Adaptive Management Approaches/Initiatives in International Development

I know the definitions and understand the principles, so what?

Hello and welcome to the 28th Edition of #LearnAdaptManage. Thank you to our 5,092 subscribers for joining us on our journey to use #evidence to inform decisions and actions in #internationaldevelopment. ?? Click the subscribe button on the upper right corner to join us!

Welcome back to the regular editions of the LAM Newsletter! (also, we made it past 5K subscribers, thank you! ???)

In the last edition, we took a break to celebrate our first anniversary, and today, we are continuing our discussions on adaptive management (AM)!

Let’s go ahead and get into it.

So, we started with the definitions; although we have multiple of these, the principles of AM remain the same and should be considered when defining an AM approach for your program.

Today, we will focus on 3 of the many AM approaches/initiatives documented and publicly available for practitioners to reference, contextualize, and try in their work!

1. Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA)

CLA is USAID’s adaptive management approach.

"Collaborating, learning and adapting (CLA) is a set of practices that help USAID and partners improve development effectiveness. The systematic application of CLA approaches enables USAID - and partners! - to be an effective learning organization and thereby a more effective development organization." USAID Learning Lab

I was introduced to USAID’s CLA approach in 2019 when I started working for a USAID-funded Resilience Food Security and Nutrition Activity (RFSA) in Uganda. Since then, I have applied most of the practices in my work, which explains my in-depth understanding of the resources available for this approach at the USAID Learning Lab website. I highly recommend the site to anyone looking for a more structured way of thinking about and applying AM in their work.

Where do I start?

There is much to learn about CLA, but if you are new to the approach, I recommend watching this 45-minute CLA introductory online course and reviewing this CLA framework and key concepts handout. Are you feeling overwhelmed yet? Hopefully not, because there are many resources on the learning page, which you can easily access through this’ index of CLA Toolkit Content’ once you know what to look for!

I have been on the USAID Learning Lab website more times than I can count, so if you get lost, send me a DM, and I can help!

2. Doing Development Differently (DDD)

“Doing Development Differently (DDD) is a community built around the DDD Manifesto that arose from an initial meeting in 2014 that aimed to bring together practitioners who were engaged in development practices that were dynamic and appeared to have impact – the DDD manifesto has over 400 signatories from 60 countries” (Doing Development Differently Manifesto, 2014).

Most of the case studies and examples available on DDD helped me solidify some of my ideas about what an enabling environment for adaptive management at an organizational level looks like and what goes into building a learning culture.

The DDF manifesto, which was taken up and applied by different organizations, is based on the following principles of successful interventions;

• They focus on solving local problems that are debated, defined, and refined by local people in an ongoing process.
• They are legitimised at all levels (political, managerial and social), building ownership and momentum throughout the process to be ‘locally owned’ in reality (not just on paper).
• They work through local conveners who mobilise all those with a stake in progress (in both formal and informal coalitions and teams) to tackle common problems and introduce relevant change.
• They blend design and implementation through rapid cycles of planning, action, reflection and revision (drawing on local knowledge, feedback and energy) to foster learning from both success and failure.
• They manage risks by making ‘small bets’: pursuing activities with promise and dropping others.
• They foster real results – real solutions to real problems that have real impact: they build trust, empower people and promote sustainability.

Would you like to explore this more? Here are a couple of resources for you;

1) The Doing Development Workshop: here you will gain an in-depth understanding of the 2014 discussions that led to the DDD manifesto.

2) For a more practical perspective, check out this paper that summarises what five International NGOs - CARE International, International Rescue Committee (IRC), Mercy Corps, Oxfam, and World Vision - have learned over recent years through trying to put the DDD principles into practice.

3) World Vision also created a lessons-learned document based on their experience applying the DDD principles.

3. Thinking and Working Politically (TWP)

"Many influential thinkers have looked at the difference between success and failure in development, and all point to the centrality of domestic politics." (TWP Community of Practice).

"A TWP approach has three core principles: strong political analysis, insight and understanding; detailed appreciation of, and response to, the local context; and, flexibility and adaptability in program design and implementation." (TWP Community of Practice).

Would you be interested in learning more about TWP? Here is where I go when I am looking for resources and examples;

1) The Thinking and Working Politically Community of Practice

2) USAID's guide for practitioners on Thinking and Working Politically through Applied Political Economy Analysis (PEA)

3) I also subscribed to this Google group, "The Adaptive Development #adaptdev Google Group," a few years ago, and many good resources, including courses, are shared occasionally. I found it through TWP, but resources range from M&E to anything related to adaptive management.

Well, thank you so much for reading this far! We still have a couple more approaches or initiatives to review, but we will leave those for the next edition!

If you have any resources that you would like to share on AM resources, I would be happy to receive them, so please reach out via DM or email me at [email protected]!

What are your key takeaways from this Edition? Please let me know in the comments section below ??

New here? Find everything we have previously covered in the LAM Newsletter here.

Florence Randari is an experienced Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) professional who has built effective monitoring and learning systems and processes for programs across East Africa for almost a decade. Her expertise lies in helping teams develop and maintain a learning and adaptive management culture that ultimately leads to tangible improvements in program impact. She is the founder of Learn Adapt Manage (LAM)