According to the Strategy Execution Barometertm [1] initiative management is the weakest link in the (strategy) execution chain.

If this is the case within organisations, where the Strategy Execution database sources its data, how strong would initiative management then be in multi-stakeholder initiatives?

.. linking the hypothetical and the real

In De Flander's [1] 8 Strategy Execution Framework, initiative management is the common building block where the organisation level cycle (Update Strategy, Communicate & Cascade, Manage Initiatives, and Compare and Learn) and the individual level cycle (Set Objectives, Monitor & Coach, Evaluate Performance) meet. In the organisation level share of the strategy execution, the focus is on translating and progressively aligning overall hypotheses to local hypotheses that articulate objectives for the individual level operations.

Bringing this 8 framework to a multi-stakeholder arena or theatre, different stakeholders with hypothetical and real focus, will need to align their objectives (as much as intra-organisation stakeholders need to do this). Alignment is facilitated by aiming for MECE Mutually Exclusive and Collectively Exhaustive content for the baseline - descriptions of the real -, blueprints — descriptions of the hypothetical — , and the objectives and plans of initiatives across all actor's cycles.

Examples of partnerships that must become more effective include:

Partners in these partnerships can have a public or private nature. The Actor Atlas lists actors at four levels in both the local and global socio-technical, public-private fabric: pico, micro, meso and macro. The initiatives of actors at these four levels can fail or succeed in achieving synergy.

.. achieving MECE in multi-stakeholder accountability systems and theatres

Assume a theatre with multiple stakeholders, and assume that the participation of each stakeholder in identified initiatives can be expressed using the RACI four key responsibilities:

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At social architecture (part of the Actor Atlas guidance pages) some behavioural constraints are listed for actors at the levels meso and macro. Moreover the embedded presentation on The Actor Atlas & Shingo levels of Transformation explains (in a domestic context, referring to work by OECD-DAC) the important role of a mutual accountability system, and it positions the Actor Atlas with is design to meet MECE criteria in describing actors and their RACI in initiatives.

The Doing Development Differently Manifesto lists these common principles that have been indicative of effective development initiatives (see also Actor Atlas page listing the principles):

  1. #ddd1 - They focus on solving local problems that are debated, defined and refined by local people in an ongoing process.
  2. #ddd2 - 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).
  3. #ddd3 - 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.
  4. #ddd4 - 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.
  5. #ddd5 - They manage risks by making ‘small bets’: pursuing activities with promise and dropping others.
  6. #ddd6 - They foster real results – real solutions to real problems that have real impact: they build trust, empower people and promote sustainability.

While adhering to these principles (in a single initiative) may be 90% people and only 10% (ICT) tools, this proportion is likely to change somewhat as multiple initiatives have dependencies and "overlapping" stakeholders, partnerships and solutions.

It is for the latter situations that the "00 - Smart public content for the collaborative - #pi9" for equal access are being proposed.

Thus, the Actor Atlas and the linked social capital wikis and initiative "wikis" are intended as "open reporting" components in a global mutual accountability system, with the purpose to communicate ''MECE" about RACI, local problems, ownership, stakes, solution options, plans, reflections, revisions, risks in each development initiative.''

Social media platforms, including social capital wikis can support communications that adhere to the common principles listed in the Doing Development Differently Manifesto, and enable partnerships including the United Nations in meeting the global scale delivery challenges.

Moving beyond the UN approach to content, facilitating practices that adhere to principles at a massive scale

Current practice in the UN Wikiworx ''linked content'' benefits
Debate on the Sustainable Development agenda as supported by http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org1 with the use of only "generic" #tags such as #SDGs #post2015 Facilitate a discourse per goal and target, with a #tag for each goal and target as illustrated at http://www.actor-atlas.info/role-list:sdgs for all goals and targets (English only): الأهداف الإنمائية المستدامة - 可持续发展的目标 - Nachhaltige Entwicklungsziele - Sustainable development goals - Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible - Objectifs de développement durable - Tujuan pembangunan berkelanjutan - 持続可能な開発目標 - Целей устойчивого развития - Doelstellingen inzake duurzame ontwikkeling
The Partnerships Database [2] that is part of the Resources collection provided by the UN Division for Sustainable Development [3] In the Actor Atlas, the actors are positioned with respect to socio-economic activities (الأنشطة الاقتصادي - 所有经济活动的 - Alle Wirtschaftszweige - Economic activities - Actividades Económicas - Branches d’activité économique - Semua kegiatan ekonomi - 全経済活動 - всех видов экономической деятельности - Alle Economische Activiteiten) and functions of government (مهام الحكومة - 政府职能分类 - Aufgabenbereiche des Staates - Government Functions - Funciones del Gobierno - Fonctions des administrations publiques - Fungsi pemerintah - 政府の機能 - функций государственного - De functies van de overheid ), say in a livelihood centric manner.
There is an Actor Map per country, listing government actors per function of government, e.g. for the United States and underneath there are the relevant international agencies for the same function
Details on Agreements and Conventions [4] (Contracts) In the Actor Atlas a page per article presentation is offered to focus discourse on compliance and quality, as illustrated by the article on Farmers' Rights in International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
National regulations are presented per function of government as illustrated in the United States statute book, and underneath there are the international conventions for the same function
The Partnerships Database lists "Voluntary multi-stakeholder initiatives contributing to the implementation of Agenda 21, RIO+5 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI)." The Actor Atlas could list initiatives per country, e.g. Tanzania and per sector, e.g. Education. A lower hurdle way of contributing initiative descriptions is by using #tags on social media platforms. #Tag pivots are defined for all countries (in English: http://www.actor-atlas.info/initiative-books), and in national languages:( محور العربية - 支点在中国 - Pivot in Deutsch - #GlobalPartnership #tag pivot - #Tag pivote para el desarrollo sostenible - #tag pivot pour le développement durable - Poros #tag Indonesia - 日本語でピボット - 世界的に パートナーシップ - Сводные на русском - Spil in het nederlands ). Hashtag definitions per country facilitate a more inclusive debate, definition and refinement of initiatives per country, municipality or village.
Where initiatives originate from, or are related to, mandates, in particular those of the UN General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, and the Security Council[5] such relationships could be described in the initiative's mandate ( http://initiativenode.wikidot.com/mp-atom:initiative-mandate ). International initiatives are grouped by function of government and/or sector of industry, in the green section of each national initiative book

