1. 1818 H St. NW | Washington, DC
The
ColomboDialouge2015CL4D
Colombo Dialogue
November 1–6, 2015
Complex challenges are best addressed when all
stakeholders coalesce around a shared objective.
This requires a strong, committed, and inclusive
leadership. The CL4D is a proven and effective
approach to building these multistakeholder
coalitions to tackle complex, deep-rooted
challenges. It brings diverse views, interests, and
beliefs in a common endeavor to build resilient and
harmonious societies towards a better world for all.
— Abha Joshi-Ghani | Director, Client Services Unit
Leadership, Learning, and Innovation
World Bank Group
Collaborative Leadership for Development
4. v
Contents
Abbreviations vii
Foreword ix
Introduction 1
What is CL4D? 7
Strategy 1: Invest More Up Front 13
Strategy 2: Approach Implementation as an
Experiment 25
Strategy 3: Question the Givens 35
Moving Forward 47
Participant Profiles A-1
Poems and Traditional Songs Shared by
Participants A-13
Activities Collage A-20
Materials Shared with Participants A-23
5. vii
Abbreviations
CBO community-based organization
CL4D Collaborative Leadership for
Development
CPD Client–Partner Dialogue
DARE Decisions, Actions, and Results
GTL Greater than Leadership
L4R Leadership for Results
LLI VP Leadership, Learning, and Innovation
Vice Presidency of the World Bank
Group
NGO nongovernmental organization
RRI Rapid Results Initiative
TTL Task Team Lead
WBG World Bank Group
WDR15 World Development Report 2015
6. ix
Foreword
Trust. Communication. Understanding.
Respect. In many development projects, it
is these interpersonal elements that determine
whether an initiative takes root and thrives or—
despite a high level of technical expertise at
work—stalls and disappoints.
The interpersonal and self-mastery skills
required to remain connected and open to
others and to navigate the unpredictable
journey of implementation are deeply relevant
to our efforts to improve results of development
projects around the world. These skills apply
to behavioral or adaptive challenges—
distinct from but often co-occurring with
technical problems—that confront projects
across development sectors. Indeed, with its
World Development Report 2015, the World
Bank specifically acknowledges “the role
of psychological and social factors in the
decision making and behavior of end users,
implementers, and development practitioners
themselves.”
Collaborative Leadership for Development
(CL4D), a program of the Leadership, Learning,
and Innovation Vice Presidency (LLI VP), is
designed to help project teams address the
adaptive challenges that often impede the
pace of implementation of technically well-
designed development projects. Over the last
7. x xi
five years, CL4D has helped well over 100 client teams around the
world overcome implementation barriers and accelerate achievement
of results that matter to their projects’end users. In the process, these
teams have also institutionalized improved practices, procedures, and
policies to ensure that the benefits of their work with CL4D can extend
beyond individual projects and programs.
Over the same period, we have tried to walk our talk, continually
seeking input from current and potential stakeholders about how
to enhance the CL4D approach. In 2015, we conducted two Client–
Partner Dialogues toward that end, inviting government clients and
program partners to come together for a week of immersion in and
reflection on the approach itself through hands-on exercises, group
conversations, and focused discussions. This report documents the
Dialogue held in November in Colombo, Sri Lanka. We released a
report on the Istanbul Dialogue late last year.
Participants in the Colombo Dialogue—effectively our
collaborators in the event—generously shared their perspectives
and rich insights with the CL4D team. For that, I wish to express my
sincere gratitude. What we learned from the Dialogue participants
will certainly strengthen CL4D’s approach and its engagements in the
field.
I wish to extend a warm thank you to AjayTejasvi, manager CL4D,
host of the Dialogue; Najma Siddiqi, technical advisor and global
faculty, lead designer; Benjamina Randrianarivelo, senior operations
officer, task team lead; and Denson Catindoy, project coordinator.
Cheryl Serra documented the Dialogue’s proceedings, and Marina
Marikar led the onsite organizational support, in collaboration with
Kerima Thilakasena from the Istanbul Country Office. A special thanks
to Kris Rusch who has brought life to the story, produced the layout,
and refined the write up to develop this fine product.
We are grateful to the five students from Kelaniya University who
served as guides and translators during an important site visit and
analytical exercise, to Gamini Batuwitage, former Additional Secretary
and consultant on community-driven development, who facilitated
the connection, and to Professor Karunathilake, who made it possible.
I would also like to thank Roby Senderowitsch, manager, and
Abha Joshi-Ghani, director, LLI's Client Services Unit, who provided
their full support to the Dialogue team, and also the space and
guidance required for such an initiative.
This document is not a typical report of proceedings. Instead,
it captures key learnings from the event and, in doing so, joins the
Istanbul Dialogue report as a kind of current-moment baseline
reference for our work. CL4D has accomplished a great deal already,
and we look forward to doing even more to help World Bank and
country client teams deliver results for their communities and for a
better world.
Sanjay Pradhan | Vice President
Leadership, Learning and Innovation
The World Bank Group
8. 1
Introduction
Whendevelopmentpractitionersarecalled
in to help address a complex challenge,
they are not alone. Every development project
requires an implementation team—people
working together to achieve development
objectives and outcomes. Depending on the
nature of the challenge, practitioners may work
with government officials, staff from NGOs and
CBOs, community leaders, sector specialists,
and others. It is vitally important for members of
these teams to understand one another and the
stakes each has in the project, the perspective
from which they approach it, and their
assumptions about, their history with, and their
commitment to it. In addition, development
professionals must become knowledgeable
about the lived reality of the communities in
which they work in order to avoid designing
implementation plans that don't always work
out as intended. This essential attention to
personal and social factors affecting project
design and implementation is precisely what
Collaborative Leadership for Development
helps teams achieve and maintain, to get to the
desired results.
In its World Development Report 2015: Mind,
Society, and Behavior (WDR15), the World Bank
identifies three kinds of thinking that we all do
by reflex. These are:
9. 2 3
• thinking automatically, rather than carefully and
deliberatively—that is, we typically do not bring our full
analytical powers to bear on the issues and experiences
of our daily lives;
• thinking socially, or in ways that are related to how
others around us think—the influence of peer pressure
on our thinking is an example; and
• thinking with mental models generated by the society
and culture in which we live that tacitly influence how
we perceive and think about our world.
These ways of thinking, research suggests, are implicit and
fundamental—they shape human behavior, including interpersonal
and collective interactions and decision making. This insight has
enormous implications for the World Bank’s development work.
Failure to account for and bring to the surface such social, cultural,
and psychological realities in the design and implementation of
projects is a recipe for failure in situations that call for more than solely
technical fixes, and those more complex cases are the vast majority in
the development arena.
For development professionals, then, the urgent question is how
to acknowledge and make use of these ways of thinking in order to
improve the design and implementation of interventions. Chapter 11
of WDR15 lists three ways to proceed.
1. Invest more up-front time, energy, and financial resources
in defining and diagnosing the problem to be addressed by
a development intervention. Doing more at this early stage
to develop a thorough understanding of the problem will
improve the resulting intervention design’s responsiveness
to it.
2. Approach project implementation itself as an experiment,
which implies being receptive to the possibility that
particular elements of the implementation approach may
fail and need to be adjusted or changed. An approach
that utilizes progressive cycles of testing interventions for
effectiveness embeds the imperative to learn from failure
into the design itself, which in turn can help prevent projects
from becoming stuck.
3. Ensure that development professionals themselves, as well
as their organizations and institutions, subject themselves
to the same kind of analysis of behavioral givens—social,
cultural, psychological—that is applied to the contexts of
and participants in development projects. It is imperative for
development practitioners to do their best to avoid allowing
their own assumptions and mental models to be projected
onto problem diagnosis and intervention design, and they
must be supported in that effort by organizational and
institutional environments that support experimentation
and self-reflection.
CL4D, an LLI VP program designed to help jump-start or
accelerate the implementation of WBG projects and reform initiatives,
has already, for the past several years, been focusing on all of the
above. As such, these observations confirm the value of CL4D's
theoretical framework and approach. CL4D works through a focus on
changing behaviors and mindsets that are impeding progress toward
implementation goals. Working in concert with WBG Operations and
client team members, CL4D builds the capacity of client teams to
mobilize stakeholders, build high-functioning coalitions, and achieve
meaningful results within a short time frame. In doing so, it also helps
communities, organizations, and institutions internalize innovations
that can help to sustain or carry forward project-related achievements.
CL4D does not step in and solve implementation problems.
Rather, its function is to improve the capacity of the implementation
team itself to address the behavioral or“people”issues, in tandem with
the technical problems, impeding implementation or reform. Having
assisted more than 100 client teams from Africa, Eastern Europe,
and Asia over the last five years, the CL4D approach has a clear track
record of success. Nonetheless, the CL4D team in LLI VP is committed
to continuing to improve the approach to meet the needs of WBG
10. Colombo dialogue participants
4 5
projects around the globe.
To that end, the CL4D program has convened two Client–Partner
Dialogues(CPDs),gatheringsofclientsanddevelopmentprofessionals
for a week of dialogue and exploration of the CL4D approach. The
first CPD was held in Istanbul in April 2015; highlights of and insights
gleaned from that event are presented in CL4D’s The Istanbul Dialogue:
Building a Community of Practice.
The current report covers the second CPD, held in Colombo,
Sri Lanka, November 1–6, 2015. The purpose of this event was to
bring clients and partners together to discuss in detail the CL4D
approach (including its framework, process, and tools and methods
employed), share knowledge and experience of CL4D and other
similar approaches, and discuss ways to collaborate and enhance the
program’s capacity moving forward. Coming from 14 countries across
Asia, Africa, and Europe, the 20 participants at the Colombo CPD (not
including three CL4D team members and two members of the event
organizing team) represented four constituency groups, as follows:
• 9 senior representatives from client governments;
• 3 coaches and facilitators;
• 6 members of training institutes and academies; and
• 2 WBG Task Team Leads.
