Synthesis of project management and leadership principles that facilitate positive changes by appealing to people's rational and emotional sides

1. Project Management for Positive and Lasting
Change
Some thoughts
And Examples from the Island of Mauritius
Dr John Mauremootoo
Adapted from a presentation given to the Mauritius Protected Area
Network (PAN) Project National Steering Committee Meeting,
Wednesday 2nd April 2014: Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food
Security, Port Louis, Mauritiuswww.inspiralpathways.com

2. Some Key Principles that underpin Project Management
• Projects facilitate but do not create change
• A growth mindset is essential
• Most change is a process & not an event
• Communication is everything & everything is
communication
• Planning, monitoring and evaluation is integral to
project management
Structure of Presentation

3. Changing Hearts and Minds
The Elephant and Rider Metaphor
Structure of Presentation
"Jonathan Haidt in his book The Happiness Hypothesis
introduces the metaphor of the rider and elephant. Haidt says
that our emotional side is an Elephant and our rational side is its
Rider. Perched atop the Elephant, the Rider holds the reins and
seems to be the leader. But the Rider’s control is precarious
because the Rider is so small relative to the Elephant. Anytime
the six-ton Elephant and the Rider disagree about which
direction to go, the Rider is going to lose. He’s completely
overmatched. So to make things work we cannot appeal only to
the rational side of people. We have to appeal to their emotional
side as well." ~ Chip and Dan Heath (2011)

4. Changing Hearts and Minds
The Elephant and Rider Metaphor
Structure of Presentation
Direct the Rider
• Develop a shared understanding
• Point to the destination
• Know, show and grow the bright spots
• Know who your partners are & how they interface with the
project
• Script the critical moves
• Learn and share

5. Changing Hearts and Minds
The Elephant and Rider Metaphor
Structure of Presentation
Motivate the Rider
• Find the feeling
• Rally the herd
• Identify & implement quick wins
• Embed change in culture
• Shape the environment where you need to
• Celebrate success

6. 1. A project is all about facilitating lasting positive change – the
project alone does not create this change
Some Principles that underpin
Project Management

7. Some Principles that underpin
Project Management
2. To facilitate change one must embrace a growth or possibility
mindset rather than a fixed mindset

8. John Mauremootoo | jmauremootoo@gmail.com3. Most positive change is a process and not an event

9. Trying to
implement
change too
quickly may
backfire
3. Most positive change is a process and not an event

10. • We are always communicating
• The meaning of communication is the response that we get
• Communication is not a one-way street
• So we have to understand not only the messages we transmit
but how they are received
4. Communication is everything and everything is communication

11. External events are transformed into thoughts via our
filters which delete, distort and generalise these events
WE ALL HAVE OUR OWN UNIQUE MAPS OF THE WORLD
Individuals give events their meaning

12. • We need to understand the outcomes of our actions by
monitoring early & often
• & translate the results of this monitoring into action
5. Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation is integral to Project
Management

13. Change is all about people…
Elephants
& their riders
How do we facilitate change?

14. John Mauremootoo | jmauremootoo@gmail.com
The Elephant and Rider
http://etiquettepage.com/news-feb2012

15. John Mauremootoo | jmauremootoo@gmail.com
We Direct the Rider
& We Motivate the Elephant

16. John Mauremootoo | jmauremootoo@gmail.com
How do we Direct the Rider?

17. Develop a shared understanding
forums.macresource.com
The need
to integrate
people’s
diverse
perspectives

18. Point to the destination
• Develop a shared vision which:
• Functions as a lighthouse – something
to guide our movement
bumblews.com
• & a star – something inspiring for us to
reach for
arvidaxelsson.se

19. 19
The Vision is your dream
Martin Luther King, Jr.
August 28, 1963

20. Know, Show & Grow the Bright Spots
On May 6th 1954 Roger Banister
became the first person to run a
mile in under 4 minutes a feat
considered impossible by many.
Banister’s record lasted only 46
days and within one year thirty
seven other runners had broken
the 4-minute barrier.

21. Know, Show & Grow the Bright Spots
J Mauremootoo
The recovery of the Mauritius
kestrel from a wild population
of only 4 birds in 1974 to safety
has inspired similar species
recovery successes in Mauritius
and all over the world.
MWF
The Brise Fer Old Plot was first
weeded in 1986. It has become
a bright spot and has helped to
inspire a now rapidly growing
area of restored native forest in
Mauritius and Rodrigues.

