Four hundred years ago the village of Maliwada, India, was
a thriving agricultural center, producing fruits, vegetables,
and wines. In 1975, it had little water, no sanitation, few crops.
Over 2,000 villagers barely eked out a subsistence living. Muslims
and Hindus of many different castes lived with centuries of mutual
distrust. The villagers knew about their prosperous past, but
it seemed long gone and hopeless to recreate.
The discussions began based on two questions: "What would
it take to have prosperity exist again in this village? What can
you do to make that happen?" Gradually, as ideas began to
pour fourth, perspectives changed. Hindus and Muslims talked together
excitedly about how to clean out the ancient well. Brahmins and
Untouchables discovered in a joint meeting that all despaired
at the lack of medical care for their sick children. They all
wanted to create a health clinic in the village. Hope began to
creep into their voices and eyes. What had seemed totally impossible
suddenly became doable. People organized and tapped resources
they had forgotten they had.
They acquired loans from a bank and received government grants.
They built a dam, a brick factory, and the clinic. The shared
vision of what they wanted for themselves and their community
allowed them to go beyond their personal and cultural differences
and continued to motivate them. Each success made them stronger,
more confident, more self-assured. Today, Maliwada is a prospering
village.
When transformation like this takes place, the news travels. Nearby
villagers wanted to know how they could do this....
Quoted from Patricia R. Tuecke, "Rural International Development," in
Discovering Common Ground by Marvin R. Weisbord, et. al.
(Berrett-Koehler, 1992), p. 307.
The process used above in rural India was developed by the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA) in the 1960's in a collaborative effort with citizens of an urban ghetto on Chicago's Westside, so it was born out of co-intelligence. It has now been used in over 30 countries to help communities self-organize for "self-sustenance, self-reliance, and self-confidence." A notable feature of ICA's approach is its transcultural applicability. ICA demonstrates that simple, co-intelligent techniques for evoking the previously untapped knowledge, vision and collaborative capacities in a community can have universal application. ICA's respectful, catalytic approach helped each community design programs "that met local needs and reflected authentic cultural style" (a positive use of diversity) and that give them an opportunity to "shape their own destiny instead of being victims of their situation" (co-intelligent co-creativity). I'm particularly struck by the way their process distributes leadership: Who is leading -- the facilitators who catalyze the question-asking sessions and offer support, or the people of the community who together create and operate the programs? This shared, multi-dimensional form of leadership -- in sharp contrast to hierarchical control-based leadership -- is a hallmark of co-intelligence. -- Tom Atlee