3.10 Summary of Unit 3

Cynthia and her family members walk home after fetching water at a solar powered water point in Hatcliffe, Harare, Zimbabwe.

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Cynthia and her family walk away from the camera towards home, holding large buckets of different colours on their heads.

Cynthia and her family members walk home after fetching water at a solar powered water point in Hatcliffe, Harare, Zimbabwe.

In this unit we have investigated some important underlying issues which affect the success or failure of change processes.

We have looked at systems and how complexity is an inevitable part of the societies in which we live. Systems thinking values the ability to ‘accept the unexpected’ and take advantage of accidental opportunities. Being prepared for this will help you notice and react more quickly to opportunities and constraints and make better action plans. It also encourages us to make sure we are thinking about the unintended direct and indirect consequences of our changemaking.

We have also looked at power using two different tools; helping us to understand the expressions of power (within, with, over, to) and the forms of power (visible, hidden, invisible). We have applied this power analysis to understand change processes through a case study, and you have applied it to the issue that you are working on.

The power and systems approach encourages multiple strategies rather than a single linear approach, viewing failure, iteration, and adaptation as expected and necessary. Over the next units we will look at how you can develop your skills to do this and how you can increase your power to make change happen.

Further reading

• Systems Thinking video – a useful short video explaining how a small change fits into a wider system.

• Gender e-learning – an additional online course which looks in more detail about how gender and power interrelate.