Of these participants, 14 were women and 6 were men. Each
day of the CPD introduced participants to key CL4D concepts and
practices through discussion and hands-on exercises in the CL4D tools
and methods. Importantly, the event was not training workshops,
but offered an immersion in the CL4D approach in the spirit of
collaborative exploration.
In this report, the CL4D team is pleased to share highlights from
the Colombo Dialogue, lessons learned together with participants,
and ideas about how the CL4D program can build on its success and
expand its reach for the benefit of those served by WBG projects.
11. Leadership is not
just who you are,
but what you do
— Ajay Tejasvi
7
What is CL4D?
CL4D is a development approach embedded
in WBG operations that supports
stakeholders to engage and work differently to
unblock project implementation and accelerate
progress toward development results. Rooted in
a World Bank initiative that began in 2009 (see
figure 1), CL4D is a facilitated process of helping
multi-stakeholder client teams approach
complex challenges differently. Equipped with a
new way of envisioning their unique challenges,
as well as with effective tools and enhanced
people skills, development professionals work
with their project teams to generate and sustain
momentum to address persistent problems and
to reach their objectives more efficiently and
with greater effectiveness.
Applied Insight
The framework underlying CL4D’s approach
is adaptive leadership, developed by Ronald
Heifetz and Marty Linsky at Harvard University’s
Kennedy School of Government. CL4D helps
clients understand and apply central elements
of the adaptive leadership model, especially
(1) understanding the nature of adaptive
12. 8 9
challenges and how they differ from technical problems; and (2)
recognizing the role of informal authority in the development context.
Adaptive leadership is a response to adaptive—as opposed
to technical—problems. How do development practitioners know
which type of problem they’re facing? Technical challenges tend to be
rational, finite, and clearly defined; they are based on facts or reason,
tied to existing protocol or procedures and are resolvable with existing
knowledge and means. This suggests that technical solutions can be
implemented relatively quickly, and their success is associated with
compliance, not commitment.
In contrast, adaptive challenges are complex, persistent, and
systemic, often embedded in culture or social norms. Addressing them
requires people to examine their social paradigms, mindsets, values,
and behaviors and to change in deeply significant ways that they may
initially resist. Implementing solutions to adaptive challenges calls for
a spirit of experimentation, for a willingness to take risks and make
honest appraisals of their effects, and to accept new, unexpected
discoveries. This experimental, learn-as-you-go approach inherent
to adaptive solutions also means that it may take longer to arrive at
a solution. Hence, people are generally more enthused by technical
solutions and may want to focus on them exclusively, even when
faced with a situation complicated by adaptive challenges.
In such a context, the CL4D approach makes a huge contribution.
In addition to diagnostic tools and methods to identify the roots of
a complex, persistent problem, it also works with stakeholders to
highlight the role of informal authority and the preferred mode of
collaborative leadership. Authority is commonly understood to be
the status and power that comes with being in a certain leadership
role or position. Informal authority, however, refers to the influence
that a person can exercise as a result of the trust that he or she has
earned from others, irrespective of the position he or she may hold.
This trust is earned through personal characteristics and actions
including integrity, credibility, legitimacy in the given context, and a
demonstrated commitment to working with others to achieve needed
change.
In the CL4D framework, it is the exercise of leadership that
matters. Effective leadership is both reliant on and a source of informal
authority, but it does not necessarily require formal authority. As Ajay
Tejasvi, CL4D program manager, explained at the Colombo Dialogue,
“Leadership is being able to go beyond . . . the call of duty. It’s being
able to reach out beyond our own organizational barriers, [appealing]
across stakeholder groups, and using informal authority.” In this sense,
leadership is a function of one’s actions within the context of a group
or community. Leadership is not the result of a status bestowed by
any office or position; it is not rooted in formal authority alone but
in activities that advance the common good. In this sense, leadership
can be exercised by anyone, not only by those with formal authority.
Responding to the insights of adaptive leadership, CL4D’s
approach to resolving adaptive challenges demands that teams
conduct intensive up-front work, or scoping, to accurately define the
problem and design responsive interventions. (Scoping includes but
is not limited to stakeholder mapping and some political economy
Figure 1. Program Evolution
13. 10 11
analysis, with emphasis on understanding and addressing operative
collective action constraints.) At the same time, CL4D recognizes that
successful interventions, even those that are initially well designed,
require development teams to be open to experimental, iterative
processes that embed an ongoing assessment of how things are
working and where improvements in design and practice can be
made. In the CL4D approach, learning along the way, taking an
“unpredictable journey,” is not a sign of unpreparedness or evidence
of poor planning. On the contrary, planning to learn and adapt
throughout project implementation is key to sustaining momentum
and achieving desired results.
Participants discuss the Roadmap
Box 1. Three Strategies for Improving Development Outcomes
1. Invest more up-front time, energy, and financial resources to
defining and diagnosing the problem.
2. Approach project implementation itself as an experiment,
embedding cycles of testing and learning from failure into the
design itself.
3. Ensure that development professionals analyze their own givens,
including social, cultural, and psychological determinants, norms
and values.
This process is depicted in the CL4D roadmap that takes client
teams through an intensive scoping process, to the design stage,
then to implementation (which incorporates experimental cycles
of analyzing the effectiveness of the strategy and making course
corrections as needed), and then through assessment, which captures
ways in which the project has already sustained or could sustain
progress through the institutionalization of constructive changes in
process and practice.
In practice and design, CL4D reflects the World Bank Group’s
commitment to addressing the adaptive factors that drive and/or
constrain the success of development initiatives. In particular, CL4D
helpsdevelopmentteamsoperationalizethethreestrategiesdiscussed
in WDR15 for improving development outcomes listed above and
summarized in box 1. The program’s alignment with those strategies
was reflected in the exercises conducted at the Colombo Dialogue,
as participants, including the CL4D team, learned from one other
about how the approach improves and accelerates outcomes in the
field. In what follows, this report documents how the conversations,
presentations, exercises, and interactions that composed the Dialogue
demonstrate the transformative impact of CL4D.
14. 13
Strategy 1
Invest More Up Front
CL4D helps client teams address the“people”
issues impeding the pace and success of
project implementation. Often those issues
are not identified in a project’s initial design
phase, so their emergence in the course of
implementationcanleaveteamsatalossforhow
to proceed. CL4D helps teams go back to the
drawing board in this situation to do the work
necessary to identify, define the parameters of,
and prioritize problems with reference to the
challenges being addressed.
Tools to Enrich Experiences
The CL4D Toolbox includes a number of
analytical tools and exercises to support
the concerned teams’ ability to identify and
engage the stakeholder groups relevant to
their project at each stage, from design through
completion. Building multi-stakeholder teams
to inform problem identification and definition
and the resulting project design—getting
as many stakeholder perspectives to the
table as possible at the outset—is critical to
efforts to arrive at an accurate and thorough
understanding of what the project needs to
accomplish and how. It takes more up-front
time, energy, and resources, of course, to
ensure that all stakeholder groups are engaged
and contribute to the scoping process than to
Bring as many perspectives
as possible to the table.
—Najma Siddiqi
15. 14 15
proceed without them. However, doing so is less costly in the long run
than dealing with project failure or delays due to missing information
and particular issues or influences that could have been accounted for
in project design but were not.
The CL4D Toolbox, a dynamic collection of practical exercises
that CL4D teams have tested and selected for use in their work with
clients, includes a number of ways to help implementation teams
improve project design by sharpening their analysis and expanding
stakeholder inputs. At the Colombo Dialogue, the vital importance
of multi-stakeholder teams and deep analysis of problems and
challenges was not only a recurring theme, but an underlying reason
for the event itself. In fact, the Colombo Dialogue itself was a way for
the CL4D program to expand the number and range of stakeholders
providing inputs to the design and development of its approach.
Grounded Analysis
Prior to their arrival at the Dialogue, participants were asked to submit
to the CL4D team the description of one of their projects to discuss
at the Dialogue. Two ongoing World Bank projects, one from India
and one from Niger, were selected for an exercise in small groups in
which participants walked through the process of identifying and
distinguishing between the given project’s technical problems and
adaptive challenges (see figure 2). On the basis of those problems and
challenges, groups then proceeded to review each project's strengths
and gaps in capacity—a level of analysis necessary in order to come to
a shared sense of what steps should be taken to address the project’s
focal issues.
At the conclusion of the group work presentations, Liang Wang,
WBG Senior Leadership Development Specialist, observed,“I think it’s
interesting to see that when we go through challenges, very, very few
of them are purely technical.”
These analytical exercises revealed that any solution for the
overarching issues would require resolving a set of interconnected
technicalproblemsandbehavioraloradaptivechallenges.Theexercise
made clear that understanding the nature of the adaptive challenges
in play, in particular, was necessary in order to arrive at a successful
intervention design, since those would be the most complex issues
Figure 2. One Group's Niger Project Analysis
16. 16 17
may be different for different groups. We want the people
themselves with the problem to solve it—they’re the
ones who must come up with the potential solutions.
Though the challenges [considered during the exercise]
are similar, the way we perceive them can be nuanced.
That nuance makes it all the more important that teams take the
time to gather the perspectives of as many stakeholders as possible
on the issue to be addressed and then to distill those views into a
shared vision of the problems and challenges.
Identifying the Force Field
Another tool used by CL4D to gather actionable insights from
stakeholders, as well as to initiate and track change processes
associated with them, is the Force-Field Analysis (FFA) tool. As Najma
explained in a presentation introducing FFA,
This tool is particularly useful in developing a first
analysis of the context of a persistent problem or a focal
issue.Ithelpstoidentifyforcesthatpromoteorhinderthe
desired change, and it helps to work out a prospective
course of action. It can also be used to track progress
moving forward from the current to the desired state.
