We hosted Dan Honig a few weeks ago to discuss his new book published by Oxford University Press. Here are some highlights….Continue Reading New Book: Navigation by Judgment
Watch our new PDIA video!

We have been told many times that the acronym PDIA is clunky and that it doesn’t easily roll off the tongue. Matt Andrews’ response to that has been, “it doesn’t matter what you call it, it matters that you do it.” BUT in order to do it, you need to first understand what it is. We are…Continue Reading Watch our new PDIA video!
PDIA Course: Taking the classroom to the field and the field to the classroom
written by Salimah Samji When we launched the first PDIA online course in November 2015, we had a burning question: Is it possible to teach PDIA in an online environment? To answer this question, we essentially PDIA-ed our way forward by learning, iterating, and adapting our online course – and the answer is a resounding YES! As…Continue Reading PDIA Course: Taking the classroom to the field and the field to the classroom
We recently ran a PDIA course on climate change adaptation. Why?
written by Tim O’Brien Leader of farming cooperative in central Sri Lanka that diversified into ginger production as drought increasingly hurt rice cultivation. If you live in a developed country, odds are that you think about climate change as something that will harm future generations — your children or your grandchildren perhaps. But if you…Continue Reading We recently ran a PDIA course on climate change adaptation. Why?
PDIA for growth in Honduras: A student project with major promise
written by Matt Andrews We at the Building State Capability program have the good fortune of working with amazing practitioners from all over the world, and on topics of real importance. This semester, for instance, I am working with a team of three mid-career students from Latin America on a project applying the problem analysis…Continue Reading PDIA for growth in Honduras: A student project with major promise
Why are there so many mass shootings in the USA?
written by Matt Andrews, Mark Moore, Lant Pritchett and Salimah Samji This is a crowdsourcing effort to understand why … and to help foster a common response. Many governments lack the capabilities to play the roles needed for their countries to work well and prosper. These capabilities are often missing because policy-makers cannot agree on…Continue Reading Why are there so many mass shootings in the USA?
PDIA in Sri Lanka: Learning to Engage New Investors for Economic Diversification – Let’s Go Fishing!

written by Anisha Poobalan Meet the Investment Promotions team, a group of Sri Lankan government officials from various departments, experts in differing fields, and all novices at the daunting task ahead of them – attracting foreign investors to Sri Lanka. I had the privilege of working alongside the I-team as a coach and colleague for…Continue Reading PDIA in Sri Lanka: Learning to Engage New Investors for Economic Diversification – Let’s Go Fishing!
Using PDIA to tackle off-budget spending in Liberia

Guest blog by Alieu Fuad Nyei Like many other African countries, budget execution is a huge challenge in Liberia. Last fiscal year (July 2016 to June 2017), off-budget spending was over 15% of the approved budget while in-year budgetary transfers have been on the increase, significantly undermining the credibility of the approved budget. This huge…Continue Reading Using PDIA to tackle off-budget spending in Liberia
Register now for our free PDIA online course!
written by Salimah Samji <update>: Registration is currently closed for this course. We are delighted to announce that we will be offering The Practice of PDIA: Building Capability by Delivering Results once again, from February 4 – May 20, 2018. …Continue Reading Register now for our free PDIA online course!
New connections and better performance in Nigeria’s budget process

written by Matt Andrews (with wise words from Nuhu Mahmud Sani) A team from Nigeria used the PDIA approach to effect change in their budget process. They had coaching from fantastic colleagues in CABRI (an African intergovernmental organization working on budget reform) who collaborated with us at the Building State Capability Program to expand the reach…Continue Reading New connections and better performance in Nigeria’s budget process