More often than not I used to find myself complaining and cribbing about the system. After continuing to work closely with the Education system, especially school teachers in Chirawa block, Jhunjhunu district, Rajasthan; I have learned an essential aspect of social development which is ‘listening and understanding people in the system.’
India’s population is 1.3 billion and expecting that things are going to run smoothly would be futile. When I say ‘Listening to the system’ I mean that any system is built by People! and the sooner we learn people as resource and aim our collective power for larger good, the better. Whenever any stakeholder would come up to me and say that my work is Useless! or that I wouldn’t get support from the “System (education system in reference here).” My immediate concern goes toward listening to the individual or group in the lens of ‘What is making them feel distant from the system, Why they see themselves not included in the term- system?’
Gandhi Fellowship we follow this beautiful concept of Influence Without Authority (IWA) which not only lets us make use of the People as resource I mentioned above, but form deeper connections and understanding. While practicing IWA I try not putting across the MOU Piramal Foundation has with the Ministry of Education, State of Rajasthan. Instead, I try to dialogue about the deeper objective and meaning of the work I need to get done. I try building a common ground as to how our objectives are so similar.
When I listened to ‘People of THE system’ and build the relationship so they become ‘My people from the system.’ I started receiving deeper insights about the issues and their challenges too. This has given me the opportunity to co-create better solutions with them.
I now feel that social development work should be challenging the system towards change yet enable it instead of just finding flaws in it!