Participants put FFA to work in an activity designed to demonstrate
the importance of taking the time to develop as close to a complete
stakeholders’view of the situation as possible, a view grounded in the
lived reality of those affected by
it. In four groups, each assisted
by a student guide from a local
university (see box 2), Colombo
Dialogue participants set out in
small groups to find and study
a complex, persistent problem.
The students, who had been
briefed earlier, took the groups
around also acting as their
to resolve on the way to achieving the project’s objectives. At the
same time, a clear understanding of the technical problems facing
projects could provide implementation teams with a path to more
easily achieved and demonstrated progress that might help to bolster
a sense of momentum for stakeholders.
As participant Rajita Kulkarni reflected,“What was revealing to us
was that there was a technical and adaptive aspect in every barrier…
to be able to carve out a little something technical from a barrier
[and therefore distinguish it from the related behavioral or adaptive
challenge] maybe would give us that much more executable control”
and therefore provide teams with shorter-term successes as well.
The ways in which individual perspectives (shaped by culture,
society, personal background, profession, and more) can influence the
analysis of barriers facing project implementation also became clear
during this exercise. Groups examining the same project arrived at
breakdowns along adaptive and technical lines that differed. As Ajay
explained,
What some teams see as technical could be adaptive
to another team, because some teams might have a
different set of knowledge, values, behaviors, and so on.
That’s why, when we think about joint development of
solutions, [the solutions] are always customized, and
customized at the local context. I know some think CL4D
is a solution, but what we really bring is a process, a
process whereby people can discuss and come up with
solutions themselves. So, in that sense, to say "this is not
a technical solution" or "this is not an adaptive solution"
Box 2. Student Guides
• Anushka Hiranthi
• Dinushi Rupathunga
• Hashan Wijesinghe
• Isurika Wijewardhena
• Pamudika Hatharasinghe
I believe in positive thinking around
problems and how to mobilize people
to address them, and I think these
tools are some of the strongest I’ve
seen to do that.
—Jenny Gold
17. 18 19
cultural and language interpreters. They documented the problem
by speaking with people they encountered during their walk, taking
notes, photographs, and short videos (where possible). At minimum,
they asked questions such as how long and why the problem had
persisted, who had tried to solve it in the past (and how), and what
might resolve it, as well as follow-up questions to deepen their
understanding of the concerned people’s view of the situation.
Following the walk, each group prepared a presentation of the
issue they had covered, including photos, drawing of a “problem
tree” with root causes and consequences. In an illustration, they
depicted their force-field analysis by showing the current state
(presenting problem) at one end of the scale, and the desired future
state (resolution or absence of the problem) at the other end. Arrows
above and below the scale showed the forces driving or constraining
progress to reach the desired state (figure 3). In the following plenary
session, a representative from each group explained their analysis and
the story of the walk to the rest of the participants.
Even with only about half a workday to conduct their walk
and to develop their stories, the groups presented a rich analysis of
the problems they chose to examine. Two of the groups reported
Participants on the Neighborhood Walk
Figure 3. Force-Field Analysis
18. 20 21
on problems with the way vending space at a nearby market was
allocated and used, highlighting issues with a system that made
it easy for politically connected, more well-to-do vendors to have
exclusive access to enclosed spaces, while others had to set their
wares on the street, often competing for space very near the roads as
motor vehicles sped by. Another group focused on the poor quality
of rail transport service in the city, noting in their presentation that
a constraining force on improving it was a lack of awareness that
the service could be much better (as evidenced by the way trains
operate in other cities). The fourth focused on the lack of formalized
operations for market vendors, overlapping with concerns cited by
other groups about vendor space, patronage systems, and lack of
government commitment to any sort of reform to improve matters.
Participants noted a number of insights gained from the FFA
exercise. Najma asked the group that focused on the rail service
whether they would have arrived at a similar analysis of forces driving
and constraining progress if they had not gone out to talk with people
about their perceptions of the service. The group said no—and they
also did not expect what they found. Noting that the main function
of the FFA tool was to broaden the perspective of the team members
using it, Najma explained,“We think we know about [the problem], but
there are so many perspectives of the people who actually experience
the problem—it’s important to make that effort” to incorporate
multiple perspectives in the analysis of a situation. Second, several
participants noted how important it was for their group to respect
each other’s perspectives and own the group’s work collectively, even
when they disagreed, and they noticed the way in which they came
together as a group to get their work done. In the words of Mercy
Kamau,
Maybe another angle to this is how groups work …. that
silent integration and cooperation by group members
is very important as we work [together in the field], but
[also] when we go back into our separate offices, we still
must think of each other, otherwise we lose focus. So the
skilloflistening,therelationshipbuildingamongstgroup
members was very, very key to producing good work.
Adedukola “Bukky” Shonibare, from another group added, “In
our group, we had an argument, and I saw that … there would be that
tendency that we would disagree about [aspects of the problem]. But
we kept trying to bring ourselves together … It was important that
everyone came to the same page in terms of what was presented.”
Building a Broad Foundation
In a very different way, the Balloon Tower activity highlighted for
participants the value of coming together to solve a problem, also
demonstrating how taking time at the beginning of a project to think
through the action steps helps to develop an efficient intervention.
Assumptions that are not considered when teams are pressed for time
can too easily become evident in the course of implementation, at
which stage going back to make adjustments may not be so simple.
In this activity, groups of participants were challenged to make a
tower using only balloons and tape.
The tower had to be as high as possible,
and also stable. The tape could be used
only to connect balloons together, and
not, for example, to attach the balloons
to the floor or furniture. Groups were
given a total of 15 minutes to construct
their tower.
The concluding discussion of this
exercise revealed that most groups
began work immediately, dividing
the work, with some blowing up the
balloons and others taping them
The skill of listening, the relationship
building among group members was
very, very key to producing good work.
—Mercy Kamau
19. 22 23
together. Some groups found, as they built their towers, that they
had not made the foundation broad enough—had not used enough
balloons at the base—to keep the towers standing upright during a
stress test. As Bukky explained,
We just set out blowing [up the balloons] and then we
realized that the foundation wasn’t standing well. It
wasn’t able to carry our building. So we started pouring
more balloons in the foundation and then we realized
that in the second row, there was just one balloon, and
that the foundation just wasn’t able to carry what we
were going to build on it. So we kept putting balloons in
[thebase],patchingup.Butifwehadplanned,developed
a strategy, then it would have been easy for us.
Another group, however, realized that they would need to build
a broad foundation and discussed this as they began working. The
broad base they constructed stabilized their tower and enabled it to
rise high and also to withstand the stress test.
Metaphorically, the Balloon Tower exercise conveyed other
lessons about successful approaches to collaborative work and
leadership. The tape that held the balloons together, Ajay explained,
could be seen as the trust that holds people and teams together and
that makes informal leadership possible. The different colors of the
balloons could represent the diversity of people and perspectives
involved in successful development implementation. Even
participants’breath, which inflated the balloons, could be seen as the
personalinvestmentofcommitmentthatteammembersbringtotheir
work, or as the inspiration that collaborative leadership generates. Yet
each balloon separately, a participant pointed out, was fragile and
could not stand on its own. But together, with strong connections and
a broad base, they ascended to new heights.
20. 25
Achieving results
is about effective
implementation–in a
flexible way.
—Benjamina Randrianarivelo
Embracing experimentation as a core
strategy for maintaining momentum
during the implementation of development
projects is at the heart of CL4D: it is an essential
insight of the approach that resolving adaptive
challenges inherently requires experimentation
and continuing learning.
At the Colombo Dialogue, the centrality
of experimentation to the CL4D approach was
evident in a number of ways. Aspects of the
eventitselfwerestraightforwardlyexperimental,
in that they tested CL4D staff ideas about how
best to work with and support participants. For
example, in designing the Dialogue, the CL4D
team discussed how best to use information
solicited from participants about their own
projects in the field to help them learn about
the application of the approach. Should they
have participants analyze their own projects,
which was the original plan, or should they
involve other participants in the process, for
each project? Would there be more benefits
for participants in the first instance or the
second? In the end, an activity was created
in which participants paired up or worked in
triads to bring their insights and provide inputs
on selected projects. They also advised each
other on how specific CL4D tools could be used
to improve the diagnostics and to overcome
Strategy 2
Approach Implementation as an
Experiment
21. 26 27
implementation barriers. In Najma’s words, given the wide range of
experience in the room, she decided“to bring [participants] together
[to advise each other] and see how it works.” This trial, so to speak, was
successful, as each of the participants whose projects were selected
for review indicated that it had been a very helpful process. Bukky was
able to apply immediately what she learned from her discussion with
Aswathy Sivadas to a concept paper requested by a potential project
funder during the course of the Dialogue. Many others said that they
had found new ways to look at the problems they faced, and that
they has also identified a range of tools that they would now use in
their projects to get to the solutions they needed. As Najma explained
following the activity, the“idea of this exercise was to learn from each
other, but also to learn how much we can learn from each other.”
Throughout the Dialogue, the CL4D team sought feedback from
participants about the design, process, and content of the event. They
made clear that each aspect of the Dialogue, and the Dialogue as a
whole, was meant to function as a case of learning on the go—they
also sought to learn from participants what worked and what did
not. Following the activity discussed above, Najma sought input on
the process and learned that the templates requested by, prepared
and submitted to Benjamina on project information were somewhat
unclear, and that the process could have benefited by giving feedback
to the participants on the quantity and quality of project information
provided so that issues with it could be addressed before the Dialogue
began. Najma thanked participants and also reminded them of the
value of completing pre-event tasks on time, to make such feedback
possible. Another suggestion was to group people in teams according
to the sector of the project to be reviewed during the activity, so that
participants in a given field (such as education or sanitation) would
have the benefit of insights from others working in a similar context.
