The document discusses the need for organizations like UNDP to develop new approaches to learning in order to effectively address complex challenges like the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It notes that the increased pace of change requires adopting new ways of working but organizations often struggle to embed learning. The document proposes that UNDP develop as a dynamic platform to mobilize knowledge and exchange, setting benchmarks for development practice. It outlines principles, methodologies, and a learning mechanism to better enable structural and cultural learning across different levels of the organization. The goal is to make learning the core business and support a "platform way of working" through experimentation, reflection, and socializing lessons learned.

1. THE FUTURE OF LEARNING
Jesper Christiansen,
Head of strategy & development, innovation skills
Nesta
How platforms enable brand new ways of turning
collective knowledge and data into
improved impact
1

2. UNDP
CONTEXT
2

3. UNDP 3
Icon: “complex" by Marie Van den Broeck from the Noun Project

4. UNDP 4
The increased pace of change is fundamentally challenging the organizational operating
model.
Dealing with the SDGs which involve high levels of interconnectedness, uncertainty, and
indeterminateness requires making use of new approaches, causing a growing skills gap and a
persistent need for a more learning-oriented culture
UNDP (alongside other international institutions and governments around the world) are
struggling to embed learning-oriented ways of working in their daily practice.
There is a widespread underestimation of what it takes to enable the uptake of new ways of
working. A new approach is needed to develop and operationalize mechanisms that can
support cultural transformation process and behavior change
CONTEXT

5. Reducing
transaction
barriers to
collaborating with
various partners,
creating alignment
around missions
TRANSACTIONAL
→
RELATIONAL
BY
PUTTING OUTCOMES
FIRST
BY
FOSTERING
EXPERIMENTATION
BY
ACTIVATING
NETWORKS
BY
BUILDING
TANGIBLE
PLATFORMS
BY
ENABLING
LEARNING
System change
Business- and
governance model
innovation
Ethnography
Spotting non-
traditional
partners to identify
higher quality
development
solutions
ACKNOWLEDGING A
STATED NEED
→
UNCOVERING
UNEXPRESSED
DEMAND
Reshaping incentives
User led
mapping value systems
Solution mapping
Positive deviance
Challenge prizes
Outcome buying
Facilitating
engagement
digitally and
physically, creating
new interactions
DEFINING-PROBLEM
DEFAULT
→
MAPPING-
SOLUTIONS
DEFAULT
Prototyping
Community building
Digital design
Convening facilitation
Harnessing
distributed
intelligence,
adapting from the
signals obtained
from the ground
BACK DROP:
Being fast at spotting
emerging trends and
contextualizing them
for the governments
and others
PREMIUM ON
EXECUTING
→
PREMIUM ON
LEARNING AND
ADAPTING
SCALING PROJECTS
→
SCALING PROCESS
Systems thinking and
analysis
Real time and new data
for new insights
Peer-to-peer sessions
Big- and small data
communities of practice
Policy experimentation
R&D
Regulatory R&D and
sandboxes
Horizon scanning
(carefully observing the
present),
Foresight (imaging
alternative futures)
Co-creation
PRINCIPLES
HYPOTHESES
METHODOLOGY

6. UNDP 6
Desire to adopt to systematic approaches to learning, but considered as a secondary activity
Little systematic learning from external people and organisations
Few systematic mechanisms to apply and leverage the collective intelligence
Too little space for trying out new ideas and ways of working
Lack of social support from peers and experts to apply and embed new ways of working
Learning by doing, interactive learning and various informal ways of learning are experienced
as the most useful among UNDP staff
LEARNING GAPS

7. UNDP
RESPONSE
7

8. UNDP 8
UNDP as a dynamic platform for
knowledge mobilization and exchange
that can raise the bar and set the
benchmark for the next stage of
development practice.
MISSION FOR LEARNING

9. UNDP 9
Space of the
obvious
Space of the
unobvious
[Inspired by and adapted from Innovation learning approach for Nesta’s Skills Team]

10. UNDP 10
LANDSCAPE OF INNOVATION APPROACHES
[Landscape of Innovation Approaches, Nesta’s Skills Team]

11. UNDP 11
Collected statements from participants of the Platform bootcamp in Istanbul October 2018
MOST USEFUL LEARNING MODALITIES
Learning…
...by doing (with room for reflection)
...through experimentation (trial and error)
...through team-work (when collaborating on
initiatives)
...from failures (when organisational
environment allows for it)
...from experiences of peers
...from other internal initiatives
...from initiatives from other sectors and
disciplines
...from different cultural contexts
...through social networks (“I know people who
know”)
...through facilitated interaction with
colleagues
...from resource persons/experts
...through networking
...through informal conversations (breaks) and
social media channels
...through facilitated reflection

12. UNDP 12
Enabling strategic use of collective intelligence to identify and
learn from pioneering practice
Mobilising and manage our data to build and synthesise an
emerging evidence-base of what works
Building practical networked peer-learning with rapid sharing
and adaptation of useful insights and solution concepts
Ensuring that organisational know-how and intelligence is shared
and tested across country contexts in the UNDP ecosystem.
WHAT WE NEED TO ENABLE…

