Overcoming the Limits of Institutional Reform in Development: The Magic of Rapid Results

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11/26/2012

Overcoming the Limits of Institutional Reform in Development: The Magic of Rapid Results

The book argues that there are ways of doing reform that can help overcome limits like one sees with Uganda's anticorruption reforms and beyond (see previous post). Countries need not settle for new laws that are not implemented, or processes that people do not use, or systems that do not address the needs of citizens or organizations.

The book provides a detailed argument in favor of what Andrews, Pritchett and Woolcock call Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation.

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2102794

This is an approach whereby agents in the context gather together to face up to their problems and look for solutions. These agents make-do with what they have, creating hybrid structures through an iterative process. I argue that this is how most functional institutions came into being.

I also note that there are many variants of this approach in development today. One is Rapid Results, championed by Nadim Matta. Nadim was named #25 on Foreign Policy's 25th Top 100 Global Thinkers List that I just saw out today.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/11/26/the_fp_100_global_thinkers?page=0,24#thinker25

Well done, Nadim. Your work shows that there are alternatives to the dominant way of doing development and there are ways of overcoming limits to change.

Here is how the Rapid Results Institute describes its 'magic':

http://rapidresultsinstitute.info/what-we-do/magic-of-rapid-results

We believe most people are looking in the wrong places for answers to vexing development problems. It is not more money. It is not more analytic work. It is not more workshops. It is not more training of government officials. It is not more participatory planning. It is not more high priced evaluations to determine which donor solution or government policy intervention is the most effective.

All these activities have their place in the development puzzle. But the fundamental engine of change is human motivation and confidence, and the courage to take a first step, to move into collective action boldly and with an intention and a commitment to achieve a seemingly impossible goal.

Once leaders discover how to tap into this engine of change, huge capacities for achievement are unleashed. And all the other pieces of the puzzle line up and begin to fit together in new and more effective ways. The work of the Institute – our Rapid Results Approach – is about leaders at all levels discovering how to tap into this dormant capacity, and about coaching these leaders so unleashing this capacity becomes part of the DNA of how they manage and lead.

We help leaders nudge people at all levels towards new mind sets and behaviors.

* From spectators to owners and drivers of change

* From low expectations and risk aversion to making commitments to unreasonable goals

* From a victimhood mentality to a “can-do” attitude of competent professionalism

Posted at 12:17 PM in Finding and fitting solutions that work, Problem-driven learning sparks (real) institutional change, Reforming rules of the development game itself | Permalink

Tags: development, foreign policy, global thinkers, governance, institutional reform, matt andrews, nadim matta, pdia, rapid results

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Matt - thanks for making the connection to our work.

I am thrilled that researchers and academics are turning their attention to this important piece of the development equation. The principles of PDIA that you and your colleagues advocate align totally with the experience we have had over the past decade making change happen in resource constrained environments. Big, top down, comprehensive reforms look good and elegant on paper. But alas real life and real people, with all the messiness that comes with them, get in the way...

By contrast, focusing on small problems and creating the space for local actors to solve them leads to some progress, develops capability, and builds confidence to go for more. And challenging people to do this quickly stresses the system a little - which paradoxically makes it stronger. It also has the added benefit of accelerating the cycle of learning and adaptation. This is the essence of the Rapid Results work that we have been practicing and advocating for.

Looking forward to meshing our ideas with yours so together we can advance the thinking and action in this arena.

Nadim

Posted by: Nadim Matta | 12/06/2012 at 02:26 PM

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My course at Harvard: See the series of lecture materials here

Post 2015 governance indicators...past blog posts reflecting a variety of thoughts on this topic

'is a landmark analysis that will change the way we both understand and design institutional reform.' Ha-Joon Chang, University of Cambridge, and author of 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism

Where you can order the book

Make It Stick: Challenging, informative book on learning. Really got me thinking about how I teach, learn, impart, etc.

CHECK OUT THE MOZAMBIQUE EXPERIENCE ON THE BUILDING STATE CAPABILITY WEBSITE

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The World Bank doing a version of PDIA in Sierra Leone

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Diagnosing Deep Roots of Development: Johannes W. Fedderke, Robert E. Klitgaard, James P. MacMurray, Valerio Napolioni

"It is argued that in complex settings, performance management may benefit from new ways of carrying out performance management. It is suggested that performance management needs to be more agile, more decentralised and more political."

Imran Rasul and Daniel Rogger looking at infrastructure projects in Nigeria: A really interesting paper...36% of announced projects never start...

MY RECENT PAPER ON GOVERNANCE AS ENDS AND MEANS

This paper synthesizes the approach I take to looking at governance in nations states. The approach emphasizes ends as the starting point for any view of governance. (Asking about what governments do rather than how they do them). I also emphasize means; but in thinking about what it takes to produce ends, not as stand-alone factors.

MY PAST WORLD BANK MONOGRAPH ON LEADERSHIP IN DEVELOPMENT

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Francis Fukuyama's 'Political Order and Political Decay' is a great read. It explores the emergence of states, and the role of states, and the challenges of thinking about state capability, democracy, and more across space and time.

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The Limits of Institutional Reform in Development

11/26/2012