The Strategy Testing Workbook: Politically-Smart Adaptive Programming in Complex Environments

HOW YOU CAN USE THIS RESOURCE: Civil Society Organizations, Non-profit or non-governmental organizations, grass roots or community led organizations and their supporters can use this resource to document and respond to challenges in governance program implementation. This practical workbook will help you (1) Design an adaptive governance program (2) Reflect and learn on unexpected challenges and (3) make adjustments to the program’s plan, goals, or activities based on the new learnings.

OVERVIEW: This comprehensive workbook illuminates key insights and tools, including political economy analysis, theories of change, and robust monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems. It proposes techniques and practices that development practitioners can use to adjust strategies in response to evolving conditions, ensuring greater impact and sustainability

The guide has three sections: Build the Scaffolding, Set Up the System, and Document, Learn, Adapt. Together, these sections guide practitioners through designing and implementing adaptive strategies, emphasizing the importance of documenting observations, reflecting on real-time data, and making strategic adjustments with input from critical friends – those people who are not directly involved with project implementation but are knowledgeable about the goals of the program.

Publishing organization: The Asia Foundation