Engineering Social Change

Change is a campaign theme that obviously wins! No doubt about that. This is a good time to talk about change more especially because African and the world at large has seen significant changes this year. Yet change is a complex social process that must be well thought of, carefully engineered and executed with excellence in order to achieved the desired change. Many leaders, both national and corporate leaders have so much vision of change yet the results of their good and lasting desire, at least in the part of the world where I come from, is least to be desired by any other person either than themselves.

Social change refers to an alteration in the social order of a society. It is used in reference to the notion of a social progress or an evolution of a sociocultural setup. This process of social change is much more complex not simply because it is engineering change in human beings but more so because it is dealing with the sanity of the whole society; the way things have been done over ages, the perception of what is true, the standard for ethical conduct and the measure of what ought to change itself.

The fact that the whole social structure is a complex existing human-created ‘being’, any desire to see change in the system will have to be targeted at the main creators of the system. We discussed below some of the key creators of the social system and how to achieve change by knowing how to relate with these ‘creators’.

1. The General body of knowledge: This in my opinion is the most important creator of the whole change process. This is the factory, if I may call it, where the human mind is programed to create the real world. We can only achieve change to the level of our knowledge capital. Educational systems are meant to give the society an idea of what will work and what will not work and how to work out what. Knowledge is shared and continually discovered by this body until it trickles down the whole society. Unfortunately, education now is becoming a platform where the child is robbed of the opportunity to be curious, to think and solve problems. He/She is measured by standards and principles which has never been tried by even the professor. We teach people how to pour water into a bucket  rather than teaching them how to find water. The essence of this aspect of change is to give a man light and they would find their own way. Knowledge of defined and old path are necessary but our time needs courage and curiosity for more uncharted  courses, for at least these old path were once uncharted.
2. Societal Religious framework: A general national theology is key and critical to the whole social sanity. Religion has been part of man since the early known history of the world. Human beings are religious, even Atheism, is a religion that believes in no deities. This is critical because, what we believe broadly makes us as much as what we know. The believe system shapes attitudes, passions, values and commitment which are key ingredients for any change process. There is a general feeling among humans that God exists, and statistics and history proves this time and over again. Connection with God breeds peace and meaning knowledge alone can’t provide. Intelligent minds without ethics can become the worse social liabilities ever known. Change engineers much understand how the belief systems work and they must engineer change in the light of knowledge, considering the culture and faith of the people.
3. The Arts and Entertainment: Arts and Entertainment is the tool to communicate lasting change with subliminal effect. Ideas, philosophies, cultures, passions, attitudes, heroes, innovation, and love are all build into the creative industries and are passed on through such with very little efforts. People buy into the change without even realizing what has happened to them until what has been planted is pressed out in due time. Change markers need the creative industries. Change engineered in a creative manner always last because an old culture can be question and replaced in a world the audience believes in.

In conclusion, true and lasting change is possible although it may be a lot of effort and commitment. Let the change makers unite and lead a new path for the next generations yet unborn by revolutionizing the general body of knowledge, shaping the believe system in respect of a perfect God and creatively communicating the values and ways of change.