“Good enough” resources
…for Social and Behavior Change.
**January 2023 update: Thank you to everyone who attended our Skills-building Workshop on Dec. 8th 2022, at the Social and Behavior Change Summit , in Marrakech Morocco. We have drawn on inputs and suggestions from our collaborative session in Morocco to update this essay.
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What is a “good enough” resource for Social and Behavior Change? One way to describe these resources is by starting with what they are NOT.
“Good enough” resources are not:
- Too good. When we seek to make things perfect we do not allow for adaptation and emergence.
- Too rigid. A resource that is too rigid, too prescriptive, or too “precious” might intimate or alienate potential users, and could reduce the potential for adaptation. A rigid format (PDF) can also discourage contributions, adaptation and/or improvements.
- Too long. Resources longer than 5–10 pages might be great, but they likely go beyond the minimum viable product for moving forward. And note: A “good enough” resource can always include links for more in-depth tools.
- Too heavy. A resource can be short and still too heavy. Some tools are simply too dense; for example, ALL text and no images. Some resources include jargon, or multiple acronyms, which can also be cognitively “heavy” for readers and potential users.
We are sharing these thoughts here because we are working on developing principles for “good enough” resources, and we’re seeking contributors and collaborators. We will compile a set of “good enough” tools into a resource guide, with an update and link to be shared here once completed.
We have seen some compelling examples online already and note that we are not the first, or last, to be thinking about the value of “good enough” resources. For instance, check out the “Good Enough Guide” to impact measurement from ALNAP (Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action), and this “pocket guide” for Human Centered Design (Merci, IDEO.org). We welcome comments and suggestions.
*Who are “we”? We are K. Greiner, UNICEF/West and Central Africa and A. Becker-Benton, Save the Children USA. In collaboration with: Johary Randimbivololona and Hawa Samake, UNICEF/West and Central Africa Regional Office.
Thank you for reading this short essay. If you have suggestions, or examples of resources you would like to share, please get in touch or leave links in the comments section.
This essay is partially inspired by the book “Getting to maybe: How the world is changed,” (2007), by Westley, Quinn-Patton and Zimmerman.
