Simple Ways to Create Scalable Behavior Change

 

Most of what we do in our work is centered on behavior change for broader impact. Examples may be behaviors that lead to increasing maize yields, preventing communicable disease, or saving money for the future. This is challenging in itself, but add to that donor’s tendencies to want scale and it becomes even more so. I have seen projects that do two-hour trainings on hand-washing or some other behavior and then move on, expecting that this training alone will change community mentality. Well, it is not that simple. Or is it?

My guest today Michael Potts has 50 years’ experience in development, in the area of agriculture in particular. Over the years Michael has tried many approaches to community behavior change, and in this interview he shares what he has found to be simplest and most effective. Even though his focus is agriculture, his advice can be applied across sectors.

 In this episode we cover:

How to make farmers open up about challenges they are having How to determine what is the main barrier they are facing Questions to ask to determine which behavior to focus on The ideal number of behaviors to change How to design effective trainings that will lead to scale and wider adoption Why projects should be focused on learning and not “ticking boxes”