13. UNDP
LEARNING APPROACH
13

14. UNDP 14
LEARNING PRINCIPLES
[Inspired by and adapted from Innovation learning approach for Nesta’s Skills Team]
Focus on mindset change
and skills development
simultaneously
Learn by doing and
change behaviors through
experimentation
Foster communities of
practice in which social
learning can emerge

15. UNDP 15
Focus on mindsets to effectively apply new methods
Simultaneous focus on mindset change and skills development to be able to manage complex sets of
attitudes, tactics and judgment, skills and techniques needed for effective application of new methods with
strategic impact.
Learning by doing
The very nature of a platform way of working implies transformation and should enable learners to rehearse
and change their behaviours through learning by doing and experimenting with new ways of working.
Build communities of practice
Learning requires continuous and constant practice and renewal of skills. Learners will benefit from a
strategic engagement in a community of practice to learn from others and enable peer-to-peer feedback,
critical reflection and collaborative sensemaking
LEARNING PRINCIPLES
[Inspired by and adapted from Innovation learning approach for Nesta’s Skills Team]

16. UNDP 16
RAISING
AWARENESS
Understand and be able to
Articulate the benefits of
innovation
MAKING IT
HAPPEN
Learn how to develop ideas into
action (set up pilots, create
prototypes)
INTEGRATE NEW
PRACTICES
Integrate innovation methods
and tools into the daily practice
of organisations and scale
LEARNING JOURNEY
[Inspired by and adapted from Innovation learning approach for Nesta’s Skills Team]

17. UNDP 17
INFORMAL
LEARNING
Involves learning in and from
everyday practice (e.g.
apprenticeship)
MENTORING /
COACHING
Reflecting on experiences and
given guidance by more
experienced others
TRAINING &
SIMULATION
Simulations and /hands-on)
exercises led by expert instructors
SELF
STUDY
Self led learning activities (e.g.
reading, webinars) and exercises
IN PRACTICE
Drives the development of
embodied knowledge, complex
skills, situational awareness and
reflexivity
ABOUT PRACTICE
Helps generate conceptual
understanding, develop basic
skills and build confidence
SELF DIRECTED DIRECTED
LEARNABLE
Tacit knowlede and
implicit practice
TEACHABLE
Explicit knowledge and
codified practices
}
}
[From Innovation learning approach for Nesta’s Skills Team]

18. UNDP 18
Data
Learning
Operational
level
Organisational
culture
Building
capacity
Strategic
narrative
Global
platform
Regional
Hubs
Country
Offices
Day to day
locally
Global
HQ
A LEARNING MECHANISM THAT ENABLES AND
SUPPORT NETWORKED LEARNING

19. UNDP 19
Developing a platform-way-of-working require new organisational learning processes:
Internal learning: learning within units and teams. Creating regular processes and rhythms within units and
teams to accelerate learning about what works in practice and trying out new things.
Horizontal learning: learning from others. Creating learning mechanisms that drive exchange between
actors and stakeholders within the development ecosystem.
Vertical learning: strategic learning from the bottom-up. Enabling knowledge transfer and exchange
upwards in the system to ensure that strategic learning is happening based on a diversity of experiences
from practice.
RESPONSE: A LEARNING MECHANISM THAT
ENABLE AND SUPPORT STRUCTURAL &
CULTURAL LEARNING

20. UNDP
WHAT’S NEXT?
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21. UNDP 21
THE FUTURE ORGANISATION: DESIRED
CULTURAL LEARNING OUTPUTS
Learning as core business
Big picture accountability
Challenging business as usual
Being agile
Open and honest sharing
Celebrating failure
Celebrating each other’s
successes
Relational and empathetic
collaboration
Dedicated engagement with
users & unusual stakeholders

22. UNDP 22
FUNCTIONALITY OF LEARNING MECHANISM
GENERATE
MOBILISE
EXPERIMENT
REFLECT
CODIFY
CONSOLIDATE

23. UNDP 23
GENERATE
MOBILISE
EXPERIMENT
REFLECT
CODIFY
CONSOLIDATE
Generate new ideas and
formats for learning to
support emerging
practice within platform
way of working.
Mobilise learning collectives around new ideas and formats with
ongoing input, exchange, and validation from peers and
stakeholders.
Scope out and design dedicated
(collaborative) experimental efforts to
try out new ways of working and
accelerate learning about what works.
Enable ongoing reflection on
experiments what is working and what
isn't given that there is no ‘blueprint’ or
‘best practice’ for “platform way of
working”.
Codify insights to support practical work within platform way of
working to build a useful evidence-base and enable peer-
learning to socialise insights.
Socialise insights and enable peer-
learning about what works based on
how people, teams and units practically
create successes in their work

24. UNDP 24
LEARNING JOURNEY: HOW TO GET STARTED?
Work out loud
Document and share your work
processes
Rehearse new kinds of learning within
units and teams.
Develop and test new processes and
rhythms within units and teams that
support team learning
Create open sharing sessions.
Facilitate regular practice sharing
sessions to build a more open
conversation across country contexts
Begin prototyping the application of
new learning modalities
Prototype how different ways of
enabling and supporting might look like
in your own work environment.
Explore how learning becomes your
core business
Create learning indicators rather than
performance indicators.
Begin making each other accountable
with a strategic focus on learning rather
than traditional KPIs.