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Many companies striving to be good corporate citizens today face an internal tug of war between giving attention to community initiatives that address social problems and the growing demand to make environmental issues paramount.
Remembering Jerry Sternin, father of Positive Deviance
By Cheryl Kiser
Jerry Sternin, the father of applied Positive Deviance, a hope-filled solution to creating change, passed away Thursday, Dec. 11. His presence will be missed but his impact on society will be amplified for years to come.
“You cannot think your way into a new way of acting, you have to act your way into a new way of thinking.” These are the simple but profound words, spoken at least daily by Jerry Sternin, that have changed the behaviors of millions of people around the world.
Jerry’s involvement with the Center began nearly 10 years ago when he presented at our International Corporate Citizenship Conference. Due to popular demand he was a repeat presenter numerous times since then. For those of you who had the privilege of attending a Center session with Jerry or merely being in his extraordinary presence, you know the impact that Positive Deviance has had on the world. Jerry and his wife and partner Monique Sternin always made change seem possible in many seemingly impossible situations involving intractable problems.
While PD has been acclaimed in some sectors, especially the international development world, recently it captivated the attention of many others looking for new ways to effect change. Earlier this year, the Rockefeller Foundation provided funding for the Positive Deviance Institute. And only three days after Jerry died, he and Monique were featured in the New York Times Magazine’s annual Year in Ideas. The piece focused on the Sternins’ work to reduce MRSA, the hospital-borne infection.
In every community or organization, the Sternins have said, there are people who, with the same resources and constraints as everyone else, do things differently and better than the norm. Sometimes, it’s a matter of degree; the majority is doing all right but there are a few others who really shine. Sometimes the difference is larger, and the practices of the majority aren’t working at all. In these cases it makes sense to look at the strategies of the few who are succeeding and to bring their “deviant” behaviors into the mainstream. In other words, you want to amplify the results at the end of the bell curve rather than throwing them away.
Positive deviance signals the dawn of a new change model, one that flips the standard protocol on its head. Real, sustainable change, according to the Sternins, begins with new behaviors rather than new knowledge. And since these new behaviors come from people within the organization – rather than from the top down or the outside in – there’s real ownership of the solution rather then merely a buy-in, a “critical difference.” In the PD process, “the very people whose behavior needs to change to solve the problem are the ones who discover the solution,” Jerry explained. “PD is the antithesis of a best-practice rollout.”
All of us practicing corporate citizenship know that social and behavioral change is an essential part of what we try to effect. As we move into 2009, and are faced with the need for change, let’s expose ourselves to the lessons that we can learn from a master change champion whose Positive Deviance approach honors the individual, the organization and the process in such a way that even in the most difficult of situations a solution can be found.
December 28th, 2008 at 11:13 PM
I am an old friend of Jerry Sternin. He was my house parent at Concord Academy in the 1970′s. By chance I googled his name tonight after seeing a show about Nepal (A place he spoke often of). I am very saddened to hear of his passing. He wa a sweet and wonderful man. Can you please give my condolences to his wife Monique and their son. She may remember me as the Architect that worked on their house near Walden Pond. Again my most heartfelt feelings of greif to Jerry’s family. He will be sadly missed. I have, and will continue to think of him and his peaceful presence often. With kindest regards, Jonathan Nelson, AIA (New Hope, PA)
December 29th, 2008 at 11:32 AM
I will be sure to pass along Thank you
December 29th, 2008 at 9:45 PM
Speaking as another old friend of Jerry’s, I can well understand Mr. Nelson’s sentiments. My acquaintance with Jerry goes back even further, to the late ’50′s. As a kid, I went to summer camp at Camp Pine Cone, where Jerry was a counselor for several years. His main things at the time seem to have been drama and music, in which his brilliant talents were such that my own life path was affected. He created numerous imaginary characters that he would portray in solo performances, and also he was responsible for much of our music which included original songs by him. At the time I wasn’t able to grasp the extraordinarily high level of what he was doing, but before long I did. I am glad that in recent years I was able to speak with Jerry and convey this appreciation. Jerry’s special talent and achievement in the arts were perhaps unknown to many, and were certainly overshadowed by his later contributions. It is a great understatement to say that Jerry Sternin was a most rare person and that he will be dearly missed.