The 5 Capabilities

The 5 capabilities: Capacity building is an integral part of development and something each development partner in the C4C consortium has experience with. It is also a process

that is continuous, non-linear and influenced by the organisation that it takes place in and the world surrounding it. ECDPM (the European Centre for Development Policy Management) has developed 5 core capabilities that, in interaction with each other, lead to organisational capacity.

The C4C consortium uses these same capabilities as an underlying framework for capacity building in our Social Innovation Process. The capabilities are used to help

analyse what capabilities we can build on and which capabilities are present for effectively formulating and implementing ICT4D projects. It is important to note that capacity development (and the capability approach as such) is useful and is to be used at the level of the partner organisations, as well as at Connect4Change level and at the level of schools, farmer organisations and health

institutions involved in our programmes.

Capacity

Capability to adapt and self-renew

Capability to relate and to attract resources

and support

Capability to commit and engage

Capability to carry out technical, service delivery

and logistical tasks

Capability to balance diversity and coherence

The capability to adapt and self-renew:

An example from ……….

on the capability to adapt and self-renew:

Capacity

Capability to adapt and self-renew

Capability to relate and to attract resources

and support

Capability to commit and engage

Capability to carry out technical, service delivery

and logistical tasks

Capability to balance diversity and coherence

The capability to adapt and self-renew:

Can you adjust when things change? The capability to adapt and self renew is not only a key requisite for organisational

survival, it is also central to its ability to continue to be relevant, effective and efficient within a changing environment and towards changing needs. This capability is about the flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances. Combining short term responsiveness with the ability to focus over the long-term on the development of more complex capabilities such as slow, incremental, collective learning is a difficult capacity challenge. Less effective organisations fail at one or

both of these tasks, or find it difficult to sustain both processes over a long period in a context of shifting political trends and bureaucratic dynamics. The capabilities associated with adaptation and change include:

• to improve individual and organisational learning; • to foster internal dialogue; • to reposition and reconfigure the organisation;

• to incorporate new ideas; and • to map out a growth path.

The 5 Capabilities

An example from ……….

on the capability to carry out technical, service delivery and logistical tasks:

Capacity

Capability to adapt and self-renew

Capability to relate and to attract resources

and support

Capability to commit and engage

Capability to carry out technical, service delivery

and logistical tasks

Capability to balance diversity and coherence

The capability to carry out technical, service delivery and logistical tasks:

Do you show what you can do? The capability to carry out technical service delivery and logistical tasks describes the knowledge, expertise and experience required to carry out actions and achieve the

results aimed for. This includes technical and logistical skills, but also managerial capacity such as programme analysis, financial management, project management, and advocacy. This core capability underlies the most common way of thinking about capacity

issues. The emphasis is on functional, instrumental ways of meeting a set of objectives and fulfilling a mandate. The core capability to perform, deliver services or

achieve results is an obvious and crucial element of the capacity puzzle. This includes the following capabilities: • to deliver services; • for strategic planning and management ; • for financial management

The 5 Capabilities

An example from ……….

on the capability to balance diversity and coherence:

Capacity

Capability to adapt and self-renew

Capability to relate and to attract resources

and support

Capability to commit and engage

Capability to carry out technical, service delivery

and logistical tasks

Capability to balance diversity and coherence

The capability to balance diversity and coherence:

Is the system stable as a whole?

By ensuring availability of a broad variety of skills, perspectives and visions amongst its members and divisions an organisation develops resilience and the flexibility to react adequately to different situations. It is a prerequisite for continuous renewal and innovation (see also the capability to self-renew!). However, diversity needs to

be balanced against coherence in order to avoid the risk of fragmentation and disintegration. Organisations also struggle to balance their different capabilities. If they pay too

much attention to the technical and the substantive, they begin to lose a sense of themselves as human community. Too much attention to the ‘soft’ capabilities, and

they begin to lose the ability to deliver technical value and services. Thus all the actors try to balance different aspects of their capacity and arrive at some sort of coherence. The core capability to balance diversity and coherence includes the following capabilities: • to communicate;

• to build connections; • to manage diversity; and • to manage paradox and tension.

The 5 Capabilities

An example from ………. on the capability to commit and engage:

Capacity

Capability to

adapt and self-renew

Capability to relate and to attract resources

and support

Capability to commit and engage

Capability to carry out

technical, service delivery and logistical tasks

Capability to

balance diversity and coherence

The capability to commit and engage:

Do you (all) know where you go and do you have the drive to get there?

The capability to commit and engage describes the awareness of the organisation or system of its place in the World and its capability to organise itself and to motivate and engage its staff and members to work energetically towards common goals. The

organisation and its members are aware of its legitimacy, keep a clear focus and have confidence to address challenges. They do it in time, over time and frequently, despite the opposition or resistance or noncooperation of others. This is a condition that goes beyond conventional notions of ownership. It has a lot to

do with attitude and self-perception. It is connected to deeper patterns of behaviours

that are partly structural, partly psychological, and usually deeply embedded. The condition of ‘stuckness’ is the most obvious sign of the lack of this capability. Many organisations get stuck in a ‘low commitment, low capacity, low performance’ equilibrium that is a classic trap of weakened systems. This capability is least understood by external actors. Funders can relate to organisations that are technically or organisationally ‘unable’ to do certain things, and are usually puzzled and frustrated by actors that appear ‘unwilling’ to commit given the pressing needs

to be addressed. ECDPM regards this core capability as the one that energises all the others. Actors that developed it could overcome enormous constraints. When it was absent or weakened, they produced little of value. This core capability depends on a series of what we call skills or abilities, including:

• the ability to encourage mindfulness; • the ability and willingness to persevere; • the ability to aspire; • the ability to embed conviction; • the ability to take ownership; and • the ability to be determined.

The 5 Capabilities

An example from ……….

on the capability to relate and to attract resources and support:

Capacity

Capability to adapt and self-renew

Capability to relate and to attract resources

and support

Capability to commit and engage

Capability to carry out technical, service delivery

and logistical tasks

Capability to balance diversity and coherence

The capability to relate and to attract resources and support:

When needed, are you able to mobilise assistance?

An organisation or system does not stand on its own and needs to be able to initiate and maintain relationships with other organisations and individuals and need to be able to attract support and resources for its continued existence. Through building of coalitions and alliances one’s legitimacy and position can be consolidated and

effectiveness can be enhanced. This capability further relates to the ability of an organisation to attract resources and finally describes its ability to influence its environment through negotiation and advocacy. The capability deals with being able to craft, manage and sustain key relationships.

It also has political aspects, as organisations frequently have to compete for power, space, support and resources with a variety of other actors. If systems become

obsessed with their own survival and vested interests, they lose the capability to innovate and experiment, and performance is quickly sacrificed. It includes the following capabilities: • to earn credibility and legitimacy; • to buffer the organisation or system from intrusions;

• to earn the trust of others, such as donors and clients; and • to combine political neutrality and assertive advocacy.