There's a subtlety and nuance about doing contract work when the two parties are working closely together on the project. Especially when you're the contractor and you want the project to get done. It's easy to grab the reins and keep things moving because you know each other well, but is that necessarily the best way? In the short run, maybe, but I think it does a disservice in the long run.
Right now I'm developing a data entry system and codebook for this project that is running here. Boston's coming Sunday and wants to see the data--do they want to see the data out of curiousity or purely to check up on the system here, whether things are being entered, done cleanly, etc.? I think this is one of those classic moments of doing international work that could be an important capacity building point (sorry for the buzzword), but it gets lost because people want to get things done. There are a few NIH grants in review or development to get run through here, and while there's some serious effort to expand research capacity here, if almost 1/4th of the surveys are collected and haven't been entered, something's wrong. And when I asked the research manager here about what sort of systems they use, there didn't appear to be any standard or precedent for using one program versus another. Which is not to say that they haven't done data collection and entry before; they certainly have, just not systematically. There's also a clear human resources issue here--this place needs a really competent data manager if they're going to do more research work to oversee this sort of stuff. Beyond all of that, this is probably something that is in the contract for India to do. I asked in an email to Boston whether it makes sense for me to do all of this or if I should push back on India (diplomatically) to have them do it? A quick response said "yes, you do it...things fall behind there."
I'm not here to teach someone how to do this sort of stuff either. Or am I? Isn't part of working with partner organizations about transfer of knowledge and learning from each other? Not to get too blown out of proportion, but isn't this a question about one's fundamental approach to working with partner organizations? And when Boston keeps coming to save the day, what good does that do? It keeps up a power dynamic with Boston in charge and India as slow and incapable and not much else. I think the best I can do is: keep going at this speed to have it done by next week, and meet with the research manager to make sure India is clear on what I'm doing and throughly explain why. This is where the control freak and cerebral introvert really want to come out to play, too: just let me figure it all out, decide how it should be done, and then tell you how to do it. I need to check that by talking it out. I'm not fooling myself as some sort of savior here either--I'm sure (well, I hope) Boston would do the same once they got here, I just beat them here. I'm just saying all of this because it's one of those rubber meets the road things after going through a whole class on planning and evaluation where community involvement was key. This is where I get to decide how I want to work with other groups, what my way is, especially when there are these resource and power differences looming.
Which is another good point: I am SO glad I'm not at school right now. I don't just mean not in Boston (although, smoke aside, the weather's much better here), but specifically that I'm somewhere where I can apply some of this stuff. It gets the juices flowing again, makes me remember why I care(d) in the first place. That place can be so stifling, and I forget how much I learn by doing and applying, not just absorbing and thinking. Not to mention getting wrapped up in grades (esp at the expense of real learning), which I only remember is pointless when I get this far away. I also think that some of what I was doing at the school has been boring me for longer than I've known, and that is a key factor that will change in the spring. But in general, it's still a lot of vacuum learning, which doesn't really suit me very well. So it's good to remember that I'm quite happy out here in the real world if that's how my application March Madness shakes out.
Right now I'm developing a data entry system and codebook for this project that is running here. Boston's coming Sunday and wants to see the data--do they want to see the data out of curiousity or purely to check up on the system here, whether things are being entered, done cleanly, etc.? I think this is one of those classic moments of doing international work that could be an important capacity building point (sorry for the buzzword), but it gets lost because people want to get things done. There are a few NIH grants in review or development to get run through here, and while there's some serious effort to expand research capacity here, if almost 1/4th of the surveys are collected and haven't been entered, something's wrong. And when I asked the research manager here about what sort of systems they use, there didn't appear to be any standard or precedent for using one program versus another. Which is not to say that they haven't done data collection and entry before; they certainly have, just not systematically. There's also a clear human resources issue here--this place needs a really competent data manager if they're going to do more research work to oversee this sort of stuff. Beyond all of that, this is probably something that is in the contract for India to do. I asked in an email to Boston whether it makes sense for me to do all of this or if I should push back on India (diplomatically) to have them do it? A quick response said "yes, you do it...things fall behind there."
I'm not here to teach someone how to do this sort of stuff either. Or am I? Isn't part of working with partner organizations about transfer of knowledge and learning from each other? Not to get too blown out of proportion, but isn't this a question about one's fundamental approach to working with partner organizations? And when Boston keeps coming to save the day, what good does that do? It keeps up a power dynamic with Boston in charge and India as slow and incapable and not much else. I think the best I can do is: keep going at this speed to have it done by next week, and meet with the research manager to make sure India is clear on what I'm doing and throughly explain why. This is where the control freak and cerebral introvert really want to come out to play, too: just let me figure it all out, decide how it should be done, and then tell you how to do it. I need to check that by talking it out. I'm not fooling myself as some sort of savior here either--I'm sure (well, I hope) Boston would do the same once they got here, I just beat them here. I'm just saying all of this because it's one of those rubber meets the road things after going through a whole class on planning and evaluation where community involvement was key. This is where I get to decide how I want to work with other groups, what my way is, especially when there are these resource and power differences looming.
Which is another good point: I am SO glad I'm not at school right now. I don't just mean not in Boston (although, smoke aside, the weather's much better here), but specifically that I'm somewhere where I can apply some of this stuff. It gets the juices flowing again, makes me remember why I care(d) in the first place. That place can be so stifling, and I forget how much I learn by doing and applying, not just absorbing and thinking. Not to mention getting wrapped up in grades (esp at the expense of real learning), which I only remember is pointless when I get this far away. I also think that some of what I was doing at the school has been boring me for longer than I've known, and that is a key factor that will change in the spring. But in general, it's still a lot of vacuum learning, which doesn't really suit me very well. So it's good to remember that I'm quite happy out here in the real world if that's how my application March Madness shakes out.
Labels: mumbai, professional ramblings, school
step 1: recognise that 'capacity building' should be happening (check)
step 2: determine that capacity building is not happening (check)
step 3: try to figure out how to do it formally (check)
step 4: remember that real partnership, teaching and learning depends on mutual trust- trust both parties have something worth learning AND something worth teaching, despite the role they may be assuming in the given teaching/learning/capacity building scenario
the lube that makes everything easier: making friends
so who would be the person to be the 'target population' in a capacity building exercise? can you have a lunch meeting with that person and find out what the current strengths and weaknesses are?
in my opinion, the goal should be that india is more efficient at doing this work than boston is, so we can save all the plane fare and DSA and spend grant money on actually doing the work. right? it sounds like you have an opportunity to help move towards that goal