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Building relationships with others
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Building relationships among stakeholders is key to enabling genuine dialogue:
these relationships engender commitment and accountability, which
in turn can prompt people to make courageous decisions and take significant
risks for each other’s sake. Yet relationship building among stakeholders,
while obviously important, is problematic. Should stakeholders develop their
relationships instrumentally, as a project tool? If relationship building is not
instrumental, should stakeholders develop relationships anyway, for the sake
of the relationship itself?
Dialogue in international development embodies a tricky combination
of project means and ends. While dialogue is normally a desirable means to
implement a project, it can also influence the ends of the project through
the processes of praxis (action and reflection). Dialogue itself can be instrumental
because it can contribute to effective and efficient project implementation.
Yet, dialogue cannot occur between persons who deal with others
instrumentally, for dialogue is not imposition.
Dialogue invites us to think critically about our dichotomous understanding
of relationships among stakeholders with different interests: disagreement
does not necessarily destroy these relationships. We can disagree while also
maintaining the relationship.
The relationship, developed through dialogue, also facilitates dialogue. A
challenge for practitioners is to maintain or even deepen the relationships
among stakeholders while simultaneously conveying necessary information
to them even when that information does not reflect their opinion. Once
the relationship is built, stakeholders as well as practitioners can talk about
conflicting issues in a caring manner without destroying the relationship.
Any small interactions among stakeholders can contribute to building the
relationship that becomes the foundation for dialogue. Practitioners, therefore,
should not underestimate the value of ordinary conversations with
stakeholders as the relationship cannot be built either quickly or
instrumentally.
Expecting the unexpected
One of the most critical events associated with the IIRP was the emotional
response I received from the Ishigaki islanders when I introduced our project
plan to them. The response was totally unexpected. Luckily, I managed to
handle it with the help of an islander’s suggestion. That event formed the
relationship between the stakeholders (the study group and the islanders)
and shaped the characteristics of the project to a great extent. It underscores
the fact that dealing productively with the unexpected can require significant
changes in a project.