Dear Brian, I am a global ...

Dear Brian,

I am a global consultant currently semi-retired as an expat in the Philippines for quite some time now.  It is true anywhere that we must meet a perceived client need (and restrictions) to be successful!  If they can be educated to an understanding of new approaches they will adopt them or require them in due time.  The LAST thing that anyone really wants to hear (even from a consultant) is that you have the only (or even best) solution!  We need to guide them to optimal approaches gradually, even if they are the ones who asked us for help in the first place.

Oftentimes there are very legitimate local reasons for attitudes and perceptions, including the local climate, economics, raw materials, and cultural mores.  What we are accustomed to having at hand, or consider affordable, may not be the case in many parts of the world.  A large difference in perspectives on automation and machinery compared to manual labor may also be evident.

It's best to not only observe what are common practices in a region but try to find out how they were developed and who keeps them going currently.  Popular support is always nice, but there are usually just a few key "rulers" by any title that really control the public works.  If they want it done, it usually happens.  If they have ANY objections for even seemingly unrelated issues, it will be much more difficult or impossible to get anything installed.  As you noted, more important to success is a good infrastructure to MAINTAIN whatever is put in place!  I've seen too many abandoned projects in many developing country locations because they either didn't have the necessary funding and/or the planning for the continuation of the project.

Cheers,

Steven