Learning to make a difference
Planning and assessing social learning
through value-creation stories
Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner
LOGIN General Assembly, Colombo, December 14, 2016
We visited The Hunger Project in 2015 and they took us to the field in Bangalore
to see what they do.
We met them we fell in love. We saw ourselves and our work in what they do. And
we felt a great rapport and sympathy.
Something that interested us on this trip was the way they have a five year cycle
strategy. In other words they have different strategies for women’s empowerment
depending on where they are in the election cycle. Our own election was coming
up and we recognized that we were in the cycle called “pre-election mode.” We
crammed ourselves with information about what happens in this cycle.
I work with BNEW - a network
for empowering women for
political participation in
Bhutan. LOGIN set us up with
The Hunger Project in India
who have been working on
women’s empowerment for
15 years.
Phuntshok, Bhutan
Back in Bhutan we adapted their pre-election mode strategy to our own context.
We worked on sensitizing officials on the ground to the election process and we
rolled out a series of potential leaders’ workshops. We zoomed in on those women
with the most potential and who were most likely to stand for election. We
mobilized around 3,000 women for local elections.
As a result 80% of women standing for elections passed the Functional Literacy
Test and women's representation went up from 6.9% to 11.2%. Out of 205 local
governments we increased the number of women chairs from 1 to 2 and deputy
chairs from 12 to 24.
The structure of the story: four key steps …
0
Starts in a
LOGIN
activity
1
2
3
4
Describes the
experience of
participating in
that activity
Identifies
specifically what
you got out of it
Says concretely
what you did with
it when you
returned home
Explains what has
happened as a
result
… with a focus on value creation
A value-creation story …
0
Activity
We visited The
Hunger Project
in 2015 and
they took us to
the field in
Bangalore to
see what they
do.
1
What you
experienced
We met them we
fell in love. We saw
ourselves and our
work in what they
do. And we felt a
great rapport and
sympathy.
2
What you got
3
What you did
4
The result
Something that
interested us on
this trip was the
way they have a
five year cycle
strategy... We
recognized that we
were in the “preelection cycle" and
crammed ourselves
with information
about what
happens in this
cycle.
In Bhutan we adapted
their pre-election mode
strategy. We worked on
sensitizing officials to
the election process and
rolled out a series of
potential leaders’
workshops. We zoomed
in on those women with
the most potential and
who were most likely to
stand for election. We
mobilized around 3,000
women for local
elections.
As a result 80% of
women standing for
elections passed the
Functional Literacy
Test and women's
representation went
up from 6.9% to
11.2%. Out of 205 local
governments we
increased the number
of women chairs from
1 to 2 and deputy
chairs from 12 to 24.
A good value creation story …
• … has a clear story-teller
• … is about something very specific
• … does not miss any of the four steps
• … has enough detail to show the logic between each step, and no more
• … leads to a success or a failure
Tell a story of your own
• Use the instructions and the template to write your story
• Share it with your group
• Select one to share with everyone
What your group is about
You have five minutes:
• Agree on three key words or phrases to describe the theme of this
group
• Write them on a flipchart
Now you may join another group
Why you are together
• Who is here
• What you have in common
• How it manifests in your work
• Would it be valuable to do something together?
A value-creation framework
how to vision, plan, sustain, and monitor social learning
Learning
activities
0
The activity
1
What you
experience
2
What you
get from it
3
What you
do with it
4
The result
Immediate
value
Potential
value
Applied
value
Realized
value
Different types of value
A value-creation framework
how to vision, plan, sustain, and monitor social learning
Learning
activities
0
The activity
1
What you
experience
2
What you
get from it
3
What you
do with it
4
The result
Immediate
value
Potential
value
Applied
value
Realized
value
Learning loops
A value-creation framework
Aspirations
Risks
Aspirations
Risks
Aspirations
Risks
Aspirations
Risks
Learning
activities
how to vision, plan, sustain, and monitor social learning
Immediate
value
Potential
value
Applied
value
Realized
value
Conditions
Mitigations
Conditions
Mitigations
Conditions
Mitigations
Conditions
Mitigations
Conditions
Mitigations
Aspirations
Risks
Aspirations
Risks
Envisioning learning
Your aspirations
• What change in your country would your participation in
this group generate? (Be specific and realistic.)
• Put them on cards on the board
• What are the stories that will take you there?
• Put them on cards on the board
A value-creation framework
Aspirations
Risks
Learning
imperative
People &
identities
Immediate
value
Potential
value
Applied
value
Realized
value
Boundaries
Conditions
Mitigations
Conditions
Mitigations
Conditions
Mitigations
Conditions
Mitigations
Conditions
Mitigations
Aspirations
Risks
History &
context
The context
Conditions
Mitigations
Aspirations
Risks
Transformative
value
Aspirations
Risks
Aspirations
Risks
Aspirations
Risks
Aspirations
Risks
Learning
activities
how to vision, plan, sustain, and monitor social learning
A value-creation framework
how to vision, plan, sustain, and monitor social learning
Aspirations
Risks
People &
identities
Immediate
value
Potential
value
Applied
value
Realized
value
Boundaries
Conditions
Mitigations
Conditions
Mitigations
Conditions
Mitigations
Conditions
Mitigations
Conditions
Mitigations
Aspirations
Risks
History &
context
Conditions
Mitigations
Enabling value
Learning to make a difference
Aspirations
Risks
Conditions
Mitigations
Aspirations
Risks
Transformative
value
Aspirations
Risks
Aspirations
Risks
Aspirations
Risks
Aspirations
Risks
Learning
imperative
Aspirations
Risks
Strategic value
Learning
activities
Conditions
Mitigations