PDIA in Practice 6: Constructing Problems

The Practice of PDIA: Building Capability by Delivering Results Podcast series Part 6: Constructing Problems Welcome to Part 6 of the Practice of PDIA: Building Capability by Delivering Results Podcast series. This 12 part series, based on a video series used for our PDIA online course, will walk you through the PDIA or Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation approach to solving complex development problems. More than 1,500 development practitioners in 90 countries have used the PDIA approach. Problems are key to driving change. A problem that matters is one that gets attention and mobilizes action. Solving problems that matter ensures that you are doing something contextually relevant. In today’s podcast, we have Professor Matt Andrews and Lant Pritchett who will discuss the process of problem construction. Lant, can you help our listeners differentiate between selling solutions and solving problems? Selling Solutions vs. Solving Problems.> Thanks Lant. Matt, you often talk about problems as entry points, can you share more about this with our listeners? Real Problem Driven Reform. Constructing Problems that matter> Matt, your examples are really helpful in clarifying what you mean. I was wondering if you could share more about the types of problems that drive change. Constructing Problems to Drive Change > Thank you for listening to Part 6 of the Practice of PDIA Podcast series. Tune in to listen to Part 7 where we discuss how to deconstruct problems. To learn more about the problem construction process in PDIA, download our toolkit at bsc.cid.harvard.edu.