12 years 12 lessons in forging partnerships and career growth

Few weeks ago i shared my journey on completing 10 years at PATH I have spent more than a decade developing partnerships in public health. As i have learnt through my career, this article may serve those well who are starting off their journeys. If you relate with the points please chime in with your own experiences. Views are welcome!

1. Keep it simple – A wise man, Peter Small , once told me - "If you can’t explain it to your grandmother, you don’t know it well enough." We live in a world of jargon. Simple communication sticks, especially in public health.
2. Define what success means, early on! – Critical for driving successful partners. Successful public health interventions depend on multiple stakeholders working together on complex challenges. They have different perspectives. Align on a common definition of success. The definition may evolve over time, but alignment is necessary. Having a clear idea of what you want to achieve and how you will measure it are critical. Success criteria are the specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) objectives that should be agreed upon.
3. Co-create with Government and public institutions – Each organisation, especially international organisations, nonprofits and private sector organisation usually want  visibility over a successful intervention. Often this approach leads to working in silos with local governments and ministries of health. However, for long-term sustainability and continuity of operations it is critical to engage with the government early on while ideating/designing interventions. Mumbai mission for tuberculosis control serves as a perfect example of how Government leadership along with early partner planning leads to successful interventions. Read more about it here Bold philanthropy in India TB control profile by the The Bridgespan Group
4. Acknowledge/celebrate failure, don’t be shy/afraid – Non-profit organisations need to continue raising funds to support impactful interventions. In doing so, at times, we go over-board and start blowing our own trumpets, often citing over attribution to successes. This approach also creates a tendency to hide/not talk about perceived failures or things that did not go well. As with life, you crumble if you do not learn from your mistakes. Similarly, it is critical to talk about failures and unsuccessful initiatives. Failure files by India Development Review (IDR) is a useful platform that brings together articles and this one in particular is a great read Why don't non-profits talk about their failures. Another one of my favourites, is by an  ex-colleague and friend, Sapna Surendran , that is worth citing here: - A donor relationship gone wrong
5. Say no – This can’t be done. Be honest about what is achievable . Many people in the development sector are passionate about social change. Many of them also enter this sector as a result of personal experience. Giving full commitment and owning the results defines these personalities. Often, in a bid to do more, we take up way more than we can handle. It could be from a boss, colleagues, or from one organization to another. The challenge of over-promising and under-delivering. To remain efficient and productive, it is imperative to say no and continue focusing on the most important job at hand. This is not applicable during global public health emergencies like COVID-19.
6. Build teams – Most of the work in our sector is done by the people for the people. Scout the right talent, hone and retain them. Invest in your teams. Be patient. Results will come. Your trust will keep them motivated. Be gentle, in times of crises they will stand up for each other.
7. Start with the people – Project design is discussed a lot, but still neglected. To keep up a fast pace, we start implementing from the get-go – start activities like recruitment and planning etc. as soon as funds are received. However, it is imperative to involve the end users – the stakeholders who will carry out activities and whose lives will be influenced by the intervention – in the planning phase. This is known as ‘'human centred design' and may involve several planned workshops, focused group discussions, feedback surveys. FMCG companies spend months on user-based research before launching a new product. Similar rigour is required while developing pilots. Start with the ‘customer’ as they say, so here start with the ‘end user’ and ask questions like ‘will this improve the patient experience’; ‘will this make lives easier/more efficient for the healthcare provider/worker’? And instead of asking these questions to yourself/making your own assumptions, ask the user.
8. Be patient – It’s a marathon, not a 100m dash. Results and impact take time. This is true for small- and large-scale interventions. Population impact results often take multiple years to be seen. Same is true for your career. You are in for the long haul.
9. Balance quant and qual – The world is generally divided between quantitative and qualitative skills. You can have this or that. But for interventions to truly excel, we need to employ both qualitative and quantitative methods to measure changes. For example, analysing OPD data may tell you that patient footfalls are increasing or decreasing. That is only half the picture. One should conduct patient interviews, feedback surveys to know the reason why this is happening. And then tweak the intervention. As a public health manager, if you can make sense of numbers and navigate messaging and behaviour change campaigns, you will be in a great place.
10. You can’t control everything – As Buddha said, "If you can solve a problem, why worry? If you cannot solve a problem, then why worry?" People worry because they want to feel in control of things. No matter how hard you try or the influence that you have, there will always be things that will take you by surprise. Put your best foot forward, give your 100% and then see what happens.
11. Find your guru/s – We all need access to that one mentor/guide. On whom we can lean upon in times of trouble or success. We also have access to life coaches these days. It’s like investing money – the sooner you start the higher the chances of long-term returns. Similarly, the sooner you find your mentor/s the better it shall be for you. I am lucky to have found a few in Neeraj Jain Shibu Vijayan Puneet Dewan Sarang Deo
12. Experiential learning – In today’s world, with access to virtual learning tools, one may feel that one may learn everything online. However, there is no substitute for field work. Spend time with communities, healthcare providers and those who access healthcare services. Prioritise these experiential opportunities whenever you get a chance, specially early on in your career. With no public health academic background and a management degree and strategy consulting experience, my real learning happened when I worked in Mumbai with an urban slum population, private healthcare providers, and healthcare workers. Insights and lessons learnt during those four years serve me well, even today.

Kudos to all those who have part of this journey.

Sudarshan S Sri Pulavarthy Pramod Majety Nisha Dutt vineet rai Nabeel Goheer Dr Nitya Mohan Khemka RAVDEEP GANDHI Vaishnavi Jondhale Richa Shankar Rahul Mullick Kanishka Katara Sameer Kanwar Dr. Swati Mahajan Kushal Mazumdar Nivedita Kumar (She/her) Piyush Peshwani Madhukar Pai, MD, PhD Andrew McDowell Rigveda Kadam Arnab Pal Manjot Kaur Prashanth Venkatesh Anita Gupta Nakull Gupta Jagdeep Gambhir Anand Ramaswami Rajashree Sen Akanksha Tikku Anil C. Zehra Kazmi Isha Jain Shivanshi Kapoor Anushka Chaturvedi Nikolaj Gilbert Mara Ferrari Geneva Pham Jessica Silverthorne Steve Davis Prachi Seth Prachi Shukla Aditya Bhaisora Ramya Ananthakrishnan