In respect of scaling up, rapid adaptation to different situations, circumstances and environments is very common with new inventions and developments.
When we invent something that is not really needed, like electricity, and it is rapidly scaled up, it quickly becomes so powerful that we begin to build our world around it and then it becomes vital – not just for comfort and convenience, but for our very survival. In the words of Jared Diamond, ‘invention becomes the mother of necessity!’
But the world of helping people is, I believe, kind of different.
As we noted above, scaling up is particularly challenging for a development that has a cultural dimension – as an initiative to protect children and vulnerable families undoubtedly has.
In such cases meaning is very important.
In my experience many programmes that are scaled up (rolled out as we say) to assist families affected by imprisonment are designed by people within, and are deeply embedded in, the culture of the Pillars. All too often, the amount of meaning that the programmes have for people that they are aimed at is limited to those who have some measure of formal education.
So – how do we scale up effective work with the Focus Group so that it will have a real impact on people’s lives and will not simply be a well-intentioned clone of something that works well in one culture but not in another?
I believe that despite the fact that the characteristics of the Focus Group are much the same all over the world, the response will need to be culturally sympathetic to where people grow up and live.
For example, urban Ireland might be different to rural Ireland, or large city might be different to small town etc. etc. The best place to address these differences is in training courses offered by the organisation, (or favoured by the organisation) and ongoing supervision.
Listening, with accompanying two-way knowledge flow is very necessary, where the root foundation fundamentals are enriched by feedback on what actually works in different environments.
This, of course, will probably result in a slower expansion, scaling up, or rolling out, but it will be a lot more sustainable, and will allow people choose what suits them and what doesn’t, what works and what doesn’t, and even what gets in the way of good work.
It will also be non-linear – allowing for the type of growth that is typically human.
Symmetry and cultural matching as described in previous Chapters implies that we take the cultural dimension seriously. And talking about what, I believe that if we get how right, what will look after itself.
And yes – I believe that we can reinvent the wheel. The wheel is a perfect circle that is used widely in mechanical devices, and perfection has not that much relevance for the cultural world – particularly the world of helping people.
Wheels in the world of helping people might best be eccentric, or may not – as the case may be. If we’re not prepared to continually reinvent we will risk blandness.
And anyway, we’ll learn a lot reinventing.