Deviant behaviour helped reduce malnourishment. Find out how!

A group of researchers tested the concept of positive deviance to help Vietnamese communities tackle childhood malnourishment in 1990. Within two decades, the approach reduced severe malnutrition by 74%. 

Positive deviance is one of the most discussed examples of positive psychology. It’s the process of looking for people who succeed where others fail given the same resources. 

The concept originated with work completed by Marian Zeitlin at Tufts University in the 1980s. Zeitlin researched developing communities in Egypt to find out why small groups of children were healthy when most children were malnourished. 

The healthy children were the “deviants.” Their parents’ positive deviance allowed them to thrive despite having access to the same amount of food and resources as other families. 

Jerry and Monique Sternin then came up with the idea of amplifying positive deviance. They worked with communities in Vietnam to uncover examples of positive deviance instead of trying to find new solutions for dealing with malnutrition. 

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By finding positive deviants and learning more about their secrets to success, the Sternins could apply the same techniques to the entire community. This led to a major reduction in malnutrition among children and is now the model for rehabilitating malnourished children in over 20 countries. 

Organisations often spend a tremendous amount of time and resources devising new business strategies. Based on the concept of positive deviance, some solutions may already exist within the organisation. Using the same techniques employed in poor communities to overcome malnutrition may help leaders or supervisors uncover effective work methods. Look for those who thrive in areas where others fail despite having access to the same resources. 

If you want to learn more about the power of positive deviance for businesses, contact Think Learn Succeed to book a training session. 

About the author of this article: 

Eleanor Shakiba is positive psychology trainer. She teaches highly skilled professionals to think creatively, communicate constructively and become positive leaders. Eleanor’s clients work in academia, education, IT, engineering, finance and health. She is the author of the Positive Psychology Toolkit for HR and L&D practitioners. She also runs a range of retreats and workshops for trainers and facilitators. 

When is deviance a good thing?

Most people associate the word ‘deviant’ with negative behaviour. Indeed, I was once asked to remove the tagline ‘training for positive deviants’ from my training materials. The client believed it sent the wrong message. Ironically, one of the participants in that client’s group had looked up my LinkedIn profile and spotted my tagline there. “Why didn’t you mention the positive deviant thing?” she asked. Like many positive deviants, she found the term intriguing. 

So what exactly is positive deviance? And how can the concept help you – and your team – excel? 

Deviance is variation from a norm. Deviant behaviour, therefore, is behaviour which diverges from commonly accepted (or ‘normal’) behaviour. Obviously, this can be a problem – as in the case of criminal behaviour. But what about deviation at the other end of the bell curve? This results in new solutions to problems, exceptional performance and innovation. It is positive deviance.  

Sadly, many organisations do not recognise the potential positive deviance has to transform business practices. Recently I was running a leadership program in an engineering company. One of the participants said, “The laziest people sometimes have the best ideas”. His tone was dismissive, so I asked him how he actioned those ideas. His response was that he just ignored them. This is an all-too-common response to positive deviance. 

Imagine the potential of a business that capitalised on positive deviance. It would have an energised, flourishing culture. Ideas would be captured in the moment and turned into solutions. 

Diversity would not just be a concept celebrated on International Diversity Day. It would be woven into the fabric of teams. Meetings would buzz with engaged conversation. Ideas would flow and people would flourish. 

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If this image excites you, explore the world of positive deviance. Here are five simple ways to get started: 

  1. Read The Power of Positive Deviance by Richard Tanner Pascale, Jerry Sternin and Monique Sternin.  
  2. The next time someone proposes an ‘impractical’ idea, explore it instead of dismissing it. 
  3. Scan your business for flourishing teams. Pinpoint what they are doing differently to everyone else. Then replicate their strategies for success. 
  4. Speak up when you have ideas that break the norm. 
  5. Ramp up your diversity program and review your performance management systems. Check that they actively support those who deviate from the norm in positive ways. 

Remember that positive deviants can make the world a better place. It’s time to join their ranks! 

About the author of this article: 

Eleanor Shakiba is a master trainer. She runs workshops in positive psychology techniques such as positive deviance, learned optimism, constructive communication and positive leadership. Eleanor can help your people build a thriving business, and a flourishing workplace culture. Eleanor is the author of the Positive Psychology Toolkit for HR and L&D practitioners. She also runs a range of retreats and workshops for trainers and facilitators. 

Fun fact 1: Positive deviance could save your life. Here’s how.

