A Theory of Ownership

A Theory of Ownership: an introduction to the work of the Constellation

Our starting point..A Theory of Ownership rather than a Theory of Change.

Here is the starting point for the Theory of Change of the Constellation:

Communities change themselves.

We do not change communities.

This is not a glib truism. It is a design principle.

Our experience over 11 years and 96 countries is that communities can and do respond to the challenges that they face when they take ownership of those challenges.

The change that we own is sustainable change.

It is not sufficient to engage.

It is not enough to consult.

Rather we seek to accompany the community as it goes on the path to ownership of their own challenge.

We call this path Local Response and we call the methodology that they use the Community Life Competence Process (CLCP). We accompany the community as it applies CLCP with an approach that we characterise with the acronym SALT.

Our ending point

When a community takes ownership of the challenge that it faces, it is on the road to sustainable change.

Our Pathway to Ownership

In the process which we use (CLCP) and the way in which we use it (SALT), we accompany the community as:

• • it takes action based on its strengths to realise its dream.

  • it learns from its experience on its journey to its dream.

  • it inspires others, and is inspired by others, when it connects to learn to share.

How we support ownership

This is the role of the Constellation as it accompanies the community on its path to ownership:

• • we develop and nurture the capacity to facilitate community discussion, reflection, learning and action.

  • we accompany communities on their journey to their dream.

  • we connect communities to their peers locally, regionally, nationally and globally

The methodology of the Constellation

CLCP plus SALT

The Community Life Competence Process (CLCP) is a form of learning cycle where a community takes action and learns from its experience. That learning becomes the basis for another round of action and learning. The cycle goes on indefinitely: there is no end point.

The steps of the learning cycle allow a community to divide a daunting challenge into a set of specific and manageable steps. While we consider CLCP to be an effective implementation of the Learning Cycle, our experience tells us that on its own it would not consistently open the door to change. In addition, we support communities as they apply CLCP with an approach characterised by the acronym SALT. SALT stands for Support/Stimulate, Appreciate, Learn and Transfer.

We have found this approach to be effective in stimulating and supporting the community through the challenges of working through the cycle. SALT plays another vital and innovative role in linking the community with its peers so that it can learn from their experiences and share its own experiences.

SALT kick starts the learning process and then it supports the community through the hard work, and the inevitable setbacks that lead to Life Competence.

In SALT and CLCP we have a very beautiful and powerful combination.

SALT

SALT tries to capture a way of thinking about CLCP. SALT seeks to appreciate strengths. When we appreciate strengths, we recognise that people have the capacity to act and to recognise that they have acted successfully in the past. This says to communities that you are already on the learning cycle and here is how you can continue to improve your situation through CLCP. And the steady appreciation of strengths reinforces that recognition. SALT is supporting progress on the learning cycle in a variety of ways. And this is indeed a big deal. Anyone who has worked on a learning cycle knows that the challenge is to sustain the momentum.

There is one other aspect of SALT that we would like to emphasise here and that is the idea of transfer. When a community has taken action and learned from its experience, it is natural to share that enthusiasm with peers. As part of our approach, we ensure that the community has the opportunity to meet peers and to learn from the experience of their peers and to share their own experience. We call these events Learning Festivals and one objective of the Learning Festival is to codify the learnings from experience in Knowledge Assets.

The steps in our Methodology

The Community Life Competence Process takes a community through a series of steps that leads towards its dream. As they go through these steps, we accompany the community with a perspective that is based on appreciating the strengths of the community. The process and the perspective are mutually reinforcing. When we appreciate the strengths of the community, the community recognises its strengths and can base its action on those strengths. When the community takes action and reflects on that action it recognises those strengths.

As the community moves through the process, each step documents progress, but the real measure of ownership lies in the depth of discussion, the consistency of engagement, and the joy of achievement that accompanies each step.

The Learning Cycle concludes with a review of actions. One aspect of this review is the collection of material that allows the community to share its achievements with its peers. This produces stories that document what the community has learned from its experience and this forms the basis of the Learning Festival and the Knowledge Asset.

Once the community is comfortable that it has learned from its own experience and from the experience of its peers, it is ready to start the learning cycle once again to move it closer to its dream.

An overview of the Theory of Change (Ownership)

Here are the 3 elements that permeate the methodology used by the Constellation:

First, CLCP gives the community the tools that it needs to take action to deal with its challenges.

The steps in the process give the community a sense of progress, a conviction that change is possible and the belief that they can be the instigators of that change.

Success in applying CLCP gives the community confidence that it can deal with their challenges and that confidence is based on their personal experience.

Secondly, our way of working (SALT) gives the community the confidence that it can deal with their challenge. As we accompany the community, we appreciate their strengths. The community comes to recognise those strengths, that they have used those strengths to take action and that they can take action based on those strengths.

Thirdly, our way of working (SALT) brings communities together so that they can learn from the experience of their peers and share their own experience with their peers. We call the event a Learning Festival and it serves both to provide practical knowledge to allow more effective action and to allow peers to provide support and encouragement.

This is non-linear process. Each part of each step reinforces each other step.

The diagram below gives an overview of our Theory of Change that tries to capture this complexity.