A capability calculation is how people make choices when faced with limits to fulfill their capabilities. Ideally in a flourishing society people have the opprotunity to fulfill all their capabilities. All capabilities are important. However, sometimes fulfilling one capability can put another at risk. When fulfilling one capability puts another at risk people choose which part of their personhood will increase and which will decrease. Because capabilities are interconnected when people are forces to choose -especially below a certain threshold- allRead more
Posts tagged: #organiztional Development
Theories of Change: Grounded for Complex Environments
Theories of change need to be grounded in context and derived from an understanding of complexity. Starting new projects –or scaling proved projects in new contexts- is complex. Applied to development complexity happens when there are high levels of social disagreement and low levels of technical expertise. Since projects are complex emergence, nonlinearity, and systems thinking are important for both project development and continued change (Patton, 2010). Complex projects managed in a linear way often miss their mark. Further, ifRead more
Thriving People and Organizations Create Flourishing Societies
The bullet point about “capacity development” in the job description and the catchphrase on the development organizations web-site are both deceptive. It looks simple. Developing people’s professional skills and increasing the ability of organizations is not simple. Power, culture, and diversity of vision all collide when people try to “develop capacity”. Here are six observations I’ve had about the fun (and complex) world of “capacity development”. 1) Developing People is not like building a houses: A+B does not always =Read more
flourishing and disadvantage 