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Performance Measurement as a Critical Leverage Point for Improving International Development Impact

Individuals and organizations need good performance feedback in order to be effective and meet their objectives. In the private sector there is the luxury of sales, profit and other clear measures that indicate output and outcome performance. These measures are used to identify and reinforce successful business patterns, such as effective strategies or high performing individuals, and to disrupt and correct unsuccessful patterns. They are critical to learning, development and long-term success. To survive, private sector organizations have to meet the performance expectations for these measures that are set by their funders. This mechanism helps to ensure that high-performing organizations and individuals are able to succeed and expand their impact while low performing organizations and individuals are not.  Unfortunately, measuring output, and particularly outcome performance is very difficult and generally poorly done in the international development sector. Outputs are often c

If you love them set them free!

I've decided that inside my head is not a good place for all the ideas, observations, frustrations, and inspirations that occur to me. Although they do slosh around in there and occasionally spawn some useful insights, I'm thinking that they will be far more useful if I give them a little fresh air. So, this blog is intended to be a place where I can write down some of my thoughts and, hopefully in collaboration with others, shape them into useful ideas that can help make the world a better place.  Expect half-baked ideas, unpolished writing and contradictions. I will share some strong opionions but I enjoy being challenged and will always reserve the right to change my mind! I intend to write about the challenges of international development, humanitarian assistance and social, economic, political, technological and environmental sustainability. Some ideas will relate to very specific problems I'm working on for my clients in humanitarian organizations while others wi