Results take time.
IMAGO had been engaging with SEWA for multiple years before they started working on their first project together. It takes time to build this level of trust and cohesiveness with organizations. This was further demonstrated by the long lead time between setting up a project and results. Designing a program, working with the team to set it up, implementation, and scaling take years. I had a very different perspective of how things worked bottom up, especially coming from a management consulting background, where some projects were very short.
Be bold.
IMAGO is adapting agile for grassroot organizations. They are
developing an enterprise support system, an accelerator like approach where social enterprises work using agile methods to solve problems, leveraging support such as mentoring. IMAGO is pioneering the work in this field for grassroot organizations and taking bold moves to learn by doing and then share best practice with the rest of the team.
Co-creation
Imago and SEWA have such a complementary relationship, that their
interactions almost seem seamless. IMAGO was a gentle guide and SEWA was took initiative and was avid at implementing. Imago brought in structure and a framework and SEWA had great ideas, and the enthusiasm to make things happen. The co-creation process led to great work, but more importantly the client was well equipped to provide the best solutions.