Narrative Analysis & Sense Making In Development I PIDE Webinar with Dave Snowden

TL;DR

Professor David Snowden discusses the concept of sense-making and narrative in development, highlighting the importance of understanding complexity and utilizing storytelling to generate local solutions.

Transcript

foreign webinar my name is PID Pakistan Institute development economics professor Snowden is a very old Think Tank it has been since 1957. and we've had a lot of successes and failures we've managed to stay in but this is Pakistan's best thing tank so we're very happy to have you with us I've been a long fan of yours I've been following your work o... Read More

Key Insights

• 🔍 Sense-making is the process of making sense of the world in order to take action, based on partial data and sufficiency rather than optimization.
• 💡 Naturalizing sense-making means basing decisions on the natural sciences and understanding the limitations of social scientists in reaching valid conclusions.
• 🔑 Inattentional blindness is a cognitive bias that prevents us from seeing or recognizing something unexpected or unrelated to our focus.
• 🌍 Increasing the cognitive, cultural, and experiential diversity of perspectives is crucial to avoid biases and see multiple solutions to complex problems.
• 🚀 Distributed ethnography allows communities to become their own storytellers and capture local knowledge and experiences, fostering innovation and resilience.
• 💭 Failure narratives are more valuable for learning and innovation than success stories, as they offer opportunities for improvement and avoiding previous mistakes.
• 🔑 Complexity theory suggests that most solutions are context-specific and require a deep understanding of the unique dynamics of a complex system.
• 🎯 Sense-maker captures micro-narratives and observations to detect patterns and generate quantitative data, enabling real-time monitoring and policy analysis.
• 💡 Using complexity theory in economics challenges the traditional neoclassical paradigm and emphasizes the importance of understanding the complexities and diversity of human systems.

Questions & Answers

Q: How can the concept of naturalizing sense making and narrative be applied to development initiatives in Pakistan?

Naturalizing sense making and narrative in Pakistan could involve utilizing the sense maker software to capture micro narratives from various communities and stakeholders. This could include gathering stories or observations about local issues, such as the economic crisis or currency instability. By understanding these diverse perspectives, policymakers can develop more context-specific solutions that are rooted in the experiences and insights of the local population. This approach aims to empower communities and foster sustainable and effective development outcomes.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Sense making is the process of making sense of the world in order to take meaningful action.

• Traditional economic models based on causality do not work in complex systems, and it's important to embrace complexity and uncertainty.

• Using sense maker software, micro narratives and observations can be captured to understand patterns and probabilities within a system.

• The goal is to develop local capacity and empower communities to generate their own solutions based on their unique contexts.