The Best Practice is Being Inquisitive, Not Prescriptive - Rethinking Capacity Building
I am a bit trepidatious to even use the term "capacity building" in this post. It elicits so many reactions, many of which are accompanied with a sigh or one of those monstrous eye-rolling routines teenagers have perfected when embarrassed by their parents. Just typing the words makes my face tighten and my eyes start that movement. I brace myself for the list of advisory "best practices" that are about to fill the air with everything "we should do" to be sustainable (Now, let me add raised hackles to the sighs and eye-rolling since "best practices" and "sustainable" have been invoked) What is it that leads me to react so strongly in this space where people are genuinely working to help people and organizations succeed? It is the prescriptive nature of "capacity building" and "best practices." The words "capacity" and "best" are normative words. They are dependent on a set of values and the con