This acknowledgment of the way in which experimentation is
instrumental to achieving results, even when initiatives fail to work
in the manner expected, is also reflected in the structure of the
implementation stage of a CL4D engagement. As Ajay explained
during his presentation on the components of the CL4D approach,
it is largely during the implementation stage that project teams
get grounded in key concepts of adaptive leadership and learn to
analyze their situation to identify and distinguish adaptive/behavioral
challenges and technical problems. Teams are also introduced to
The idea of this exercise was to learn
from each other, but also to learn how
much we can learn from each other.
—Najma Siddiqi
Participants reviewing the Toolkit
22. 28 29
The tools are organized according
to the seven (initially six) essential
components of the CL4D approach.
Currently, the Toolbox comprises 22
tools organized under the first four
components, with three more clusters
in development. Each cluster contains
a variety of exercises appropriate for a
range of time frames, group sizes, and
interests.
1. Understanding Context: Appreciating the Challenge
Tools to gain better insight and appreciation of a given situation, understand the
perspectives of multiple stakeholders, define the challenge, specify presenting
problems and their root causes, and explore potential solutions
2. Creating Connections: Strengthening Teams
Tools to strengthen individual focus, learn about each other and establish bonds, to
work in teams and to get results
3. Inspiring Innovation: Changing Social Paradigms
Tools that help broaden perspectives, explain issues in collective action, instill values
conducive to high performing teams, and demonstrate the exercise of effective
leadership
4. Crafting Narrative: The Way Forward
Tools that explore ways to build a narrative of the future, and pathways that can
make the desirable also possible
5. Mobilizing Coalitions: Facilitating Collective Action (Under Development)
Tools that build bonds and develop the capacities of diverse stakeholder groups
to appreciate impediments to collective action, rally around a purpose, and move
forward together
6. Mapping Action: Achieving Results (Under Development)
Tools that help teams map actions and their current results, distill lessons learned,
and plan next steps
7. Mastering Self (Under Development)
Tools that promote self-awareness, self-mastery, and frame of mind that enables
practitioners to stay energetic and committed through challenging implementation
projects—and careers
The CL4D Toolbox is the product
of 10 years of developing and
experimenting with exercises that
help development professionals
facilitate behavioral change. Like
the CL4D approach itself, the CL4D
Toolbox evolves, with new tools
being considered, tested, and added
as practitioners discuss experiences
and needs. Key to understanding the
evolution of the toolbox is that CL4D is
not aiming to collect tools; it’s seeking
to distill meaningful experiences.
CL4D TOOLBOX COMPONENTS
The Toolbox is intended for development practitioners well-versed in the CL4D
approach and history. Although some written directions are included with each
tool, practitioners need hands-on training for most tools to use them adeptly, just
as a driver cannot rely solely on a user’s manual to operate a vehicle. Ideally, users
will familiarize themselves with the tools available along with the required training
for specific tools.
23. 30 31
experiment-based tools (such as Rapid Results Initiatives, or RRIs)
designed to help projects maintain momentum toward achievement
of specific implementation goals within 100 days or less. Midway
through each engagement, CL4D teams work with clients to conduct
a mid-cycle review, which has utilized tools such as FFA, the capacity
gap analysis, and others to review progress to date, learn from what
did not work as expected, and make adjustments before moving
ahead.
A Lesson inWhat’s Possible
CL4D’s focus on helping project teams recognize the complexity
and the persistent nature of adaptive challenges creates space for
development actors to tolerate and learn from failure in the pursuit
of results. Teams can be motivated to press forward when they see
that results once thought too difficult to reach in fact can be achieved
when adaptive challenges are successfully addressed. At the Colombo
Dialogue, a 2013 project in Iraq to improve sewerage services served
as a case in point.
The Baghdad sewerage project sought to restore reliable
sewerage services to all citizens by 2017. Neglected for a number of
years, Baghdad’s sewerage network had been high functioning prior
to the onset of war in 2003. Since that point, however, the system had
takenamajorhit,andminimalmaintenanceresultedinextremelypoor
sewerage service throughout the city and a number of major system
breakdowns. The problem was severe in 2013, when a Leadership for
Results (L4R, a predecessor of CL4D) team comprising Benjamina and
Najma (of the current CL4D) began work with the Country Office team
and a group of government officials assigned to the project through
the Mayoralty of Baghdad to move forward system restoration efforts
that had stalled.
The L4R team applied a number of tools during the course of their
6-month intervention to help the project teams address the numerous
adaptive challenges impeding their work. The RRI tool was central to
the effort. RRIs advance project implementation through disciplined
experimentation with different options to resolve adaptive challenges
and achieve clearly defined results within no more than 100 days.
Successful approaches identified through RRIs can then be taken to
Scenes from the Iraq video animation showing project teams using
CL4D tools
24. 32 33
scale, while unsuccessful ones contribute to the teams’understanding
of the challenges. Other tools, such as the Tennis Balls game (which
demonstrates the power of group energy directed toward a common
goal), Force-Field Analysis, Net-Map Analysis, and more, helped the
Iraq team create connections and build trust, gather stakeholder
insights, encourage innovation, map out and pursue a path to results.
Within 6 months, the Baghdad project had produced scalable
outcomes in the city district where the project team had decided to
test its approach. Citizens were surveyed to gauge their satisfaction
with the system and the results indicated a resounding success. That
meant that the process established in this 6-month project could
then be implemented in the other districts of the city. By the end of
the project, about 40 participating government officials had been
introduced to the approach, and there were requests by the Mayor of
Baghdad and the Director Generals of Water and Sanitation to bring
the approach across to other areas and sectors.
Remaining Open
The willingness to experiment and the courage to risk failure play a key
part in the CL4D framework through their connection with informal
authority. Informal authority is generated by the trust an individual
earns from stakeholders and colleagues. The connection between
these factors was explained by Pierre Winicki in his presentation on
the Tree of Trust (figure 4), a facilitated tool designed to assist efforts
to achieve, in Pierre’s words, “political stability, human development,
and economic growth.”
The tool, based on research into what generates or inhibits trust,
represents trust as a gestalt (in the form of a tree) of seven interrelated
“habitus”or behaviors grounded in one’s assumptions, beliefs, values,
experiences, and attitudes, all of which are shaped by the society
and culture in which one lives. The sixth habitus is “trial and error,
acceptance of failure.” Our openness to experimentation, to the risk
of failure and the benefits of trial and error, is essential to our ability
to earn trust from others. Yet, as Pierre explained, “this issue in all
societies is a major gap, something really key and very often missing.”
Without it, team members cannot develop the informal authority
that leadership action requires, and projects can become blocked
by an implementation environment marked by lack of cooperation,
unwillingness to take risks, refusal to accept responsibility, and poor
communication, in which the prospects of even the best-designed
project are poor. On the other hand, environments in which teams
practice experimentation and demonstrate willingness to risk failure
are more likely to foster the other elements of trust and to promote
achievement of results.
As with other tools demonstrated at the Colombo Dialogue, such
as Mental Maps and the Neighborhood Walk/Force-Field Analysis, the
Tree of Trust demonstrates through experience the reality that every
development project unfolds in a complex context, inclusive of all
actors and stakeholders involved, that must be acknowledged and
examined with respect and openness.To the extent that project teams
can cultivate trust and deepen their awareness and understanding of
that context—supported by an approach such as CL4D—they are
more likely to resolve or even to circumvent adaptive challenges.
TheTreeofTrust:CopyrightInstitutConfiances,2013. The of Trust adapted to Development, Performance and Growth: Copyright Pierre Winicki Conseil, 2014 – Contact pierre@winicki-conseil.com
Figure 4. The Tree of Trust
25. 35
Simply fulfilling your
responsibilities doesn’t
constitute leadership
according to this
framework.
—Ajay Tejasvi
Strategy 3
Question the Givens
The reality that social and behavioral givens
based on cultural and social context
help to frame how we perceive the world and
issues we face was a recurring theme of the
Colombo Dialogue. Conceptually, this is easy to
comprehend—and certainly is not news to most
development professionals. CL4D emphasizes,
however, that it is imperative that development
professionals make the effort—and are given
leeway to do so by the organizations and
institutions for and with which they work—
to look beyond their own assumptions about
the nature of the adaptive issues they are
trying to resolve and the best way to resolve
them. Seeking more stakeholder perspectives,
acquiring and analyzing more information
about issues and context, and experimenting
with different methods are crucial to a project or
program’s ability to produce solid, meaningful,
sustainable results, even where they add to
the time, energy, and resources invested in
development work.
AdditionalPerspectives
To help participants experience the value of
diverse perspectives to project design and
implementation, the Colombo Dialogue
featured several exercises in which participants
analyzed profiles of current projects to identify
26. 36 37
adaptive challenges and chart a course to their resolution.The insights
resulting from these exercises were rich and encouraging to those
whose projects were examined. Bali Andriantseheno, for example,
submitted for review a public financial management reform effort
(with which he is involved) in Madagascar. Bali felt his discussion with
Daleth Fambisayi was very useful. Daleth is from Zimbabwe, where
similar work is underway. Bali noted, “She brought in sides of the
problem that weren’t in sight at all for me …. she brought in some
new thinking about how we could take it to the next level.” Through
this activity, project “owners” (those who submitted project profiles
for review at the Dialogue) also came away with concrete suggestions
about using CL4D tools and other resources that could help remove
barriers blocking their initiative’s progress.
