During the Tsunami recovery operation in Aceh Indonesia, many of us were there for more than 3 years and became very good friends. I just received this article from Owen Podger who has prepared this paper for the ANZ Disaster Management Conference in Gold Coast coming up in 6-7 May and it is very much about Australians and New Zealanders having
a culture that is well suited to work under crisis conditions. Here is Owen's paper.
Little known Aussie and Kiwi Innovators in Aceh
Little known Aussie and Kiwi Innovators in Aceh
Abstract:
An examination of the creativity of
a number of Australians and New Zealanders who worked in Aceh after the 2004 tsunami
sheds light onto the competencies and working styles of successful post
disaster managers. They were inspired by the tsunami. In Keith Gardner terms,
they allowed this real-world event be a lever of change in their lives. They
grasped what had to be done, and could re-orient themselves quickly when they
assessed the need.
Disconnecting from old ways was as
important as creating and connecting to new ways. New competencies were learnt on
the job. New systems were tailor-made on the job. Values, principles, integrity
were as important as skills.
Australians and New Zealanders have
a culture that is well suited to work under crisis conditions. Australia and
New Zealand has the capacity to a reputation and market skills in business
excellence after disasters. I recommend continued investigation of business
excellence in disaster management, and capacity development programs for people
managing recovery projects. I also recommend an Australasian Disaster Resource
Partnership for the engineering and construction sector, and a Recovery Bank
Partnership for our financial institutions. And finally I recommend we help commemorate
the tenth anniversary of the tsunami, to provide the opportunity for Aceh,
Indonesia and the world to let this amazing event continue to inspire and change
how we approach disasters.
Australian and New Zealand Help to Aceh and Nias
Much of Aurstralia's efforts in assisting Aceh and Nias is well known. The armed forces were exemplary, and the people of Nias still recall the lives that some gave to help. Many Australians and New Zealanders worked with the best of the Humanitarian Aid organisation. Surfaid with its leader David Jenkins stands out for approach, professionalism and excellence. Shortly after the tsunami with large donations from Quiksilver and Billabong and a matching grant from the New Zealand government, Surfaid sailed for Nias and Simeulue to help devastated coastal villagers.
My list
Robin Davies.
Phil Passmore
Professor Phil Passmore was assigned to help
the Acehnese health agency manage pharmaceuticals. Despite all the medicines
flown in, there was actually little short supply in Aceh. Phil put on his
galoshes and waded into flooded warehouses with local managers and storemen to
find what pharmaceuticals were there. He encouraged and guided, sometimes
goaded, the local pharmaceutical system back on its feet. He said to me “so
many outsiders wanted to exclude the survivors being involved in and owning
their own recovery. Lots were yelling at the Acehnese, insinuating that they
did not know what they were doing. Help survivors to restore services as
quickly as possible was the best possible assistance we could give, always
looking out for opportunities to influence better professional.”
Sisa de Jesus[1]
Bill Nicol
Kevin Evans
David Kelaher
When the reconstruction agency wanted the
best possible advisers in every sector, AusAID offered four people with good
track-records in non-disaster situations. Two provided the agency with good
value; one of them, David, had a previous record as a ministerial adviser to an
Australian minster and had international experience in leading health and
education program in the Middle East, China and Indonesia. He became adviser to
a BRR deputy who required solid-rock assistance in managing the health and
education portfolios in Aceh’s reconstruction program. David’s advice prevented
bad services in health and education being rebuilt. He promoted critical improvements
in Aceh’s Dickensian mental health system, building on the good work of Sisa de
Jesus. He planned and worked with donors and government to reform the previous insular
education system. By his strategic efforts schools and teachers were in place
for children to receive appropriate education to help them face the challenges
of the future.