22. Know who your partners are & how
they interface with the project
Stakeholder Circles: A programme cannot control change, it can only influence and
contribute to changes at the level of its direct partners
Implementing
team
Direct
partner 1
Direct
partner 2
Direct
partner 3
Community1
Community 2
Community 3
Sphere of
Control
Sphere of
influence
Sphere of
interest/concern

23. Project Partners have their own Partners
Project
Project’s Partners
Project’s Partner’s Partners
So a little (strategic) influence can go a long way

24. The famous Serenity Prayer
speaks to the importance of
accepting our limited control
God, grant me the serenity to accept
the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.

25. Everybody knows something and nobody knows
everything
• Ask empowering questions…
• Come in “clean” (without preconceptions) &
really listen
• Expect surprises along the way
Respect everybody’s map of the
world

26. Plan the journey
Script the Critical Moves
Plan tightly for the short term but not for the medium and
long term when uncertainty is compounded over time

27. Plan the journey
The Action
Learning
Cycle as a
system of
continuous
learning by
doing
• Learn & share

28. Plan the journey
• Learn & share
The Action
Learning
Cycle
Answers the
three basic
questions

29. Everyone has a plan …
until he gets hit!
~ Mike Tyson:
American Former World
Heavyweight Boxing Champion
The Action Learning Cycle is at the
heart of Adaptive Management

30. M&E – finding the balance between…

31. Thanks to Ricardo Wilson-Grau & Michael Quinn Patton
But don’t make the system too heavy

32. Plan the journey
• Learn & share
I can honestly say that we use these reports every
single day of the year
Based on a cartoon by M.M. Rogers & Lawson Sworb

33. Plan the journey
• Learn & share
I can honestly say that we use these reports every
single day of the year
Based on a cartoon by M.M. Rogers & Lawson Sworb
Learn to COPE
Create
Once
Publish
Everywhere
But don’t just circulate
the same stuff to
everybody – different
groups have different
needs

34. John Mauremootoo | jmauremootoo@gmail.com
How do we Motivate the Elephant?

35. Find the feeling
Appeal to a positive sense of identity or help to
create one, e.g.
• We are the stewards of our land for our future and for the
next generations
• Together we can ensure that none of our species go the
way of the dodo
• We are Mauritians and we are proud of our unique
Mauritian plants and animals

36. J Mauremootoo
Rally the herd
• Work to establish norms
• Norms are our Identities “in action”
• Behaviour is contagious – people try to conform
• Rallying the herd helps you to overcome
opposition by indirect means

37. Rally the herd
Don’t worry about getting all your ducks in a
row

38. All truth passes through three
stages.
First, it is ridiculed.
Second, it is violently opposed.
Third, it is accepted as being
self-evident.
~ Arthur Schopenhauer:
German philosopher (1788-1860)
They will eventually fall into line if
the idea is persuasive enough

39. Identify & implement quick wins
• What can be done RIGHT NOW?
• How can value added/leverage be
maximised?
• Use pilots learning by doing
J Mauremootoo Frankie Hobro
Planting on Round Island Weeding the forest Using tortoises to aid restoration
All of the above efforts started as pilot initiatives and have since become widely accepted

40. Identify & implement win-wins
• Can we kill two or more birds with one stone?
• What can partners give and what can they get?
• It's not just about me but about we
• Doing well by doing good
J Mauremootoo Rachel Atkinson
Rodrigues native plant undamaged by cyclones Ecotourism raising money for conservation

41. Make change ecological
• Embed the change in culture
J MauremootooMWF
Village planting teams in Rodrigues adapting
traditional systems for conservation
Management planning involving key
stakeholders

42. Shape the environment where you
need to
• Identify gaps & other obstacles
• Which of these gaps are critical?
• Which can be lived with for now?
• What action can be taken right now to get
around these gaps?
Wikipedia.org www.rgbstock.com

43. Celebrate success
20 years of the National Parks & Conservation Service
Saving the kestrel - the world's most dramatic species recovery
success
Completing the jigsaw – expanding and linking the Protected
Areas of the Island of Mauritius
MWFDurrell
DONE
ALMOST DONE
WILL BE DONE

44. References
Chip & Dan
Heath (2011).
Switch. How to
Change when
Change is Hard.
Random House.
Sarah Earl, Fred Carden
& Terry Smutylo
(2001). Outcome
Mapping. Building
Learning and
Reflection into
Development
Programs. IDRC
Jonathon Haidt
(2006). The
Happiness
Hypothesis.
Finding Modern
Truth in Ancient
Wisdom. Basic
Books.
Jane Magruder
Watkins, Bernard
J.Mohr & Ralph
Kelly (2011).
Appreciative
Inquiry: Change at
the Speed of
Imagination. Wiley.

45. THANKS
for Viewing
www.inspiralpathways.com