Discovering Assumptions
Other tools that Dialogue participants experienced helped reveal
how pervasive and authoritative—but implicit or subconscious—
preconceived notions about a problem or situation can be, and how
important it is in the development context to bring those assumptions
to the surface where they can be examined. In the Mental Maps
activity, for example, Ajay asked participants to consider 12 different
kinds of world maps shown in a sequence; at the end of the sequence
he asked which map was the correct one. Each map represented the
globe differently—one map showed the Americas occupying the
center of the world, for example, while another showed the planet
with the southern hemisphere on top, inverting the usual view of the
earth that presents a northern perspective. Even the map that most
participants considered correct utilized a projection that depicted
Greenland as comparable in size to Africa, despite the mathematical
reality that it is no more than a fraction of the size of that continent.
As with geographical maps, so with our internal mental maps. Despite
our tendency to presume that the depiction of the world (or situation
or problem) by our mental map—a filter reflecting personal, social,
and cultural context––is a true representation of reality, this activity
taught, it is always simply the view from one point of view among
many. As Ajay explained at the end of the activity, “The purpose of
this exercise is to get people to understand that each one of us brings
a perspective, and that our vision of reality can be different from
other people’s perspectives.” Knowing this can help development
practitioners and the organizations with which they work avoid the
mistake of privileging their own interpretations of and assumptions
about issues and situations their work is to address. The more
perspectives brought to bear on development challenges, the better.
Enhancing Informal Authority
Dialogue participants had an opportunity to use the Tree of Trust
tool, discussed above, to examine the trust-related strengths and
weaknesses of their own project, including at the organizational and
personal levels of partnerships involved. They then applied it to their
ownbehaviorintermsofthesevenhabitusthatcomposethetree. With
Visit to a teahouse, poetry, singing, and action
She brought in some new thinking
about how we could take it to the next
level.
—Bali Andriantseheno
27. 38 39
green indicating strength and red indicating weakness (and orange
and yellow representing degrees in between), participants identified
habitus they needed to improve. Gamini Batuwitage acknowledged
that he lacked willingness to accept failure, explaining that he tended
to reject colleagues’ criticism of his actions, typically insisting that he
was right, not wrong. But, he admitted,“Probably in certain cases I may
[have been] wrong.” Sometimes, though, being wrong is the detour
that offers a better view of the terrain ahead. Leveraging failure to
obtain a better understanding of the driving and constraining forces
at work in a given project context is smart development practice.
Staying Grounded and Committed
Development work is inherently stressful, often draining. Practitioners
face arduous travel, tight deadlines, difficult project challenges,
interpersonal conflicts, and unpredictable schedules. As rewarding as
the work can be, it can also be challenging to one’s personal life and
health—and hence to one’s ability to stay passionate and committed.
Mental and physical strain exhaust the energy that practitioners need
to bring to their day-to-day work, and frustration and stress can result
in precisely the kinds of behaviors that undermine one’s ability to
lead and to get to desired results. Development practitioners must
acknowledge the impact of job stress and setbacks and, with support
from the organizations in which they work, take time to mitigate
pressure with self-mastery. Blocks forming the Personal Foundation
of Effective Leadership are shown in figure 5.
CL4D refers to self-mastery as a key element in the personal
foundations of effective leadership. Self-mastery contributes to
refresh our ability to persevere and perform at our best in collaborative
work. The WBG describes self-mastery as “connecting to yourself,
managing your thoughts and emotions, to better connect with others
for effective leadership actions.” Explained more simply, in order for
us to make better decisions we need to have a calm, clear, stress-free
mind. When our mind is calm and clear, we are able to be less reactive
and make decisions in a considered manner. We are also able to see
the value in different points of view, and can thus forge more effective
relationships and coalitions. When we can see how connected we are
with others around us and in our communities, we are also able to
Figure 5. The personal foundation of effective leadership
Calm, stress-free mind
Clear decision
making
Persisting through
challenges to
achieve results
Forging
relationships and
building coalitions
Nurturing
Commitment to
public value
think about how we can serve better. A calm, clear, stress-free mind
can help us draw on the strength from within to persist through
adverse circumstances and to collaborate for better results.
Self-mastery was introduced briefly at the Colombo Dialogue
and demonstrated through a variety of exercises and techniques
to relax and energize in a group situation, confirming that it can be
practiced alone or with others. For example, Rajita led the Dialogue
group in a meditative exercise designed to improve awareness of the
body and breathing to promote control over emotions. She also asked
the group to experience how simple physical movements, such as
pulling up and releasing shoulders, massaging the side of your nose
and jaw line, and running your hand over your cranium, can release
tension and restore a sense of gentle control over the emotional state.
According to Rajita,“Our life is what our mind is.” So simple techniques
integrated into daily life that help the mind let go of anxiety and stress,
can be important self-mastery tools.
28. 40 41
Box 3. If I Can Be . . .
by Gamini Batuwitage
If I can be the rain with thunder over the dry farm lands and villages
If I can be a cooked pot of rice in a poor hut where rice cooking is a rare
event
If I can be a smile shining on the lips of crying children
If I can be a song singing door to door awakening the whole world
Staying Connected, Energized
In the development context, as in most social and political contexts,
it is critical to connect with others. Effective leadership requires
connections. Connections are about knowing self and others.
Knowing and connecting with others can lead to getting energized—
to formulate a common goal, to take action for results, to shape a
collective, desirable, future for the communities we work with, and for
a better world.
AsattheIstanbulDialogue,attheColomboDialogueparticipants
got a number of opportunities to form such connections. Throughout
the course of the event, they worked in small groups, in pairs, or in
triads—which they were invited to change frequently, based on a
simple instruction such as find your name tent; move to another table;
change your perspective (move to the other side of the room); or even
a healthy competition in forming their own groups that are as diverse
as possible—and explaining how each group thought it reflected
diversity. This gave participants an opportunity to learn more about
each other and to build personal and professional connections.
In addition, each evening ended with an informal (though
structured) activity that encouraged creativity and fun, and also
helped to strengthen mutual trust and respect.
The Dialogue began with a reception during which participants
introduced themselves with an item that had a special significance for
them—e.g., one participant brought a bag of candies that she liked as
a child, others brought a book, painting, quotation, cultural artifact,
poem, or a photograph.
One evening session was focused on self-mastery exercises,
another on sharing poetry and/or traditional songs from participants’
countries (see box 3. More poems and songs shared during the session
are on page A-45 to A-49).
A third invited participants to paint murals using finger paints,
crayons, poster paints etc. They worked in two groups around two
themes that emerged quite organically: Unity in Diversity and Hands
for Results. In the former, the group painted their country flags along
the border (saying that they were here not just as an individual, but
represented their countries). In the center of this mural they added
flowers and leaves; colors—as also in the flags—of productivity, peace,
beauty. In the latter mural, the group drew an outline of their hands,
and sketched in their flags to show that all hands from all around the
globe are coming together for the work that is needed. They then
added a range of shapes to represent people, a rainbow to represent
the gay community, and then as they explained,“some wild craziness
and creativity invaded us! So here (you) see an expression of the love
of peace, patriotism, flowers for happiness, sunlight, a free spirit, and
the tree of life for our group.”
Following an A/C malfunction in the conference hall, participants keep
learning together outdoors
29. Hands 4 Results mural made by participants
42 43
The passion to serve humanity is
universal. I see it in India. I see it in
Vietnam. I see it in South Africa. I see it
in France.
—Mercy Kamau
Unity in Diversity mural made by participants
30. 44 45
While the fourth evening session on music had to be canceled
due to an unexpected problem with space, an innovative role-play
activity continued in the yard outside—even with a light drizzle
in progress! This was followed by dinner with a local cultural show
of traditional song and dance. The last day closed with a session of
statements by participants followed by a reception. In the words of
participants, the week kept them energized and engaged, and they
greatly appreciated and valued the connections they were able to
make.
Liang:
I must thank everyone for a very rich week and I think we
alllearnedalotfromeachother,frombothaprofessional
and personal experience. And then I hope many of the
connections will continue.
Ledule:
I will communicate as much as possible with every one
of you… I can’t say anything (more). You just — you’ve
just blown my breath away. We’ve—you know-we’ve
been through a lot of (struggles ourselves) and so on,
but for me this [Dialogue] has been a unique —a unique
platform for us to learn and share experiences.
Rajita:
This is the first time I have participated in a workshop or
dialogue where I didn’t feel like a participant. I really felt
like a guest. You know, really taken care of. A guest—not
in an unfamiliar sense, but like really cared for, with so
much hospitality and so much warmth. It was a very,
very special feeling.
31. 47
We are many seeking the same
cause of making this world a
better place.
—Mercy Kamau
Moving Forward
Through Dialogues such as the Colombo
event, the CL4D program provides
opportunities for development professionals to
immerse themselves in the CL4D approach and
experience how it can be used to move projects
forward. As Najma pointed out, many of the
tools and leadership concepts that CL4D utilizes
are not new to the leadership and change
management fields, but they may be new to
the development context in which the World
Bank operates. That means that our WBG and
government clients and partners may initially
not grasp how the approach works to build
their teams’ capacity to achieve project results.
Ajay and Benjamina explained that improving
their familiarity with the approach—and, in
fact, strengthening it by contributing their
own insights and suggestions—strengthens
participants’ability to be effective ambassadors
for the program and, ultimately, to apply the
approach for the benefit of their own projects.
CL4D and Partners
After a busy week of formal exercises, informal
engagements, and abundant learning and
sharing, participants knew much more about
how CL4D works—and how it does not
work—in project environments. Helping them
understand or reform the dynamics behind how
32. I believe in teamwork, but coming
here has enhanced my perspective
about teamwork.
—Rita Sowah
48 49
government officials actually come to a decision to bring in CL4D to
assist struggling projects was the point of a role-play exercise held
near the end of the Colombo Dialogue. In this activity, participants
took on the roles of government ministers and decision makers,World
Bank staff, and CL4D staff and improvised a scene in which the client
country weighed the possibility of engaging the CL4D program to
assist with project issues or related situations (such as how to allocate
revenue to different ministries with a stake in the resolution of a
development challenge).
