The White Man’s Burden, the book has some insight into what we in GHNI are talking about when it addresses the “Planner” versus the “Searcher”.

Quote: “In foreign aid, Planners announce good intentions but don’t motivate anyone to carry them out;    Searchers find things that work and get some reward(for recipients – my add).  Planners raise expectations but take no responsibility for meeting them;  Searchers accept responsibility for their actions.  Planners determine what to supply;  Searchers find out what is in demand.  Planners apply global blueprints;  Searchers adapt to local conditions.  Planners at the top lack knowledge of the bottom;  Searchers find out what reality is at the bottom.”    

GHNI is constantly pursuing that “bottom”, that true need, that which is most helpful in self-sustainability and transforming lives.  Embracement, personal embracement of change, and using all local relationships and resources, all go hand in hand.  This can never happen in a top-down(bottom) approach.

Searcher … is who we are and how we do it.