Focus on the core idea

You already started to introduce change when you consulted people about their needs and their aspirations for change. People had time to digest new ideas, ask questions, consider implications, and make the ideas their own. By the time the consultation is finished, the final idea might already sound more like theirs than yours. If you have done it right, some of your thinking has also changed.

The next step is to identify precisely the changes that you want to make. The formula is quite simple: pick a fairly small easy-to-accept change that will make a great difference. In a few ideal cases, the benefit of your new change is so overwhelmingly obvious to people in the target community that most of them accept it enthusiastically. In most situations, however, you will have to work much harder to get acceptance for a new idea. Besides, you'll probably adjust the list of key changes as you implement them and understand them better. You will find it helpful to focus on essential changes and defer other changes.

Consider that you may need to innovate on a fairly large scale, especially if you are doing appropriate technology. (Here's an e-book on how to innovate.)

Find a simple, clear message that people will understand correctly. In an intercultural situation, there may be lots of communication static (worldview issues, incorrect assumptions) that make your apparently simple message harder to understand than you anticipate. You may also need to dialog and explore implications with them.

If the idea depends on the local people understanding it, a simple but less efficient idea might be better than a technological "magic box." It also has the attraction of being within their local resources. For example, a simple sand-based water filter filled with buckets might be low tech, but it is easy for local people to make and use. Similarly, a dentist's drill driven by a bicycle might be more practical than one driven by a motor. One person noticed that houses in slums were dark all through the day. A simple solar light, made from a recycled water bottle, solved the problem.

Define the purpose and vision of the program and what it could achieve. Give people a vision to chase, one that inspires them.