Thoughts about USAID"s reforms : perspectives from the Center for Naval Analysis

Part I presents four essays which, respectively, compare USAID"s Results Framework (RF) planning process with: (1) planning for a cross-country trip from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles, California; (2) military planning and the role of failure rather than success in identifying "best practices"; (3) the learn-as-- you-go methodology employed by the San Francisco 49ers football team in the 1980s; and (4) how an American football coaching staff prepares the various position players for their next game by focusing on the team"s overall success rather than the success of any one player. Part II develops analogies from recent U.S. military experiences to recommend that USAID"s new operating system (OPS): (1) focus on host-country end states; (2) promote intersectoral cooperation and synergy as a way to avoid counter- productive turf wars; (3) generate Congressional trust by placing greater reliance on USAID field personnel; (4) avoid short- circuiting the reengineering process by excessive reliance on old ways; (5) test the value of reengineering concepts and practices over time; (6) use performance-based contracting as a means of balancing tactical and operational flexibility: (7) balance operation and strategic flexibility in creating or altering an RF; (8) use RF modeling as a painless way of discerning and identifying failure in the new OPS system; and (9) train USAID partners in the new OPS system in order to avoid negative outcomes and soured partner relationships.