The role play was conducted by two groups of participants. Each
group’s roles included three government representatives (minister of
finance, minister of health, and minister of infrastructure), two World
Bank TTLs assigned to projects pertaining to health or infrastructure,
one or two CL4D staff members, and two or three observers (who
reported back to the plenary on their impressions of the exercise).
This composition (excluding observers) reflected real-life meetings
in which CL4D staff had participated—thereby giving Dialogue
participants a sense of the skills they would need to make the case
to bring CL4D in their own countries, were they so inclined. They also
identified particular skills or capacities that might be most needed by
CL4D staff and partners (see box 4).
These skills and capacities underscore the adaptive, behavioral
nature of the implementation barriers that CL4D is designed to help
teams overcome. As Ajay explained, CL4D helps project teams “deal
with people, relationships, and challenges that [arise from] differences
that people have, especially key stakeholders. That’s often quite a
difficult task, and that’s what we argue is the work of leadership,
bringing people together to be able to see that when we work
together, we can reach the goals that we set.”
Toward a Community of Practice
The constructive, cohesive impact that working closely with others
has on human relationships was not simply a CL4D concept for
Dialogue participants—it was a lived experience. By the end of their
week together, many had expressed interest in finding a way for the
group to stay in touch and to continue working together in some
way. Likewise, the CL4D team hoped to sustain their connection to
participants for the benefit of CL4D’s continued improvement and
expanded utilization.
In a discussion about how he and the CL4D team could support
participants beyond the Dialogue, Ajay himself made several
commitments, including:
• Staying in touch by email and sending participants the
Dialogue presentations and materials
• Finding a way to connect both the Dialogue
communities (participants of the Client–Partner
Box 4. CL4D Skills Identified by Participants
• Listening skills
• Facilitation skills (for both process and content facilitation)
• Mediation skills to help parties work together
• Ability to keep one’s focus on the CL4D process as the means to
an end rather than as an end in itself
• Strategic thinking skills
• Collaboration and coalition-building skills
• Ability to be diplomatic and politically savvy
• Empathy
• Receptivity and sensitivity to context; cultural competence
• Flexibility
• Integrity
• Neutrality
• Accountability
• Openness to sharing
33. 50 51
Dialogue held in Istanbul in April 2015 and the one in
Colombo in November 2015)
• Providing training (including long-distance options) on
specific tools from the CL4D Toolbox, especially on the
two most requested tools: Strategic Framing and the
Reception Gap
• Settingupatrain-the-trainerssessionsothatinterested
participants could learn, practice, and train others in
the use of the Toolbox
• Exploring opportunities to involve individual partici-
pants in CL4D engagements, as appropriate
With these commitments from the CL4D side made, Najma asked
the participants to consider the possibility and viability of working
together with the program to develop a CL4D community of practice.
If such a community were of interest, what would it take? What could
participants contribute to it? What would they expect to gain from
it? “A community is a community,” Najma said, “if it continues to work
together on things or engages [in thought and action] to the benefit
of all.” For the community to be sustained, there has to be a purpose
for working together, not just an interest in“engaging”in the abstract.
Participants analyzing strengths and gaps in capacity
Participants arrived at a number of ways they could continue to
work together as a community of practice, primarily for the purpose
of knowledge exchange pertaining to application of CL4D in the field.
These ideas included the following:
• Utilize a Facebook group, moderated by a member
of the CL4D team, to continue having discussions
(possibly around a particular theme every quarter, for
example) and to share experiences and information
• Form a collective resource pool for members to draw
on; for example, members who needed assistance with
trust-related project challenges might draw on Pierre
Winicki’s Tree of Trust expertise; other community
members would contribute other types of expertise
• Visit one another’s projects in person or learn about
them via conversations on Skype in order to continue
providing support and insight to each other; such
contact could help to sustain relationships and possibly
lead to new opportunities to work together directly
• Create an email list to share information, request
resources or advice, and keep each other informed
about their work
Even if a true community of practice were not ultimately to
develop, participants still had reasons to stay connected. The week
together had produced incipient friendships that could be nurtured
and developed. So participants also talked about staying in touch
with one another informally via social media simply to maintain the
We have brilliant people here, people
who are real actors of CL4D all over
the world in their different positions.
—Benjamina Randrianarivelo
34. It’s been a good experience, really,
to see how the programme has
progressed.
—Sylvester Obong’o
52 53
connections created at the Dialogue. Rajita, for example, created a
WhatsApp group for that purpose and encouraged everyone in the
group to participate in it.
For the CL4D program, Najma and Ajay made clear, the challenge
of building a community of practice is to find a way to sustainably
facilitate knowledge exchange among Dialogue participants so that
the effort does not fizzle out shortly after it is initiated.
Several participants stated that they intended to pursue the
possibility of a community of practice with the group after the
Dialogue. Ledule challenged her fellow participants to stay in touch.
“I’m holding everyone responsible for that, and I’m committed that I
will communicate as much as possible with every one of you.” Rajita
echoed that sentiment: “In five days to go back [home] with this set
of friends from around the world—how precious is that? So thank
you to all of us here, my new friends. I am really looking forward to
our paths staying intertwined as we go ahead in life,” enriched by the
transformative power of collaborative leadership.
Looking Ahead,Together
The themes of friendship, learning through experience, and
appreciation of the structure and content of the event permeated
participants’closing remarks at the Dialogue’s final plenary session.
On behalf of all the participants, Bukky delivered heartfelt thanks
to the CL4D team for the opportunity to take part in the Dialogue.
“Thank you to everybody for putting this together,” she said. “You’ve
equipped us. We will go back and begin to utilize these tools, not just
in our businesses or in our projects, but even in our individual lives.”
Rajita congratulated the team for doing an amazing job in
organizing and conducting the Dialogue. “To put together a week
I would like to thank everybody … for
collaboratively delivering this learning
experience.
—Gamini Batuwitage
like this for people from around the world—I cannot even imagine
how humongous the entire planning exercise must have been for
all of you. What meticulous planning you have done…it has been a
seamless week…this takes almost military[-style] precision planning.”
Further, she said, the CL4D team demonstrated leading by example.
“You have led this whole effort on CL4D in a collaborative way, and
that itself is a big learning.”
Gamini made a similar point, saying, “I would like to thank
everybody, both parties [CL4D team and participants], for
collaboratively delivering this learning experience.”
Jenny Gold, Bali, and Sylvester Obong’o, who have all had
direct experience with CL4D in their work, either as facilitators or on
the government side, noted their pleasure at seeing that the CL4D
continues to develop and progress. “It’s been a good experience to
see how the program has progressed,”Sylvester said. It was important
to him to look now at how he can assist that progression: “How can I
share my experiences on the ground and help with that progress? I
think we all need each other in this.”
Mercy Kamau spoke of the impact of the Dialogue’s content
on her thinking about leadership, especially its emphasis on the
imperative to include stakeholders in her work in the public sector. But
also, she said, she appreciated the shared sense of purpose that she
saw among participants at the event.“We are many seeking the same
cause of making this world a better place and [helping] our people
have a better quality of life.”
35. A-1
We left our titles
at the door and
engaged fruitfully.
—Ledule Bosch
Adedukola “Bukky” Shonibare is
a Management and Development
ConsultantandtheCEOof555Consulting
Limited, a strategy and human resource
management consultancy firm. She is
also the Founder of the School of Human
Resource Management in Nigeria.
Bukky lectures on Human Resource
ManagementattheEnterpriseDevelopmentCentreof
Pan Atlantic University, Abuja, and is an Independent
Consultant on the Federal Government of Nigeria’s
Youth With Innovation Programme. Passionate about
humanitarian and development interventions, in
2005 Bukky founded The Light Foundation, under
which, in 2014, she launched Adopt-A-Camp, an
initiative that assists Internally Displaced Persons in
the troubled North East of Nigeria. As a Development
Consultant, Bukky is a member of the working group
on Women, Peace, and Security with the United
Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA); a strategic
member on the Early Warning and Rapid Response
of the Economic Community of West African States, a
working group member on the Humanitarian Actions
and Natural Disasters Support Operations of the
African Union, and a Coach (in training) on the Rapid
Results Initiative of the World Bank.
Participant Profiles
36. A-2 A-3
research in local economic development in Association of Southeast Asian
Nations countries. In her 17 years of work with Development Academy of
the Philippines, she developed, designed, and implemented development
projectsfornationalandlocalgovernments.AurmateachesLocalGovernance,
Public Policy, and Human Resources Management at the Ateneo School of
Government, Ateneo de Manila University. She completed the Competency-
Based Human Resources Management and Development for the Public Sector
Diploma Course from Queensland University of Technology, Australia. She
obtained both her BA in Social Sciences and MA in Public Management from
University of the Philippines.
Bali Andriantseheno was appointed Coordinator General of
the Reforms Program for Administration Efficiency, Presidency
of the Republic, Madagascar, in March 2015. He is an Economist
Statistician and a Certified Trainer in Environmental Impact
Assessment. Bali graduated from Carleton University’s
International Program for Development Evaluation Training as a
Development Evaluation Professional and from the Centre Africain
d'Etudes Supérieures en Gestion, Dakar, as an Impact Evaluation Trainer. He
has conducted significant research on social and environmental impacts
for many international organizations and the Government of Madagascar.
He is a former board member of the African Evaluation Association and
has taught social public policy at the University of Antananarivo School of
Sociology, Madagascar. Currently, he serves as a member of the International
Development Evaluation Association and as President of the Malagasy
Association for Evaluation.
