Planners or implementers do not have complete control over the critical details of their intervention. There are constraints they are operating under which can guide or, in some cases, determine the details. These are represented in the Relationship Framework by the “constraints box” in the intervention column (see diagram to the right).
In general, an over-emphasis on the quantity, quality, or timing of resources or over-specification of the identity of the recipients reduces the scope of implementing staff to respond to the context effectively.
There are three elements of constraint.
Organization mandates focus activities and provide direction. They can also hamper effective intervention.
The way organizations raise funds can affect how interventions are planned, staffed, and implemented.
The way organizations are structured internally can affect the way they plan and implement.
While you are doing a critical detail map, check the details to determine if any of them are influenced or directed by entities in the constraints box. Where the details are constrained, are there negative impacts or likely to be negative impacts? When there are negative impacts based in a constraint, are there options for shifting or educating the constraint?
Always ask. But come prepared.[1]
Sometimes too much is made of the Constraint Box. Because of the prominence it is given with its “traditional” placement at the top of the center column of the Relationship Framework, some people have assumed it is crucial and must be examined in great detail. In truth, while these constraints are real and Do No Harm users are constantly encountering them, the elements in the Constraints Box are lesser details for Do No Harm analysis. They are not often where the big mistakes or issues in implementation occur.
That said, there are examples of donor or headquarter instruction where the field staff knew there would be trouble, but they were ordered to comply. What are the Messages sent by such behavior in an organization?
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Related Topics
Shared language and explaining Options
Criteria Matter
Critical Detail Mapping
Lesson 5: The details of interventions matter
[1] “Always ask. But come prepared”
“Use the Relationship Framework to organize your information so that you can tell a clear and concise narrative about the context and the ongoing impacts.”—Shared language and explaining options
Once upon a time, at a Do No Harm Consultation, a field worker raised a problem he was having and some possible solutions. “But,” he concluded, “my headquarters will not allow me to change my implementation.”
As chance would have it, the desk officer from HQ was also at the Consultation. He looked up, startled, at his colleague and said, “You never asked! Of course you can change.”
A few hours later, the same desk officer was describing in great detail how he wished he could alter some pieces of a big program so that it would have a more significant impact. “But,” he concluded, “my donor will not allow me to change the program.”
As chance would have it, the desk officer from the donor was sitting at the end of the table. She said, wryly, “You never asked. Your detailed analysis has convinced me. Of course you can change.”
