Slogans for Community Development
Slogans and Proverbs
 by
Phil Bartle, PhD

Training Handout.

 Sometimes a principle you want to communicate, as a mobilizer, can
 be condensed into an amusing or mind-tickling phrase. These slogans
 and proverbs can be used in many ways. They can be repeated during
 group to reinforce an idea. They can be printed on a sign to be
 pasted up on an office wall. Several (not included here) are used in
 the text of these training modules.

 Here is a little collection of a few proverbs and slogans that
 you can use in your mobilization efforts. As with stories, these
 slogans are not merely for entertainment, but are useful in making
 points of principle understandable to community members.

Lesson Number One of Leadership:

 For the best leaders, the people do not notice their
 existence. The next best, the people honour and praise. The
 next the people fear, and the next the people hate. When the
 best leader's work is done, the people say, "We did it
 ourselves."
 Lao Tsu

Lesson Number One of Management:

 There are only two things in life: Reasons and Results.
 (Reasons Don't Count)
 Robert Anthony

Lesson Number One of Planning:

 If you do not know where you are going, then any road will do.
 Lewis Caroll

Lesson Number One of Self Reliance:

 If you blame others, you give up your power to change.
 Robert Anthony

First Rule of Carpentry:

 Measure twice and cut once (not the other way round).
 Al Bartle

First Rule of Awareness Raising

 A good message must be:
 Kept very simple, and must
 Reach all people.
 Phil Bartle

First Rule of Engineering:

 If it works, do not fix it.
 (author unknown)

First Rule of Management:

 Do not work hard, get results.
 Bill Owen

First Rule of Project Design:

 If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.
 Anonymous

The "Go" Poem:
 Go (see the document in the empowerment principles module).

 It is not enough for you the mobilizer to copy and memorise
 these. Build up your personal collection, and use them. (A good
 starting point is to look in the text of the handbook; many slogans
 not listed here are used in illustrating mobilizers; methods there).

 Trade slogans and proverbs with others at conferences,
 workshops, seminars, and informal meetings. Keep devising new ways
 to use them, and assess the results.

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 Do you have any more proverbs, slogans, poems or short pithy statements
 that can help to illustrate principles of community development and
 management training? Send them to Phil at the email address below. Please
 indicate the author, if any, or if it is anonymous. Include your own name,
 location, email address and web site if applicable. Submissions put on
 this page will be acknowledged.

 If you copy any text from this site, please link it back to
 www.scn.org/cmp/

Updated: 2003 April 21