{"id":22297,"date":"2015-08-03T05:00:12","date_gmt":"2015-08-03T11:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tested-neuron.flywheelsites.com\/?p=22297"},"modified":"2015-08-02T19:02:18","modified_gmt":"2015-08-03T01:02:18","slug":"gazing-into-developments-crystal-ball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/gazing-into-developments-crystal-ball\/","title":{"rendered":"Gazing Into Development’s Crystal Ball"},"content":{"rendered":"

In partnership with the USAID Global Development Lab<\/a> <\/strong>and PSI<\/a>, Devex<\/a> recently conducted a survey of development professionals to see what tools, skills and approaches they think the next generation of development professionals will need to thrive ten years from now. Last week they published a report of these findings, and it\u2019s enlightening on a number of levels. From the report:<\/p>\n

The results paint the picture of a well-rounded, flexible professional who takes a holistic view of development work. Just as likely to be a venture capitalist or high-tech whiz as your traditional aid worker, the future development professional will need to be agile, collaborative and constantly learning new skills.<\/em><\/div>\n

A few elements of the report particularly stood out for me. For a start, the fact that only 10% of respondents felt that disrupters would play any significant role by 2025. Perhaps today\u2019s emphasis on disruption is a passing trend, or we\u2019re just overestimating its significance? Or perhaps development professionals are blind to what\u2019s going on out in the real world, and they choose to not recognise it?<\/p>\n

Is today’s emphasis on disruption a passing trend? Are we overestimating its significance?<\/i> Tweet This Quote<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Ken<\/a><\/p>\n

There was some recognition, though, that the traditional top-down approach would decline, although I\u2019m not quite sure how the target communities will be able to meaningfully engage in the debate that replaces it. I guess the survey respondents assume that by 2025 we\u2019ll have finally nailed those tricky little feedback loops.<\/p>\n

\"Ken<\/a><\/p>\n

We\u2019re already seeing a blurring of boundaries between aid and business.<\/i> Tweet This Quote<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It was also interesting to see where the respondents felt most of the \u2018development professionals of the future\u2019 were going to come from. We\u2019re already seeing a blurring of boundaries between aid and business (i.e. Facebook and Google\u2019s approach to last mile connectivity issues), and perhaps that trend will continue. If this forecast does turn out to be true, I would argue that they shouldn\u2019t be called \u2018development professionals\u2019 (in the same way we don\u2019t call Facebook and Google\u2019s work in Africa today aid or development).<\/p>\n

\"Ken<\/a><\/p>\n

Last but certainly not least, this was one of the most revealing slides for me. Lack of empathy is already a huge problem as people bypass time in the field and opt to develop solutions far away from the problems without speaking to anyone. It\u2019s great to see empathy on the list, but it should be higher. After all, none of the other skills matter if you don\u2019t understand the people you\u2019re trying to help, surely?<\/p>\n

\"Ken<\/a><\/p>\n

So, what was missing? Well, I would have loved to see a breakdown of responses from aid workers in the developing world vs. aid workers from the developed world. I\u2019m sure some of the attitudes would have been quite conflicting and, in turn, revealing. I\u2019d also love to see a similar survey carried out among aid recipients \u2013 their thoughts, concerns and hopes for the sector \u2013 something that will be increasingly important if they do, quite rightly, begin to have more say in how \u2018their\u2019 aid is spent and administered.<\/p>\n

\n

This first appeared on Ken\u2019s blog<\/a>.<\/em> You can download your own copy of the survey findings here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What does the development professional of today think it takes to be a professional development worker tomorrow? Devex recently conducted a survey of development professionals to see what tools, skills and approaches they think the next generation of development professionals will need to thrive ten years from now. Last week they published a report of these findings, and it\u2019s enlightening. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":22317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[476,1491,2089,1553],"tags":[2114,2115,2116,1723,1460,729],"class_list":["post-22297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-development-tags","category-employment","category-metrics-and-evaluation","tag-aid","tag-development-professionals","tag-devex","tag-empathy","tag-future","tag-banks"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGazing Into Development's Crystal Ball - UNREASONABLE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The development sector likes to plan ahead. 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