Guest blog by Busikazi Futshane My expectations of IPP I enrolled in Implementing Public Policy programme because I since learned that I am dealing with a complex policy challenge. My interest was to understand how to deal with uncertainty and unknown factors in policy implementation. I wanted new insights, tools to ease bottle necks, and ways…Continue Reading A Journey of Inward Looking and Quick Wins in South Africa
As you may have noticed, our website was antiquated, to say the least. The task of giving it a makeover has been on the back burner for a while now. We are proud to finally announce that our new website is live! The site provides an overview of PDIA, links to our blog and lists…Continue Reading BSC website gets a makeover
written by Matt Andrews Yesterday I blogged about Hirschman’s Hiding Hand. As I interpret it, a central part of his idea is that many development projects: focus on solving complex problems, and only once they have started does a ‘hiding hand’ lift to show how hard the problem is to solve, but because policy-makers and…Continue Reading Why many development initiatives have achievement gaps…and what to do about this
written by Matt Andrews I referred to Albert Hirschman’s work on the “Principle of the Hiding Hand” in my class today. It is a great principle, and has real application when thinking about PDIA and problem driven change. In his essay, “The Principle of the Hiding Hand” Hirschman argues that creative solutions most frequently come from adapting…Continue Reading Hirschman’s Hiding Hand and Problem Driven Change
Yesterday was the last day of Doing Development Differently (#differentdev). A group of about 40 development professionals from around the world met to discuss positive cases where development initiatives (call them projects, interventions, activities or whatever) have led to real results and impact. It was another full day with two DDD Exchange Sessions, a PDIA…Continue Reading Doing Development Differently: Day 2 Summary
Today was the first day of Doing Development Differently (#differentdev). It was a full day with two DDD Exchange Sessions, a design thinking session and a wind tunnel meeting. View the videos, tweets and photos. When we designed this workshop, we wanted to maximize the opportunity to hear from as many people as possible. Specifically, we…Continue Reading Doing Development Differently: Day 1 Summary
Last October, we hosted a one-day workshop entitled, Untying Development: Promoting Governance and Government with Impact. The day brought together different voices to discuss the challenge of creating a governance agenda that focuses on solving country-specific problems, involves local people through flexible and context-fitted processes, and emphasizes learning in the reform process. We are proud…Continue Reading Doing Development Differently 2014
The coherence and effectiveness of engagement with the world’s ‘fragile and conflict-affected states’—beyond ethical imperatives and geo-strategic considerations—turns on answers to two vexing questions. First, on what defensible basis is any given country, at any given historical moment, deemed to be (or not to be) ‘fragile’? Second, if a defining characteristic of state fragility is…Continue Reading The role of PDIA in fragile states
We are proud to announce that Looking Like a State: Techniques of Persistent Failure in State Capability for Implementation co-authored by Matt Andrews, Lant Pritchett and Michael Woolcock won the Faculty Article Award from the Sociology of Development Section of the American Sociological Association (ASA). The award ceremony was held in San Francisco on August…Continue Reading BSC Paper wins ASA award
The acronym PFM stands for Public Financial Management: But what does public financial management really mean? Matt Andrews, Marco Cangiano, Neil Cole, Paolo de Renzio, Philipp Krause, and Renaud Seligmann have published a new paper on demystifying the concept of public financial management (PFM), drawing on their experiences as specialists in different contexts and with…Continue Reading This is PFM
