Lean Impact for Development

Book recommendation of the day — “Lean Impact: How to Innovate for Radically Greater Social Good”

Upon joining the US Agency for International Development (USAID) as the first executive director of the Global Development Lab (the Lab), I encountered this tendency firsthand. The Lab had recently been established as a new bureau to accelerate our progress in fighting global poverty through science, technology, innovation, and partnerships. Yet, when I asked how we would measure our success, I was simply told, “Identify breakthrough innovations.” After a bit of encouragement, my team eventually agreed on a goal of identifying 10 breakthrough innovations in five years that each would improve the lives of at least a million people, demonstrate evidence of substantial impact, and have a financially sustainable path forward. The implications quickly became apparent. The Lab had sourced many promising early‐stage innovations, but few had reached this stage of maturity. With the new clarity, we shifted our priorities and invested more to help the most successful candidates in our portfolio get to scale.

The birth of innovation begins with a clear, aspirational goal. This is the top‐down vision of the change you seek to create, rather than the bottom‐up calculation of what appears achievable with foreseeable improvements on your current trajectory. Ask yourself, What does success look like? Take a walk outside the office to reflect on the world you hope to bring about. Talk to your mentors and role models. Remember why you got into this work in the first place. Your goal is your North Star that is crystallized by an ambitious target.

— Chang, Ann Mei. “Lean Impact: How to Innovate for Radically Greater Social Good”

For Discussion: Compare the Lean Impact with PDIA approach. See also this article, The New Practice of Public Problem Solving.

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