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Tag: Guest Blog

Can PDIA become a regular part of how a government works?

Institutional change is part of the theory of change of PDIA – scaling through the diffusion of new ways of thinking and greater problem-solving know-how. And once a community of practice reaches critical mass across an eco-system, a tipping point can happen where the eco-system becomes generally more open to novelty, where success is a more effective route to legitimacy, and where leadership is oriented towards value creation….Continue Reading Can PDIA become a regular part of how a government works?

Working with local governments to improve service delivery in Indonesia

Indonesian team working together

Guest blog written by Karrie McLaughlin When Indonesia decentralized just over 20 years ago, it did so partly on the promise that bringing services closer to citizens would help to improve them. However, at the same moment that responsibility for the provision of basic public services was shifting to local governments, the nature of those…Continue Reading Working with local governments to improve service delivery in Indonesia

Using the PDIA Toolkit to Help a Nonprofit in Philadelphia

Fishbone Diagram on homelessness and addiction in Philadelphia

Guest blog written by Jamison Hicks The PDIA toolkit has yet again proven to be both useful and effective in providing organizations with the structural means to continually monitor and evaluate programmatic and organizational success. From a usage perspective, even though the toolkit was created in the US, the majority of PDIA blog posts on…Continue Reading Using the PDIA Toolkit to Help a Nonprofit in Philadelphia

COVID-19: Planning for Tomorrow’s Problems Today

Guest blog written by Peter Harrington When he started his blog series on crisis leadership on these pages, Matt Andrews asked: can public leaders navigate high winds and big waves in little boats? We could add to that question: how do you build the boat when you are already at sea and the storm is…Continue Reading COVID-19: Planning for Tomorrow’s Problems Today

Public Leadership Through Crisis 19: How do political leaders commonly structure their roles?

written by Matt Andrews This is the second of four blogs addressing questions about political engagement in crisis response organization. The questions are: Who are political leaders and what roles do they play in crises?  How do political leaders commonly structure their roles? How can political leaders structure their roles more effectively? I will offer…Continue Reading Public Leadership Through Crisis 19: How do political leaders commonly structure their roles?

Why I Almost Left Local Government (and Why I Decided to Stay)

Guest blog written by Maggie Jones Public sector work is not for the faint at heart.  Over a 48-hour period, you may experience a rollercoaster of emotions including: Inspiring others about why they should pursue a career in local government Shutting the office down early due to a citizen threat Receiving one of your best…Continue Reading Why I Almost Left Local Government (and Why I Decided to Stay)

The Mozambique School Lunch Initiative

Children in Mozambique eating lunch

Guest blog written by Cara Myers It was March of 2016 and the rains had completely failed for a second year in southern Mozambique. Farming families had no crops. Children were missing school to dig up river roots to eat. Teachers were sending students home because they were “too hungry to learn anything.” Even in…Continue Reading The Mozambique School Lunch Initiative

The problem with ‘best practice’: using PDIA to find solutions for Indonesian education

Guest blog by Mark Heyward Much is made these days of doing development differently, of adaptive programming, and thinking and working politically. Devpolicy Blog featured a series of articles on this topic in September 2018. But do these approaches work? One program that has embraced adaptive programming is Innovation for Indonesia’s School Children (INOVASI). The…Continue Reading The problem with ‘best practice’: using PDIA to find solutions for Indonesian education

Premature load bearing: a fresh look at the WDR 2011

Guest blog written by Paul von Chamier In 2011 the World Development Report shed some light on the extent of the challenges that drive premature load bearing, a concept discussed in earlier BSC blog posts. Among hundreds of figures presented in the Report was a simple table that showed how long it should take for…Continue Reading Premature load bearing: a fresh look at the WDR 2011

Tackling the problem of basic education in remote areas of Indonesia

Children learning in Indonesia

Guest blog written by Annisaa Rachmawati, Agusti Padmanisa, Yossy Rachmatillah, and Senza Arsendy. This is a team of four development practitioners working for an education program in Indonesia, INOVASI, that aims to find out ‘what works’ (and conversely what does not work) to improve student learning outcomes in literacy and numeracy in basic education. They…Continue Reading Tackling the problem of basic education in remote areas of Indonesia