Blog

PDIA: It doesn’t matter what you call it, it matters that you do it

written by Matt Andrews It is nearly two years since we at the Building State Capability (BSC) program combined with various other groups across the developing world to create an umbrella movement called Doing Development Differently (DDD). The new acronym was meant to provide a convening body for all those entities and people trying to…Continue Reading PDIA: It doesn’t matter what you call it, it matters that you do it

PDIA Notes 1: How we have PDIA’d PDIA in the last five years

Matt Andrews writing on a whiteboard with a presentation slide behind him and CABRI PFM signage off to the side

written by Matt Andrews We at the Building State Capability (BSC) program have been working on PDIA experiments for five years now. These experiments have been designed to help us learn how to facilitate problem driven, iterative and adaptive work. We have learned a lot from them, and will be sharing our lessons—some happy, some frustrating,…Continue Reading PDIA Notes 1: How we have PDIA’d PDIA in the last five years

The “PDIA: Notes from the Real World” blog series

written by Salimah Samji We are delighted to announce our new PDIA: Notes from the Real World blog series. In this series we will share our lessons from our PDIA experiments over the past five years, on how to facilitate problem driven, iterative and adaptive work . We will also feature some guest blog posts from…Continue Reading The “PDIA: Notes from the Real World” blog series

SearchFrames for Adaptive Work (More Logical than Logframes)

written by Matt Andrews Although the benefits of experimental iteration in a PDIA process seem very apparent to most people we work with, we often hear that many development organizations make it difficult for staff to pursue such approaches, given the rigidity of logframe and other linear planning methods. We often hear that funding organizations…Continue Reading SearchFrames for Adaptive Work (More Logical than Logframes)

Book Review of Serious Whitefella Stuff: When Solutions Became the Problem in Indigenous Affairs

written by Michael Woolcock It is no secret that a long succession of Australian governments – federal and state, Liberal and Labour – have struggled to implement effective policies in Indigenous communities. Less well known, even among seasoned researchers, is exactly why this has been (and remains) the case. How is it that a public…Continue Reading Book Review of Serious Whitefella Stuff: When Solutions Became the Problem in Indigenous Affairs

Registration for our free PDIA online education program is closed

Would you like a how-to guide to make your organization more effective? We recently experimented with online education as a modality to diffuse the essence of PDIA with the long term objective of creating a global community of practice that collaborates, learns, shares and grows together, ultimately leading to more successful development outcomes. Watch the…Continue Reading Registration for our free PDIA online education program is closed

What we’ve learned from our first free PDIA online course

written by Salimah Samji The broad principles that underpin the PDIA approach to building state capability are gaining traction in development and policy circles. We recently experimented with an online course as a modality to diffuse the essence of PDIA with the long term objective of creating a global community of practice that collaborates, learns,…Continue Reading What we’ve learned from our first free PDIA online course

Doing Problem Driven Work, great new guide for governance reformers and activists

By Duncan Green One of the criticisms of the big picture discussion on governance  that’s been going on in networks such as Doing Development Differently and “Thinking and Working Politically” is that it’s all very helicopter-ish. ‘What do I do differently on Monday morning?’, comes the frustrated cry of the practitioner. Now some really useful…Continue Reading Doing Problem Driven Work, great new guide for governance reformers and activists

Registration for the first PDIA online course is closed

Would you like a how-to guide to make your organization more effective? We are delighted to announce PDIA: Building Capability by Delivering Results, a free two-part experiential online course that will provide you with the necessary frameworks and tools that you need to do PDIA (Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation) in your context. Watch the course…Continue Reading Registration for the first PDIA online course is closed

The New Global Goals Spell the End of Kinky Development

written by Lant Pritchett The UN’s post-2015 “Sustainable Development Goals” (or “Global Goals”) debuted to decidedly mixed reviews. Phyllis Pomerantz points out that with 169 targets “if everything is a priority, nothing is a priority.” Bill Easterly refers to the SDG as “senseless, dreamy, garbled,” Lord Mark Malloch Brown’s called them “higgedly-piggedly,” Charles Kenny describes…Continue Reading The New Global Goals Spell the End of Kinky Development