FadlullahWilmot
Phil Leeson
Phil ran the IOM (International
Organization for Migration) program in Nias. He built bridges and schools
faster and better than anyone, often taking on other people’s failures and
succeeding. He persisted. Obstacles were lessons to be learnt. Phil was both
innovative and systematic, a rare combination normally, but common amongst the
successful disaster professionals. He took care of details. He built a skilful,
loyal and productive team of Indonesian operators, and continues to promote Indonesian
skills, in his own words “helping, guiding and pushing, working with the
Indonesian people, respecting their culture and living in their community,
working to achieve production schedules with good success.”Bob McKerrow
George Kuru
Greg Kemp
Greg Kemp had been project manager on many
projects in Aceh over the years, include building of AusAID funded large steel
truss bridges along the west coast of Aceh, most of which were destroyed by the
tsunami and earthquake. After the tsunami, Greg Kemp upgraded critical parts of
the road from Medan to Aceh to assure that supplies for reconstruction could be
delivered. But he had a wider vision. He wanted to upgrade an old but still
operational government-owned precast concrete factory belonging to the national
public works department that had been funded by AusAID over twenty years before,
to provide culvert pipes and concrete components for infrastructure and
housing: pipes, box-culverts, power poles, piles, bridge components and so on. He
also wanted to help revive the Acehnese construction industry. Local companies
had lost people, assets and materials in the tsunami, and were losing out in
reconstruction to competition from outsiders. He got funds from AusAID to
prepare a plan but AusAID did not comprehend the opportunity to use the assets they
had provided previously for speeding up construction and restoring local
industry in a very significant way, and they did not proceed. Aceh, flooded
with funds for recovery of housing and infrastructure, could not find another
donor to support a plan for recovery of the local construction industry. Greg
was before his time. Seven years later, many of Indonesia’s major contractors
established an Indonesian Disaster Resources Partnership under the auspices of
the World Economic Forum, and with AusAID support.[3]
If Australia had recognized its resources, we would not have wasted that time.
Paul Steinfort
Common personal characteristics
Normal professional practice
Bob McKerrow is the only one on my list who
is a professional humanitarian. That is, he is a dedicated humanitarian, and he
is professional at it. The others came to humanitarian aid from other walks of
life.
A large proportion of the non-humanitarians
coming into leadership situations in Aceh and Nias had been reputable professionals
of various disciples beforehand. And yet, in this post disaster situation, an
embarrassingly large proportion of them acted so amateurishly, inflexibly, blindly
or insensitively – and incompetently – they could not claim to be professional
in such an environment. If we define a crisis as an event in life we cannot
handle ourselves, then these professionals coming to help others in their
crisis failed to recognise their own crises. But my little known innovators
were a different breed.
The uncommon personal characteristics these people have in common
In the following paragraphs I summarise
what I observed in these folk, and others who made the successful change from
normal professionalism to disaster recovery professionalism. I note that they
had in common uncommon values and principles and all spend considerable time
influencing the environment in which they worked.
Satya Tripathi (L) Head of UN, Bill Nicol senior adviser to Minister of Tsunami and Bob McKerrow head of IFRC meet in Bob's office in Jakarta. These three formed a group to lever change when momentum flagged and resonated with others of like mind and were very active in joint efforts,
Satya Tripathi (L) Head of UN, Bill Nicol senior adviser to Minister of Tsunami and Bob McKerrow head of IFRC meet in Bob's office in Jakarta. These three formed a group to lever change when momentum flagged and resonated with others of like mind and were very active in joint efforts,
Values
The values I find they had in common were:
n
Strategic.
They comprehended and continually assessed where they were and where they
wanted to go. They determined how they would proceed and continually adjusted
their plans in order to assure they got the results they intended.
n
Amazed and
inspired. They were staggered by the force of nature and by the global response
of which they were a part, and amazed by its impact on their thinking. In Keith
Gardner terms they utilised this real-world event to be a lever of change in
their lives and the lives of others[4]
n
Compassion.
They had compassion for the victims, and also for those in relief who struggled
to make sense and make a contribution[5]
n
Respect, first
of all for local people and their culture, then for government and colleagues.
Even those who might not deserve respect were treated respectfully
n
Passion.
None of them just did their job, they did it with passion. It showed in their
voices and the time they committed
n
Adaptability.
Not just adaptability, but a sense of when to be adaptive and the values and
principles of adapting
n
Determination.
They did not give up easily. Some found no way forward, stopped bashing their
heads against immovable objects, and moved on, their determination driving them
to new things
n
Gratitude.
They all expressed gratitude for being able to be part of it all.
Principles
The principles I find they had in common were:
n
Victims are
our clients, directly or indirectly. Fadlullah built homes for families, not
houses for anyone. George delivered materials to donors on request, but he saw
that as his contribution to recovery. Bill’s and David’s clients were leaders
of recovery, whom they advised to focus on the victims as their clients
n
It is communities
and economies that recover. They did not count success as houses and roads
built but communities and economies restored
n
We might
be wrong, we must move forward. They were all willing to recognise wrong turns
to quickly move to right ones
n
Recognise
when practices are inappropriate. They regarded all practices as being for
appropriate for certain situations, and tested each situation before adopting a
process. This meant that detaching themselves from standard practices was as
important as creating new ones
n
Lever
change. They used all of Keith Howard’s levers of change. They would use Reason
for persuasion, continual Research to assure that they knew the facts,
Resonance with others of like mind, being active in joint efforts,
Representational Redescription to repeat ideas in different ways for more
persuasive communication, and Resources and rewards to enable and motivate, and
they would convert Resistances into better knowledge and alternative solutions.
n
An honest
trail is better than a creative report. None of my sample liked writing
reports. All kept records and loved to tell people what they had done.
n
Z-learning
curves. They assumed every event requires intensive learning to gain new
understanding and new competencies as they went
I summarise these principles with one of my
own and one from Bob McKerrow. Mine is adapted from Micah 6:8: “love justice,
seek mercy, and walk humbly.” Bob’s, quoted above is “do your best and then a
little more.”
