I don't write too much about it in this space because it tends more in the area of "shop talk" for us in extension, but a great interest of mine is how one successfully executes a program of extension.
One of the temptations for the new extensionist is to jump in with both feet first, hit the ground running and get some change underway immediately. In our world of berries, there are so many things that need to be done, from getting away from chemical fumigation, reducing pesticide use, improving labor efficiency, managing invasive pests and the implementation of technology.
The problem is, as many eager people find out to their chagrin, that there are many, many interested parties involved in all of these things, and might not take so kindly to pushes for abrupt change.
To get my point across, I'll refer to the economic reformation of China that become the dictum under Premiere Deng Xiaopeng in the late seventies. Called "Crossing the River While Feeling the Rocks" it is change brought about in a piecemeal manner. Rather than forcing giant leaps forward, it rather worked towards change in a cautious way, first testing policies on a small scale, ramping up the successes and discarding the rest.
This piecemeal approach reduces risk and disarms opponents. Initial successes encourage others to back the changes, and one change leads to the next in an evolutionary manner. In such a way, rather than an approach using giant steps, the damage of such a small step orientation to the social fabric of the community to which one has been assigned is minimized.
A cautionary tale of perhaps how not to start out is from our own industry of an organization that was setting up its own research and extension program a number of years ago. Casting aside any hint of a piecemeal approach, and certainly not feeling their way as they went along, they pressed the pedal to floor and moved hot and fast. It was clear these were people with a real agenda, with the smarts, vigor and access to deep pools of money to make it all happen.
Unfortunately, attempting to make giant steps forward without getting too many bearings of the surroundings didn't work out so great. An aggressive and well funded program emerging in the midst of a number of established campaigns is bound to make waves and this one did not disappoint. With that alone there was lots of turmoil, but what really roiled the water was the decision, either through hubris, lack of experience or something else, to trash everyone else working in the community of berry research. Which of course blew a pretty decent sized hole in the social fabric, to say the least.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, rather than disarming opposition, this program solidified it. None of the big changes intended to be brought about were supported by anyone else, collaboration evaporated and they found themselves outside of the industry research and extension mainstream. Needless to say the whole operation collapsed and is now only a shadow of what it once hoped to be.
Good to start steady and slow, and feel out the rocks.
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