BenjaminaM.RandrianariveloisSeniorOperationsOfficerforthe
Collaborative Leadership for Development Program at the World
BankGroup’sLeadership,Learning,andInnovationVicePresidency.
Benjamina coordinated the Rapid Results Approach program
and then the Leadership for Results program at the World Bank
Institute’s Leadership Practice from 2010 until mid-2014. Before
this, he was managing partner of RBM & Associates, a consultancy
firm based in Madagascar that supports results-based methodologies in
African countries. He also served as a short-term results coach for six years as
part of World Bank Group leadership capacity development programs. He has
Ajay Tejasvi is Program Manager of the Collaborative Leadership
for Development Program at the World Bank Group’s Leadership,
Learning, and Innovation Vice Presidency. Ajay’s professional,
academic, and personal experiences have converged to focus
his attention on the challenge of good governance and ethical
leadership as the heart of the development problem today.
His volunteer experience with the Art of Living Foundation in
community-driven development, academic training in international relations
and leadership, and professional experience in the private sector and the
World Bank Group have strengthened his resolve to help developing countries
improve their leadership capacities and governance systems for sustainable
poverty reduction.
Aswathy Sivadas. After completing a master’s degree in
economics from Madras Christian College and a master’s degree
in philosophy form Hyderabad Central University, Aswathy joined
the Indian Administrative Service in 2003. She began her career as
a subcollector Baripada (2005–2007). Since then, she has served
the state of Odisha in various capacities including as Additional
District Magistrate in Mayrbhanj (2007–2008), Collector and
District Magistrate in Sonepur (2008–2009), in Bolangir (2009–2010) and
in Mayurbhanj (2010–2013), and as Director of Social Welfare, Director of
Integrated Child Protection Scheme, Managing Director of Mission Shakti, and
Managing Director of Mahila Vikas Samabaya Nigam (2013–2015). Her other
interests include Indian classical arts and reading.
Aurma Malicdem Manlangit, Director of the Executive Education
program of the Ateneo School of Government, Philippines,
has extensive professional experience in development work,
specifically in the areas of project management, training and
development, leadership and governance, strategic human
resource management, and organizational development. Aurma
is responsible for developing and implementing leadership
and governance courses for national and local government agencies
in the Philippines. She is highly involved in the Leadership and Social
Entrepreneurship Program for Overseas Filipino Workers for migrant workers
in various Asian and European countries. She has also done extensive
37. A-4 A-5
Governance have enhanced her ability to work in a network environment.
Her educational background is in public policy and public management at
Flinders University, South Australia.
Gamini Batuwitage is a consultant on community-driven
development. His contributions to the field stemmed from his
experience in managing collaborative rural poverty reduction
programs in Sri Lanka. He has worked with similar programs in
India and Bangladesh and provided input to programs in Ethiopia
and Laos. He was a member of the Sri Lanka Administrative
Service, holding positions of Additional Secretary to ministries
with portfolios in agriculture, export agriculture, poverty reduction, nation
building, and economic development. Gamini participated in the World
Bank Group's Gemidiriya Project for Sri Lanka, the goal of which is to enable
poor people in rural areas to improve their livelihood and quality of life. He
holds a PhD in Development Geography from Clark University, USA, and he
is a Hubert Humphrey fellow in Planning and Resource Management, West
Virginia University, USA.
Henrietta Osei-Tutu is the focal person for the Greater Accra
Metropolitan Area Sanitation Project at the Ministry of Local
Government and Rural Development, fulfilling her lifelong goal to
help find a lasting solution to the problem of waste management
in Ghana. Her position in the Environmental Health and Sanitation
Directorateprovidesherwithanopportunitytohelpmetropolitan,
municipal, and district assemblies mainstream sustainable waste
management practices. Henrietta has conducted research on the design of
low-cost greywater treatment technologies for an urban slum and worked as
a teaching and research assistant in the Environmental Quality Engineering
Section of the Civil Engineering Department. She also worked as an Assistant
City Facilitator for SWITCH (Sustainable Water Management Improves
Tomorrow’s Cities’ Health), an action research program aimed at shifting the
paradigm in urban water management from existing ad hoc solutions toward
a more coherent and integrated approach. Henrietta holds an MS in Sanitary
Engineering and a BS in Civil Engineering from Kwame Nkrumah University
of Science and Technology, Ghana, where she studied many aspects of water
management.
helped to develop results-oriented approaches involving high-level decision
makers and to implement corresponding recommendations aligned with
broader strategies, such as Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategies, by using
the Rapid Results Approach. Benjamina was part-time advisor to two Prime
Ministers and a Minister of Economy and Finance in Madagascar.
Cheryl L. Serra is a freelance writer and marketing
communications consultant. She began her career as a journalist,
writing vast amounts of copy on deadline. She has held writing,
management, and marketing communications positions in
private sector, higher education, and government organizations.
Cheryl loves to tell an organization’s story and to demonstrate
through these stories how the organization is accomplishing
its goals and meeting its mission. Cheryl has an undergraduate degree
in Journalism, a graduate degree in College Student Personnel, and has
completed a certificate program in Corporate Executive Leadership.
Daleth Fambisayi is Principal Director, Office of the President and
Cabinet,Zimbabwe.Sheisresponsibleforprovidingadministrative
oversight for the efficient and effective strategic management
of the entire public sector by the Chief Secretary. Her other
responsibilities include providing high-level coordination services
to Heads of Ministries meetings and workshops and participating
in Cabinet activities. Daleth has represented Zimbabwe on the
Forum of Securities and Non-Banking Authorities and contributed to the
development of the pensions and insurance industry in Zimbabwe.
Erna Irawati’s professional, academic, and personal experiences
address issues related to public policy development and training.
She is Head of Policy Analyst Selection and Development,
National Institute of Public Administration, Indonesia. Her
involvement in designing and executing Indonesia Government
regulation on civil service law and in the development of the
policy analyst profession have sharpened her ability to improve
public policy in Indonesia. Her professional experiences working with donors
such as AusAid, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit,
Asian Development Bank, and Australia Indonesia Partnership for Economic
38. A-6 A-7
Liang Wang is a Senior Leadership Development Specialist at
the Leadership, Learning, and Innovation Vice Presidency of the
World Bank Group. Previously, he served as special assistant to the
Vice President at the World Bank Institute, and worked with the
Managing Director of the World Bank, overseeing Bank operations
in Africa, South Asia, Europe, and Central Asia regions. Prior to
joining the World Bank Group, Liang worked for the Center for
Strategic and International Studies in Washington, the UN Development
Programme in Beijing, Greenpeace in Hong Kong, and the Chinese Academy
of Social Sciences in Beijing. He has worked on international development,
foreign policy, and civil society development issues. His writings have
appeared in the Washington Quarterly, the International Herald Tribune, the
South China Morning Post, and the StraitsTimes. Liang holds master's degrees
from The George Washington University in Washington and University of
Hong Kong, and a bachelor’s degree from Foreign Affairs College in Beijing. He
has also studied at Sciences Po in France and at University of Oslo in Norway.
Marina Farhana Marikar (photo not available) has performed executive-level
secretarial duties for numerous public, private, and nonprofit organizations
around the globe. Most recently, she worked for the European Union Election
Monitoring Mission as an interpreter/staff assistant during the Parliamentary
Elections, a position in which she assisted six Ministers of the European
Union Parliament. She has extensive experience serving as rapporteur
at international conferences and workshops, including United Nations
Population Fund’s“Gender-Based Violence Workshop on Sharing Experiences”
and the ILO's“Zero Forms of Child Labour by 2016.”
Mario C. Villaverde is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of the
Ateneo de Manila University School of Government, where he
teaches public policy and health governance. He is also immersed
in the development of several executive education programs on
leadershipandpublicgovernanceandinvariousconsultancywork
related to public management and health sector development.
Prior to this, he served the government as Undersecretary of
Health, overseeing the development and implementation of policies on
health sector reforms and the delivery of programs and projects on health
facility development, disease prevention and control, health promotion, and
Jaspreet Talwar. (Photo not available.) Joint Director, Lal Bahadur Shastri
National Academy of Administration, India.
Jenny Gold has more than 15 years of experience in the fields
of evaluation and health and governance. She is passionate
about using evidence-based learning and multi-actor change
processes to drive results. She currently works in the World Bank
Group’s Health Global Practice on the results management of
operational projects. She serves as Program Manager, Senior
Health Specialist, Monitoring and Evaluation. From 2008 to 2014,
Jenny coordinated work on results measurement and strategy—including
with the Leadership Program—in the World Bank Institute. Jenny also has
extensive country knowledge and sector experience. She has led projects in
Africa, India, and Latin America and worked in OECD systems. Before joining
the Bank, Jenny worked as an adviser to the Ministry of Health in Ethiopia and
as an Analyst at the Public Health Agency of Canada. Jenny holds an MPH in
Community Health and Epidemiology from University ofToronto and an MS in
Environmental Health from Concordia University in Montreal.
Ledule Mootso Bosch has served as Chief Director of Monitoring
and Evaluation, Department of Public Service and Administration,
Republic of South Africa (RSA), since 2009. She is responsible for
managing and maintaining the public service M&E system for
the government. Ledule is co-chair of the African Community of
Practice on Managing for Development Results for Anglophone
countries. Before that, she was General Manager, M&E, for South
African Social Security Agency, and she served as Director of Government-
wide M&E System & Executive Information Management System, The
Presidency, RSA. Her professional positions have included Deputy Director,
Impact Evaluation, Department of Housing, as well as Assistant Director,
Implementation Monitoring, National Department of Housing. Ledule holds
an MA in Housing from University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South
Africa; a BA in Social Science with honors as well as a BA in Social Work from
University of North West, South Africa; and a postgraduate diploma in M&E
from Stellenbosch University, South Africa. She holds several certificates from
educational institutions in Sweden, Brazil, and the United States.
