written by Matt Andrews As I reflect on how change happens in development, 5 themes come to mind. I have written about the importance of moments, muddling and the mundane. Today I will discuss the fourth one: multiple men and women matter. In my experience, development and governance reform is about people, not as targets of…Continue Reading The 5 M’s of Development: Multiple Men and Women matter (Part 4 of 5)
The 5 M’s of Development: Mundane matters (Part 3 of 5)
written by Matt Andrews As I reflect on how change happens in development, 5 themes come to mind. I wrote about the importance of moments which are vital to foster change in complex contexts, and muddling which is important to find and fit reform and change content that fosters real development. Today I will discuss…Continue Reading The 5 M’s of Development: Mundane matters (Part 3 of 5)
The 5 M’s of Development: Muddling matters (Part 2 of 5)
written by Matt Andrews As I reflect on how change happens in development, 5 themes come to mind. I wrote about moments yesterday. Today I will discuss the second one: muddling matters. What I mean is that developing countries need to muddle through if they want to improve governance; there are no quick answers to…Continue Reading The 5 M’s of Development: Muddling matters (Part 2 of 5)
The 5 M’s of Development: Moments matter (Part 1 of 5)
written by Matt Andrews As I reflect on how change happens in development, 5 themes come to mind. The first is simple, but is one of the most important observations I continually make when observing successful change that fosters better government and development results: Moments matter. ‘Change events’ happen when contexts become ready for change….Continue Reading The 5 M’s of Development: Moments matter (Part 1 of 5)
PMRDF: an Innovative State Capability Experiment in India
written by Salimah Samji. Anyone who has ever worked in India knows how hard it is to implement programs. The sheer size of the country makes it impossible for anyone but the government, who is the only one with infrastructure and reach, to provide public services to its citizens. Currently, every district administers typically 100+…Continue Reading PMRDF: an Innovative State Capability Experiment in India
BSC Video 13: Scaling through the Diffusion of Practice
Innovations and adaptations that occur in one place often need to be scaled in order to lead to system-level change. However, in development, the road from small to big is challenging and rife with pitfalls. In this last of the first BSC video series, Michael Woolcock, discusses our approach to building state capability, which is…Continue Reading BSC Video 13: Scaling through the Diffusion of Practice
BSC Video 12: Maintaining your Authorizing Environment
Maintaining your support through a change process is often a challenging task which requires time and effort. In this video, Matt Andrews, explains how one does not only have to maintain the initial authorization, but also expand the number of actors who provide authorization, thus increasing the legitimacy of the project or reform. You can…Continue Reading BSC Video 12: Maintaining your Authorizing Environment
BSC Video 10: Specifying the Design Space
The design space of actual development projects is complex, granular, and nuanced. In this video, Lant Pritchett, uses a simple example of a design space for teacher training to illustrate this point. You can watch the video below or on YouTube. If you are interested in learning more, read It’s All About MeE: Using Structured…Continue Reading BSC Video 10: Specifying the Design Space
BSC Video 9: Constructing Problems to Drive Change
Problems are key to driving change. In this video, Matt Andrews, uses two examples about HIV in Pakistan, to illustrate how constructing local problems using data can be used to mobilize stakeholders to search for solutions that ultimately drive change. You can watch the video below or on YouTube. If you are interested in learning…Continue Reading BSC Video 9: Constructing Problems to Drive Change
Tales (and Tells) of a Development Amateur
written by Lant Pritchett Nina Munk’s new book The Idealist: Jeffrey Sachs and the Quest to End Poverty is a great read. The book itself has been reviewed by development luminaries Bill Easterly, Angus Deaton, and Duncan Green and is on various “Best Book of 2013” lists. One of my children required extremely complicated heart…Continue Reading Tales (and Tells) of a Development Amateur