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.
