In every village, there is at least one woman (usually a few) whose children are healthier than the rest. For whatever reason, that woman is better at navigating the complexities of village life and child nutrition. That woman has knowledge and skills which can be taught. You find her, you learn from her, you support her to teach her peers. That is positive deviance. Find the people who deviate from the norm by being more successful. Learn from them.
The original positive deviance programs were nutrition programs, with a specific structure and methodology. These are some nice examples. Positive Deviance remains one of the most powerful tools we have for improving nutrition in the developing world. You can also, however, use the ideas behind positive deviance for more than just nutrition.
Every systems has its positive deviants. People who are better at surviving within it. You don’t need a bunch of outsiders to or foreign experts to find ways to improve your system. Most of the knowledge you need is already there. It’s a profound and powerful idea. It means you improve education by learning from the teachers and principals of high-performing schools. It means you make childbirth safer by talking to maternity nurses and ob/gyns. It means you value the knowledge and experience of the people in the developing world.
When you want to make things better, look inside first. Learn from the people who know it best. After that, bring in your outside experts. See of they have anything add. But most of what you need to know is already there.
Wow, that is a great concept. Thanks for sharing!
I’m glad you found it interesting!
Can I just say that is the BEST explanation of positive deviance I’ve ever read. Why didn’t you write this post 2 years ago?! 🙂
I was worried it was overly basic for people who already had heard of the idea – I am relieved to find out it’s not!
I had no idea that this was called “positive deviance.” Cool name…and thanks for explaining. I absolutely love this concept.
On this note, another point. There are so many terms in the “aid world” that need explaining. Can you talk about a few of them?? I remember the first time I found out what “capacity building” was. It took me six months to figure out what it meant, and then I realized that I’d already been doing it for years!!
Great post!
Pragzz, I’d be happy to. Comment here or send me a list of terms you’re interested in.
[…] Positive Deviance, and why I like it […]
[…] the first time I learned about the concept of positive deviance was on a Blood and Milk post about child nutrition, I can’t think about child nutrition without thinking about postivie deviance. Here’s […]
I heard it originated from Save the Children vietnam. This is relevant to me because my wife is interning there in that office, doing nutrition. So I send it to her for reading.
[…] Positive Deviance is a somewhat unnecessarily complicated name for something deeply humane and useful: […]