of openness.
I hope that this coming year will be one filled with openings, such as this blog, and the vital heartbeat of organizations like Outreach International, that are so open to the possibilities that will maximize the flourishing of life for all!
Rod Downing
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