This paper describes the practice of what has been called development entrepreneurship and explains some of the ideas from outside the field of development that have inspired it. It briefly indicates the range of reforms to which the method has been applied in the Philippines, and identifies five distinguishing features of development entrepreneurship.
Key findings:
- Practical development organizations need to be capable of acting with intelligence in the political environment of partner countries, so they help promote, or at least do not stand in the way of, progressive developmental reform.
- In view of the growth of interest in ‘thinking and working politically’ to deliver more effective development assistance, there is a need for operational models that illustrate what this can mean in practice.
- The method known as development entrepreneurship is one such model. It is distinguished by five features: an approach to the choice of objectives; the use of entrepreneurial logic with a bias towards iterative ‘learning by doing’; a method for selecting and working with self-motivated partners; a partnership approach for donors; and a set of programme management tools.
- The method targets reform objectives that are both technically sound (high impact, liable to be taken to scale and sustainable beyond donor funding) and politically possible (offering a reasonable prospect of being introduced).
- Objectives that combine impact, scale and sustainability are preferable in all of the many fields to which the method of development entrepreneurship is applicable.
- Experience in the Philippines suggests that there is particular value in aiming for reforms that are ‘self-implementing’ in the sense that they lock in new market dynamics or patterns of behaviour. This is most likely to be achieved by measures that alter the incentives of politicians, officials, firms and/or citizens without requiring them to redefine their interests or values in a fundamental way.
- Reform leaders – ‘development entrepreneurs’ – working in teams and organizations are the most important element of the method. Within a wider process of coalition-building, they use entrepreneurial methods, including iterative ‘learning by doing’ and making ‘small bets’ to find ways of introducing reforms that work even in unpromising political-economic contexts.
- The model includes a way of reconciling bureaucratic constraints and the iterative ‘learning by doing’ approach of development entrepreneurship, with donor agency staff acting as ‘intrapreneurs’ – people who introduce new ideas within their organizations to create modalities for attracting and working flexibly with intermediaries and entrepreneurial teams.
- The practice of development entrepreneurship can be supported by a set of management and reporting templates that have been used with success in the work of donors, The Asia Foundation and local leaders, organizations and coalitions in the Philippines.
