Back in the 1990's after several years of trying to launch nutrition programs in Vietnam, Save the Children finally found a minister who would let them in. The story goes that, though, that there was a caveat in the invitation. If they could not demonstrate success quickly, the invitation would be withdrawn.
The directors of this program, Jerry and Monique Sternin knew that if they applied their traditional teaching methods, they would fail. In that traditional model, instructors would be sent in to teach villagers about nutrition. This process would would have to be repeated over several years to see a significant change in behavior.
But they had only months to demonstrate a significant impact.
With little to lose, they chose to take a new path, one that had been piloted back in the 70's. This was a model of positive deviancy 
.
So they went into the villagers, not as authorities, but as learners. They talked to the villagers, asking them about what they were feeding their families and observed the relative heights of their children. For those families with the taller children, they went back and explored deeper, and then asked them if they would be willing to share their story with the other villagers.
Not only did the other villagers quickly adopt these nutritional practices, they began to share other best practices. Transformational change happened quick with a profound impact on their community.
I started using the model of positive deviancy as a marketing consultant at Tektronix, applied to work I was doing leading innovation initiatives at the Portland Police Department, then used it as a key component in a strategy for re-imagining education.