Sociology 101 And ¨Palanka

Getting things done organizationaly speaking is a trick most anywhere. Trying to get things done in another culture of course requires some working knowledge of how things are done and what it takes to break through the barriers. In this culture ¨palanka¨(not sure of the spelling) is the series of connections between people that is used to accomplish the difficult if not the impossible. In the US we call it ¨connections¨or ¨greasing the skids¨or having ¨pull¨. In Bahrain it was called ¨whasta¨. The frustration of local people becomes apparent when an outsider can come in and do things they could not seem to get done for a long time. Of course it is not that the outsider is so smart, but rather the system is not working in the same way with the outsider.¨Palanka¨means I do something for you and you do something for me. As an outsider I can do for them, but I am not dependent on them doing something for me. The airport in Quito is five hours away and I have nothing to lose if it is necessary to leave. Consequently, the ¨palanka¨game is greatly altered. It is amazing how this brings people around who have not had to come around previously.Latino culture and organization is very top down. If you manage to rise to the top of the organization, a little clever ¨palanka¨can keep you there for a long time. People just accept that you are the boss.The down side of all of this that the power and leverage gained from team work and a collabrative approach is lost. It is amazing how that loss hinders organizations from getting as much done as should be done.And so we continue to work on organizational matters in the school.