Common factors in the environment they created
All my selected sample put effort into
shaping their work environment, and had similarities in the way went about it.
n
Testing
and challenging systems. All in my sample are highly independent. They follow
rules and procedures when they know they are beneficial and necessary. Their
attitude to systems is the same as to problems, they must be understood. Just
like you cannot rely on solving problems if you do not understand them, you
cannot rely on a system unless you understand how it won’t hinder.
n
Tailoring
systems. When standard operating procedures were not appropriate, these people created
new ones. In the middle of chaos they were always trying to create certainty.
n
Building informal
networks including the local community, government and fellow recovery workers.
In recovery, there are many network freaks, spending most of their time at
meetings and groups and coffee-shops, some of them entering names in their
hand-phones like collecting stamps, others meeting the same crowd each time. My
sample continually built purposeful networks to assure their success and
overall success.
n
Expediting
decision-making. My people were practical problem-solvers, They avoided
delaying a decision, or making an instant decision, and were decisive in
everything.
n
Volunteering
and claiming authority. My people all volunteered to take responsibility for
results. But more than this, they volunteered to take authority, asking to be
delegated the power to make decisions that affected other people, and in the
absence of people in authority, just claiming it, with a clear sense of
limiting how far to go in the common interest. When victims feel powerless,
being asked to give authority gives them a sense of importance while lifting a
burden. When decision-makers are overworked, delegating some decisions to real
operators is a blessing. When there is no-one in charge, these are the people
who take control, then hand it back to the appropriate people when they appear.
Where are they now?
Almost all my people were dispensed with at
the end of their Aceh experience. Bob McKerrow was deployed to Sri Lanka, but
on his retirement even he was essentially discarded, and his own government
failed to recognise and use his talents to help where he could have. He alone
of my list is helping in Philippines. Fadlullah moved on, but UNDP rejected his
help to help his beloved Acehnese because he did not have a PhD. Bill, Paul and
myself continue to contribute at our own expense. The others have found niches,
but their excellence in disaster recovery is not appropriately recognised.
Summing up
I have not included here heroes from other
countries, nor the far greater list of stories of incompetence, inflexibility,
and lack of sensitivity. What I have presented here represents a start in my
own understanding of what constitutes professionalism and business excellence
after a disaster.
Aussie and Kiwi culture
I think it is not merely a matter of
geography or donor generosity or chance that there were so many creative and
productive Aussies and Kiwis in Aceh. Some people think it natural that there
were so many as we are considered close neighbours, but 50% of the world
population lives closer to Aceh than we are here on the Gold Coast. Our
governments were most generous; Australians and New Zealanders are generous
people. But I think Australians and New Zealanders have a culture that is well
suited to work under crisis conditions. I think that we tend to be more
creative, and our egalitarianism helps us to empathise more. At home, both Australia
and New Zealand have developed the world’s best disaster response capabilities,
and both have a world-wide reputation for it. Bill Nicol’s Tsunami Chronicles is a demonstration of this Australasian
capability, a global benchmark in the analysis of political and managerial
realities in disaster recovery. Paul Steinfort’s thesis and his training
program for grass roots project management in disaster recovery are also
demonstrations of it. We can hone our skills and market them. Australasia could
lead in building international business excellence after disasters.
Five proposals
Continue our search for business excellence in disaster management
This conference recognises the need for
greater professionalism in disaster response. My personal concern is for
professions and businesses that are professional without a disaster, but are
unprofessional after one. I would appreciate networking with people who would
like to see their professions and businesses develop concepts of
professionalism and business excellence in disaster recovery or other
circumstances of force majeure, be they project managers, quantity surveyors,
town planners, accountants, construction companies, banks or whatever.
