The Paradigm of Change, Individual Mindsets and Institutional Culture

The Change paradigm is an organic whole of multiple synergistic interplays of processes or arenas that the facilitation team continually works with. The team works in tandem, continuously evaluating the efficacy of the various interventions or processes against the change sought to be brought about.

Democratisation

Democratisation lies at the core of the process of change facilitation. Democratisation admits of different facets for the change catalyst; democratisation as a way of life with family and friends, democratisation as a work ethic with colleagues and sub-ordinates to raise the standards of team performance, democratisation as an equal partnership with citizens. In each facet, democratisation implies a meaningful enabling, empowering, efficacious engagement with the citizen and for the state with the state through ‘Public Public Partnership’ (PUP). At the worksite, the change catalyst continuously builds up the capacities and the capabilities of the citizen community as an equal partner in governance.

Ethical Arena

Ethical Arena for a public servant ordinarily means personal ownership of the indicators of good governance – namely accountability, transparency, inclusion, equity, participation, as one’s role and goal.

The ethical arena, however, from the perspective of the change catalyst goes beyond ownership to expand the boundaries of the ethical sphere and draw in larger numbers of colleagues and citizens into the praxis of good governance while continuously raising standards of performance and stimulating like responses from colleagues and citizens.

Relational Arena

Relational Arena for the change catalyst is a complex tapestry of interwoven relationships as an official or functionary, as an actor of the government, as a participant in a team, as a representative of a developmental state, as a duty holder of the nation, even while being a
citizen at all times. The relational arena defines the quality of the engagement of the change catalyst with superiors, colleagues, subor-dinates and the citizens. The relational arena explores the standards of openness, trust, collaboration and cooperation that prevail in the work place and the work site and continuously raises the standard of engagement.

Functional Arena

Functional Arena focuses on roles and responsibilities played out by the officials and functionaries as change catalysts. It explores the terms of the relationship of the functionary with the citizen moving from openness to transparency, above question to accountability, distance to inclusion, privileging to equity, participation to partnership, efficiency to efficacy.

The exploration of these shifts openness to transparency, from asking questions to demanding accountibility begin in the workshop space and grow into the work site space as the citizen as public servant and the citizen as public create new forms of internal solidarity as indicators of a strengthened relationship between the two.

Impact Arena

Impact Arena draws attention to the deliverables of the change process as increased camaraderie in the work space, increased bonding, functional teams, work sharing, open discussion and feedback, greater sense of purpose, increased volunteering, heightened sense of individual and collective achievement in the work space, while the work site manifest clear indications of governance reform, participatory decision making, conscious inclusion of the silent majority, directed development, enhanced service delivery, community monitoring, sustained participation, increased community contribution, greater sense of ownership, free exchange between service providers and citizens, efficacious resource use, absence of rent seeking and experienced dignity in the work site.

Institutional Arena

Institutional Arena points out to organisational and institutional transformation. Internal horizontalisation of authority structures, increased free and open communication, efficacious teams, higher sense of purpose, increased job satisfaction, greater exchange of ideas and voluntarism, and respecting the dignity of all emerge as part of the institutional culture, even while the institution clearly reflects a culture of citizen-centric governance.