Giving Compass' Take:

• Three ways that power shifts can happen are through decentralizing control, open data, and open dialogue with communities and organizations. 

• How can individuals donors take these lessons in feedback and apply them to their charitable giving? 

• Read more about this topic in the Giving Compass Power of Feedback magazine. 

How can we enable New Power to be an integral part of finding solutions with the most marginalised and vulnerable?

In the face of the global COVID19 crisis, we can see the drive and motivation of governments, civil society, and healthcare providers but also the disconnect between the way they organise themselves to support the same people.

What we really need is open communication between all of the parties in the system, whether it is government officials, healthcare workers, or people stuck at home in social isolation. We need a way for everyone’s stories, and feedback, to be shared seamlessly across organizations. We need public feedback loops, with open listening and collective action – a type of New Power that can work in conjunction with the existing Old Power.

The difference between Old Power and New Power is that ‘Old power works like a currency. It is held by few.

I believe that if we incorporate three key principles into our feedback mechanisms, then we will enable New Power to spread rapidly.

  • First, Decentralise Control In the current Old Power model, those who are providing or paying for services or support, control the feedback mechanism. When writing up the project proposal and budget they decide if and how they would like to get feedback from ‘beneficiaries’. They also decide what is asked and who can see or learn from the feedback that they receive.
  • Second, Open Data In the current Old Power model, data is centralised and owned by those who pay for it. The implementing organisation and the donor decide what methodology to use and how to share the feedback with the community, donor or others after it has been cleaned and processed.
  • Third, Open Dialogue Feedback to communities or individuals, if provided at all, is often communicated to groups of people, or through community meetings, in a cleaned report, in an official language.

Read the full article about shifting power through feedback by Alex Carle at FeedbackLabs.