Lean communications across initiatives

#tagcoding hashtags and aligned social capital wikis facilitate content sharing and reuse across the initiatives that various stakeholders may launch for a given area of interest, for instance:

Various initiative nodes with content2 added to structured wikis, will continuously support programme communications towards all stakeholders: donors, intended beneficiaries, team members, monitoring and evaluation experts.

Communications and content management will be aligned across a collective portfolio for on-demand delivery of actual content to actors, stakeholders to different worksystems and operations, tactic and strategic theatres.

To illustrate the lean communications approach, the case of a city consultation wiki is partially elaborated at Cities without Slums.

Kinds of Initiatives

By distinghuising three kinds of initiatives one can reconcile the benefits of sharing resources with a certain autonomy of the proponents and participants in change initiatives.

The Real: Baseline Initiative

A baseline initiative has the main purpose of providing a high-quality map of an area of concern. Periodically, for instance quarterly, the baseline should be updated to reflect the changes that have resulted from the implemented initiatives or from other forces, such as calamities.

From a collaborative perspective, the provide of accurate open "state of affairs" descriptions that can be used for multiple purposes is currently neglected. The Open Data movement is relevant in this area, yet for most data sets it is left to the users to imagine contexts for putting data to productive use.

A description of an area of concern, and access to pertinent baseline data, matters to any initiative. In initiative proposals such descriptions are usually done in dedicated document chapters, with poor support for reuse (and repackaging) outside the proposal context.

Even though data and facts for making proper and valid baseline descriptions are known to experts, the open baselines are missing. This gap must be addressed urgently.

International and national statistical systems play a key role in ensuring the availability of baseline data. Further resources, including initiative websites, in this area are listed at the government function map #cofog0132 - Overall planning and statistical services (CS).

The recommended content elements of a baseline node are at: http://baselinenode.wikidot.com/

In order to achieve an improved return on investment, a "making data MECE' exercise is recommended for new baseline initiatives.

The Hypothetical: Blueprint Initiative

A blueprint initiative has the main purpose of agreeing a shared vision and targets for a certain area of concern.
Periodically, for instance quarterly or yearly, the blueprint should be updated to reflect the changes in the vision and targets that have been provoked by the events and achievements during the past period.

The Global Goals , approved by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015, are part of the result of a global "BluePrint initiative". The Global Goals are a first major outcome of a two years global consultation that has involved over a million respondents.

The translation into local care action (#LocalCare) of these Global Goals is a challenge on its own.


Interventions: Change initiatives

A change initiative or intervention aims for actors (roles) implementing change in one or more economic activities or functions of government (in order to achieve targets (agreed) in a blueprint initiative. For a complex intervention one may use the method explained in UNDP Handbook on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluating for Development Results, the regulative cycle method or a comparable method.

It is reasonable to expect that global sustainable development strategies should impact all economic activities, as explained in sector maps as enablers for sustainable development.

All initiatives' communications plans will benefit from the use of shared content, on the baseline, the blueprint and the (planned) initiatives by others. Smart content in wiki commons components and social media can be used in such a way that the communications will be lean and do not create information overload for any of the actors involved.

For the change initiative pattern, its justification, and basic explanation on how several intervention nodes can meaningfully relate to a shared baseline and blueprint, see: http://initiativenode.wikidot.com/ (draft).

As interventions are implemented stakeholders in the partnership need means to measure progress.

For the ongoing work towards a Global Goals "progress measurement solution" see #SDT1719 - by 2030, build on existing initiatives to develop measurements of progress on sustainable development ... and #cofog0132 - Overall planning and statistical services (CS) (ens.wiki).


Matt Andrews , Lant Pritchett and Michael Woolcock: Escaping Capability Traps through Problem-Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) - Working Paper 299, June 22, 2012.


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