Positive deviants are people who disrupt habits in their industry in positive ways. These people do things differently to everyone else. They are the catalysts for positive change – often prompting ripple effects which influence thousands of people.  

Here’s an example of positive deviance used in a life-saving way. A physician at Penn State College of Medicine identified five key features that improve diabetes care. Taking the positive deviance approach helped identify the models that were most successful in the treatment of diabetes. Because they sought out the differences that made a positive impact, the physicians ultimately improved diabetes care in 25 primary care practices in Pennsylvania.  

Positive deviance can influence the people you work with to change their habits for the better. Recognise and learn from the positive deviants in your workplace today. Or start thinking laterally and become a deviant yourself!  

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About the author of this fun fact: 

Eleanor Shakiba is positive psychology trainer. She teaches highly skilled professionals to think creatively, communicate constructively and become positive leaders. Eleanor’s clients work in academia, education, IT, engineering, finance and health. She is the author of the Positive Psychology Toolkit for HR and L&D practitioners. She also runs a range of retreats and workshops for trainers and facilitators. 

Positive deviance: the secret to success in challenging times

When is deviant behaviour useful? When it provides positive outcomes. In these cases, it is called ‘positive deviance’. Positive psychologists define positive deviance as aberration from the norm in constructive ways. People who solve unsolvable problems are positive deviants. They think and behave in ways that promote success. 

So how is the positive deviance concept useful in practical terms? Positive psychology trainers are very interested in this question, as application into real world contexts is where positive deviance can make a huge difference.  It can be used to promote social or behavioural changePractical applications of positive deviance are based on the idea that every group has outliers that succeed in areas where others fail. By identifying their behaviour and applying it to the group, it is possible to bring about favourable change. 

Deviance refers to a behaviour that goes against the norm. Positive psychology trainers refer to deviants as those that do not conform to the accepted standards of society. While people typically use this term to refer to negative behaviour, deviance can be positive. 

According to the positive deviance model, there are individuals within each community that thrive where others tend to struggle. Positive psychology trainers and coaches study these people – and leaders should, too. Their constructively deviant behaviour gives them an advantage over others, despite having access to the same resources. 

So just how is positive deviance difference to what most people think of as deviance? Negative deviance includes behaviour that departs from accepted norms in a socially unacceptable way. Criminal acts are typically considered a type of negative deviance. Positive deviance is behaviour that defers from the norms but brings constructive results. 

Businesses can use this model to search for people that deviate from the rules yet produce the best results. The workers that follow their own path may hold the key to overcoming the challenges within your organisation. By working with positive psychology trainers and coaches, you can encourage everyone to become a positve deviance and build a thriving workplace culture.  

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The concept of positive deviance was first applied in the field by Jerry Sternin and Monique Sternin with the assistance of Richard Pascale. The group was involved in Save the Children in Vietnam in the early 1970s. This endeavour addressed the spread of malnutrition among children in rural villages. 

To find a solution, the group looked for children in the villages that were well nourished. The families with well-nourished children engaged in positive deviance 

They followed their own approach, such as eating small meals throughout the day. This deviated from the same routines and diets as their neighbours,. By designing a program that followed the positive deviant behaviour, the group helped decrease malnutrition in the area by 85%. 

Since the publication of this model, many organisations have employed the same techniques to uncover new business strategies or practices. Positive deviance can help organisations find employees who find better solutions when faced with the same challenges as their peers. Finding these outliers and seeing what they do differently allows groups to identify and implement new approaches to existing problems. 

So, how do you apply this model within an organisation? Positive psychology trainers recommend taking five core steps: 

  • Define the problem or challenge 
  • Identify positive deviants 
  • Observe the behaviour of positive deviants 
  • Replicate the behaviour among the group 
  • Reward and reinforce the new behaviour 

Remember that deviance is not always a bad thing. The positive deviance model gives teams and organisations a powerful tool to identify a more successful approach to problems or challenges. Instead of following the same old business practices, find those that are succeeding and replicate their behaviour. 

About the author of this article: 

Eleanor Shakiba is a master trainer. She runs workshops in positive psychology techniques such as positive deviance, learned optimism, constructive communication and positive leadership. Eleanor can help your people build a thriving business, and a flourishing workplace culture. Eleanor is the author of the Positive Psychology Toolkit for HR and L&D practitioners. She also runs a range of retreats and workshops for trainers and facilitators. 

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