Review Paul Steinfort’s program
I believe on-the-job in-the-field training
after a disaster is valuable. We have so many young and dedicated people coming
to assist, and helping them cope and giving them skills would help them and
recovery. I recommend humanitarian agencies to look at it, and engage Paul’s
people after the next major disaster.[6]
Australasian Disaster Resource Partnership
The World Economic Forum’s Disaster
Resources Partnership concept is a major step in bringing business excellence
to disaster reconstruction.[7]
Member companies commit themselves to offering expertise and resources to the
recovery process, establishing coordinated entry points and procedures for engaging
engineers and contractors to partner with humanitarian efforts, and it building
sectoral capacity for handling disaster recovery works. I would be delighted to
help Australian and New Zealand contractors form an Australasian partnership.
Australia and New Zealand could market skills in construction throughout the
world through such an organisation.
Recovery Bank Partnership
None of my champions comes from any part of
finance. I find it extraordinary how accountants and financiers have failed to
claim their appropriate place in assuring economic recovery and value for
money. Banks in Australia are learning what business excellence should be after
a disaster. Yet despite so much cash and capital coming into communities after
disasters, the banks have yet to see that they should be taking a leading role
next to government, humanitarian aid and construction. I would love to see us
create a recovery partnership of banks like the Disaster Resource Partnership
for construction. Where could we start?[8]
Tenth anniversary
The tsunami in Aceh, as with the tsunami in
Japan, and the earthquake in Christchurch, had enormous impact on the lives of
the people there, and beyond. My champions used disaster events to help change
their own minds, and thus their approaches. But as a whole, leaders in
Indonesia, Japan and New Zealand fail to see that disaster is an amazing lever
of change. And the lever does not quickly go away. As long as the memory and
trauma last, there is an opportunity for individuals, leaders and societies to harness
the memory to promote healthy change. I would love to see such an approach at
the end of this year to the tenth anniversary of the tsunami that struck Aceh.
The tsunami led to a peace agreement, and
brought special autonomy and democracy to the Acehnese. But there are still
threats to the peace and autonomy and democracy that came at such a great
expense. Here is an opportunity for the international community with Australia
and New Zealand in the lead, to remind all that, in the wake of the horrors
that disasters cause, real and sustainable change and improvem
[1][1] Sisa is the only female in my sample, by chance rather than design.
There were Australian and New Zealand ladies working in relief that may have
been included had I known their work better. There were many ladies from other
countries who I rank on a par with those on this list.
[2] I hope that Fadlullah will be able to attend ANZDMC 2014 where he
is sure to endorse my findings and recommendations.
[3] See Lucy Pearson (2013). Private sector engagement and
collaboration with civil-military actors in disaster management Indonesia:
Learning and transforming the 2010 simultaneous hazards. The Humanitarian
Futures Programme, King's College, London, report prepared for the Australian
Civil Military centre, downloaded on 22 April 2014 from http://acmc.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/INDONESIA-REPORT-FINAL.pdf
[4] In his book Changing Minds,
how to change your own mind and the mind of others, Keith Gardner proposes
seven levers of change, of which one is real world-events. Dramatic events raise
up leaders who harness threats to lead change. He illustrates his point with
stories about leaders like Margaret Thatcher who use financial crisis to
promote unpopular reforms in UK.
[5] Several of my sample had a sense of compassion for those swamped by
the task, distain for those who refused to adapt and contempt for those whose
incompetence threatened performance.
[6] I am not proposing that we use certification to make working in
recovery programs more bureaucratic. Certification in this case assures relevant
competencies trained are recognised.
[8] Things that a Recovery Banking Partnership could do after a
disaster:
1. Provide
cash to victims (in conjunction with Cash Learning Project): registered victims
obtain an ATM card with an account related to their rights to get assistance.
Donors put money into the funds and victims take funds out of ATMs that are located
throughout the disaster area.
2. Provide
on-site accounts and banking services to donors. No more donors with over a
million dollars in cash held at disaster centres. No more international transactions
for small sums.
3. Provide
pay to workers. All workers can be provided with funds into their accounts
rather than in cash. Special arrangements for remittances back to families of
migrant workers would also be helpful.
4. Help
local businesses to use on-line banking.
5. Provide
credit to businesses that have lost stock and assets (deferring normal
credit-worthiness assessments that disadvantage victims), most helpful to local
businesses that provide services to relief workers: supplies, transportation,
computer services, etc
6. Providing
credit to contractors and building suppliers (for heavy equipment, materials
testing, precasting, and other upstream construction services that are not
normally tendered by reconstruction
7. Provide
business risk assessments to recovery planners
8. Provide
data on progress of recovery.
Thanks Owen Podger
Another interesting article published on the Tsunami in Aceh in the Melbourne Age.
Thanks Owen Podger
Another interesting article published on the Tsunami in Aceh in the Melbourne Age.
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