39. A-8 A-9
has worked in Bank operations, policy development, capacity enhancement,
and leadership and governance. Prior to joining the World Bank Group, she
led the largest social mobilization program in her home country (Pakistan)
and established training institutes and internship programs at the national
and regional levels. She has worked with government, nongovernment, and
international training and development agencies across the globe, covering a
wide range of sectors.
PhuongTruc Le is an official of the Steering Center of Urban Flood
Control Program, Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee. She is a
member of a project funded by the Rotterdam City Authority,
Netherlands, aimed at helping Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) adapt to
climate change. Phuong Truc formerly served as Deputy Director
for a water treatment plant construction project in HCMC and
participated in a World Bank Institute program on public–private
partnerships. PhuongTruc’s education and practical and personal experiences
have fostered her interest in leadership and stewardship roles that help
create responsible water management. With an educational background
in engineering, Phuong Truc has a master’s degree in Water Resources
Management, with a focus on approaches to sustainable water management
and enhanced water resources leadership, from University of Melbourne. She
earned a scholarship toward a PhD from the Faculty of Regional Development
Studies, Toyo University.
Pierre Winicki. First as an entrepreneur, then as a change
management consultant focusing on public reforms, Pierre
became increasingly convinced that trust is a critical condition
to building political stability, economic growth, and human
development, and that it is a core leadership skill, as well. As
Founder and President of the Paris-based think tank Institut
Confiances since 2012, Pierre led a group of 100 multidisciplinary
experts who co-designed“TheTree ofTrust,”a model of seven key trust factors
in society. He operationalized the Tree of Trust model in large organizations
by designing and administering tools such as the Trust Barometer to foster
trust in leadership and change management contexts. Since 2015, Pierre has
worked as a World Bank Group consultant in Guinea-Bissau to help rebuild
trust among key institutional leaders such as the president and prime
family health. He graduated with a Doctor of Medicine degree from University
of SantoTomas in Manila and completed his Master of Public Health degree at
University of the Philippines. He was awarded a scholarship as a Lee Kuan Yew
Fellow and graduated with a master’s degree in Public Management under
the joint program of National University of Singapore and Harvard Kennedy
School.
MercyWambuiKamauiscurrentlyaCountyExecutiveCommittee
Member in charge of Public Service Management, Nairobi City
County Government. She has been an Advocate of the High Court
of Kenya for 21 years. She has a Master of Arts in International
Relations and a Master of Laws in Public International Law from
University of Nairobi. She also has a postgraduate diploma in
Women’s Economic Empowerment from Georgetown University,
Washington, D.C. She is a Certified Public Secretary of Kenya, registered with
the Institute of Certified Public Secretaries, Kenya. Mercy has worked as a
Legal Consultant and company secretary with various banks and commercial
entities in the private sector. She sits on the boards of Faida Investment
Bank, Paramount Bank, Helpage Kenya, and Kenya Revenue Authority. She
has been a Lecturer in International Relations and Aviation Law in various
public institutions and is a Board Member of the Nairobi Institute of Business
Development. She is also in a Private Legal Practice as a partner in a leading
conveyance law firm in Nairobi.
Najma Siddiqi is Technical Adviser and Global Faculty with
the Collaborative Leadership for Development Program at the
World Bank Group’s Leadership, Learning, and Innovation Vice
Presidency (LLI VP). She has 40 years of experience in the design
and implementation of development, partnerships, sustainable
development, leadership and governance, teaching effectiveness,
and capacity enhancement programs. Before joining LLIVP, Najma
was Learning Coordinator at the Sustainable Development Vice Presidency of
the World Bank Group, where she led the flagship Sustainable Development
Leadership Program for Bank Group Management and its external partners.
She was elected for two terms to represent multilateral development banks
at the International Forum for Capacity Development, and has served on the
Knowledge and Learning Board of the World Bank Group for seven years. She
40. A-10 A-11
Sylvester Odhiambo Obong’o is a British Chevening Scholar
who holds a PhD in Public Management from University of
Newcastle, Australia, an MA in Development Administration and
Management from University of Manchester, UK, and a BA from
University of Nairobi. He is a Certified Professional Balanced
Scorecard Practitioner and holds other qualifications in Strategic
Planning and Management and Performance Management
from Witwatersrand Business School, South Africa. Sylvester has more than
23 years of experience working in public service in Kenya. He started his
career in 1991 in the Ministry of Finance before moving to the Office of the
President, Civil Service Reforms Secretariat. In 2006, he re-conceptualized
the Rapid Results Approach as a results-based management tool and led
its implementation throughout Kenyan public service. Sylvester is currently
Assistant Director, Public Service Transformation, Ministry of Devolution
and Planning. He has published in peer-reviewed journals and elsewhere.
He has undertaken numerous consultancies for the World Bank and other
international development institutions. In 2007, he was a finalist at the
Biannual Commonwealth Association Public Management–Public Innovation
Awards in Barbados, and in 2008 awarded a World Leadership Medal for his
contribution to implementation of Managing for Development Results by the
Inter-American Development Bank, in Medellin, Colombia.
minister. He actively participates in the work of the Commission for Peace and
Reconciliation. Pierre holds an international management degree from the
Bachelor of Business Administration Program at ESSEC Business School, Paris,
and has been teaching at Ecole Nationale d’Administration, France.
Rajita Kulkarni, President of the World Forum for Ethics in
Business, helps organizations globally to achieve excellence in
governance, finance, and administration by inspiring individuals
to embrace an ethical way of life. Her experience includes the
launch of Sri Sri University in India, the design and rollout of
the Transformational Leadership for Excellence program, and
administrative oversight of more than 510 educational institutions
impacting more than 6,000 children. More than 400 of these institutions
provide free education and midday meals to 43,450 children in 12 states of
India. Rajita’s expertise is in leading large, multicultural, multinational teams
to unleash their potential and fulfill their vision. She is a board member for
Indian national and international NGOs. She is a Certified Leadership Coach
and has trained CEOs, heads of governments, and others to sharpen their
leadership skills. She was previously a banker with Citigroup Inc. and has held
many international leadership positions. She has planned and implemented
training and development for over 100,000 participants from more than 50
countries and has won 17 awards for professional excellence in her field.
Reni Suzana (photo not available) is Director of the Center for Program
Development and Training at Indonesia’s National Institute of Public
Administration. In this position she prepares materials for policy formulation
on Pre-service, Leadership, and Technical & Functional training programs;
planning, evaluating, and developing the curriculum of Pre-service and
Learning training and Technical and Functional training programs. She has a
master’s degree in Public Policy and Management from Monash University,
Australia.
Rita Odooley Sowah. (Photo not available.) Chief Executive, Municipal
and Metropolitan Assemblies, La Dadekotopon Municipality, Greater Accra
Metropolitan Area (GAMA), Ghana.
41. A-13
Poems and Traditional Songs
Shared by Participants
Where The Mind Is Without Fear
by Rabindranath Tagore
read by Ajay Tejasvi
Where the mind is without fear and the
head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up
into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of
truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms
towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not
lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let
my country awake.
42. A-14 A-15
If Only I Met Thee
by Rajita Kulkarni
You must have
been a cute baby
had a favorite toy
chased little chicken with glee
I was just like that too,
Though I never met thee
You must have
had a best friend
made paper boats in the rains loved the fluffed up hot puri
I was just like that too,
Though I never met thee
You must have
loved the warm cuddles of your mother
had joyful rides on the rickety merry go round
cracked fresh winter mungphali
I was just like that too,
Though I never met thee
Then when did our lives change?
How different our paths became
I turned to spirituality to heal minds
You picked up the gun against mankind?
At our cores we were still the same
Though I never met thee
That night we came face to face
I thought it would be nice to meet thee
I ran fast, only away from you
cuz you had come to kill me
Later I read that you died instead
While I live on to a greater destiny
My faith was more powerful than your weapon
When you came to kill me
You taught the world that violence never wins
No one should be where you have ever been
I am sure your heart knew you were wrong
Then why did you come to kill me?
Your hatred has made my love stronger
I will work more for peace and harmony
You would have been a different person too
If only I had met thee!
43. A-16 A-17
Darkness and Light
by Najma Siddiqi
ﻣ
ﻣﻣ
ﻣ
ﻣ
Nov 9, 2015
Jo baat ki, wo sunai na di hamein khud bhi
s s s
What I said was not heard even by me, myself
How could others, those sitting in front of me
Have heard it
It was difficult to brighten up the dark day
We had no light, big or small
How could we have gathered the flowers
Now come and see what happens, as time goes by
We have ourselves invited a long, dark night
Weaving webs (of deceit) all around us
So let us see if it is possible still
To get a broader perspective, to change actions
And revive the tradition of 'life to spread love' ...
If I Can Be . . .
Traditional Sri Lankan song
by Gamini Batuwitage
The
Song
around
the
Tea
Table
jyskakg yels kus .s.=uSoS jsh<s .uS nsuS j,g by,ska
bfokakg yelskuS n;la jS n;la fkdbfok me,l ryiska
/fkakg yelskuS <ud le, y~k fof;d,. iskyjla jS
.efhkakg yelskuS fodrska fodr f,dju mqnqok .S;hla jS
If I can be the rain with thunder over the dry farm lands and villages
If I can be a cooked pot of rice in a poor hut where rice cooking is a rare event
If I can be a smile shining on the lips of crying children
If I can be a song singing door to door awakening the whole world
Gamini from Sri Lanka
s s s
If I can be the rain with thunder over the dry farm lands and
villages
If I can be a cooked pot of rice in a poor hut where rice cooking
is a rare event
If I can be a smile shining on the lips of crying children
If I can be a song singing door to door awakening the whole
world
