October 2015

Good Ideas Aren’t

Enough: A Management

Framework for Scaling

Up

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Big problems require big solutions

2

NEED

0 100% Percent of Annual Need Served

Bridgespan

But….

• Most programs begin on a relatively small scale;

• Most social innovations don’t scale spontaneously;

• Relatively few projects are analyzed for scalability when

they are initially reviewed for funding; and

• Even fewer are managed to maximize the likelihood of

successful scaling up.

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That often leaves us with this theory of change….

“Successful” Pilot Project

+ HOPE =

Large-Scale Change

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A Strategic Approach to Scale

• Rooted in an 11-year applied research program called IPC

(Implementing Policy Change), related work at the Brookings

Institution, and parallel work on making markets work for the

poor

• Early funding from the MacArthur Foundation to develop and

test a management framework and a set of tools for (1)

assessing scalability, (2) designing pilot projects with scale in

mind, and (3) managing the scaling up process

• Applied for more than a decade across a wide range of

organizations, sectors and countries

• http://www.msiworldwide.com/wp-content/uploads/MSI-

Scaling-Up-Framework-2nd-Edition.pdf

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A Three Step, 10 Task, Process

Step 1: Developing a Scaling Up Plan (Planning)

Task 1: Creating a Vision

Task 2: Assessing Scalability

Task 3: Filling Information Gaps

Task 4: Preparing a Scaling Up Plan

Step 2: Establishing the Preconditions for Effective Scaling Up (“Political”)

Task 5: Legitimizing Change

Task 6: Constituency Building

Task 7: Realigning and Mobilizing Resources

Step 3: Implementing the Scaling Up Process (Operational)

Task 8: Modifying and Strengthening Organizations

Task 9: Coordinating Action

Task 10: Tracking Performance and Maintaining

Momentum

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What is Being Scaled Up?

• Articulation of the model’s essential features

– Technical

– Financial

– Process

– Values

– Context

• Bundling and unbundling components

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8

Think Subtraction, not Addition

How is it to be Scaled Up?

• Methods distinguished by the degree to which the

organization that managed the initial pilot – the Originating

Organization – continues to control implementation as the

model goes to scale:

– Expansion: the Originating Organization retains control of

implementation

– Replication: the Originating Organization transfers

control of implementation to another organization(s)

– Collaboration: the Originating Organization shares

control with one or more other organization(s)

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2nd Theory of Change

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“A bad system will trump a good program – every time, all the time.” Patrick McCarthy, CEO of the Annie E. Casey

Foundation

System Policy

Donor Program

Projects

“A bad system will trump a good program – every time, all the time.” Patrick McCarthy, CEO of the Annie E.

Casey Foundation

Who is taking model to scale?

Innovation

(Originating

Organization)

Intermediary

Organization(s)

Application

at Scale

(Adopting

Organization)

CONTEXT CONTEXT

Functions performed by “Intermediaries”

include…

• Strategic Planning

• Impact Evaluation

• Fundraising

• Advocacy and Marketing

• Convening and

Coordinating

Stakeholders

• Change Management

• Organizational

Development

• Systems Strengthening

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Two Key Questions: #1-- Is the model ready to be scaled up? (“readiness”)

• What standard of evidence has been applied?

– Innovation (minimal objective evidence)

– Promising Practice (anecdotal reports)

– Model (positive evidence in a few cases)

– Good Practice (clear evidence from several cases)

– Best Practice (evidence of impact from multiple settings

and meta-analyses)

– Policy Principle (proven; a “truism” essential for

success)

Source: Adapted from National Science Foundation 14

#2 -- What challenges will we face?

(“feasibility”)

• Credibility: hard evidence, credible supporters

• Observability: visible link to results

• Relevance: intensity of need, policy priority

• Comparative Advantage: improvement over existing

practices and alternatives

• Easily Adopted: simplicity, transferability

• Testability: by potential users on a modest scale

• Affordability: sustainable funding source

Source: Adapted from ExpandNet2011

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Scalability Checklist

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Requires a small absolute commitment of funds at scale

Requires a large commitment of funds at scale

Lessons from

Field Studies

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Lessons

learned

Lesson #1: Simplify

The more you can simplify an intervention the more

feasible it is to scale it up.

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Lesson #2: There’s no substitute for markets and governments

Commercial markets are the world’s most cost-

efficient scaling mechanism; but they aren’t right for

everything or for everybody. For most social and

anti-poverty programs, governments play essential

roles in achieving sustainability and scale.

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Lesson #3: Plan Backwards

Begin with an eye on scale and a strategy for

achieving it.

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Lesson #4: Tailor Evidence

to the Audience

Data from pilot projects are rarely tailored to the

decision-criteria or decision-making styles of

policy-makers.

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Lesson #5: Focus on Incentives

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For sustainable change to occur, it’s essential to

have an incentive system that reinforces needed

actions.

Lesson #6: Begin Advocacy and

Transfer of Ownership Early

Nobody likes scaling somebody else’s idea. The

chances of taking a pilot to scale are substantially

increased by establishing an advisory board or

some other mechanism for early engagement by

key decision makers and future implementers.

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Lesson #7: The Devil is in the Details

The transition onto large, sustainable platforms

requires countless adjustments and

accommodations, many of which are not initially

apparent.

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Scaling-Up Youth Workforce and

Enterprise Development Projects

• Multiple stakeholders; no central coordinator

• Most interventions begin without a scaling strategy --

modest scale, outside of government, and subsidized

• Need to reflect market realities

• Importance of youth voices and perspectives

• Lack of intermediaries

Mainstreaming Scaling Up in Funders

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• New roles and partnerships;

• Better design, evaluation, and use of pilot projects;

• New guidelines and instruments for assessing scalability

and for supporting the scaling up process;

• Financial and technical support for Intermediary

Organizations.

Scale –up Process. Key learnings Model documentation and simplification:

– Understanding the organizational, technical and process aspects was key to simplify the model and focus on its innovation:

• Youth Saving Groups (YSGs)

• Enterprise Your Life training (EYL)

– Documentation of the model is critical:

• A clear process guide for the YSGs and the EYL was key for the Scaling Up process

• A revised EYL manual in Arabic was important to simplify the language and make it youth and cultural friendly.

Evaluation & Evidence: – The self-assessment process

– External market research and evaluation by the American University of Cairo

Buy-in and support by key stakeholders at the regional, the governorate and the national levels will be key for the scaling up success

Defining the dimension of the “scale” is a complex process (starting with the end results)

Local partners’ capacity is an important factor for scaling up the simplified model

Tabletop Conversations

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• Each person identifies an intervention (i.e., project, policy or effort)

that he or she knows well and thinks might have potential to be

scaled-up.

• Pick a partner at your table, and – using the 3 highlighted questions

in Handout #1 as a guide -- describe to him/her the intervention and

your thoughts about scaling it up. (5 minutes)

• Switch roles and let your partner describe his or her intervention and

thoughts about scaling it. (5 minutes)

• Pair-Share Discussion: Select one of the two interventions and

reflect together on what could be done to facilitate the scaling up

process given what you learned from today’s discussions. (10

minutes)

Pair Share (20 minutes)

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• One person at each table volunteers to be facilitator.

• The facilitator invites participants to share their views with the whole

table about the scalability of the interventions they discussed. (20

minutes)

• The facilitator asks participants to individually review the Scalability

Assessment Checklist (Handout #2). (5 minutes)

• Using the Checklist of 28 items as a Guide, try to reach agreement as

a group on 2 or 3 major challenges that often affect scaling up of youth

workforce and enterprise programs and ideas for overcoming those

challenges. (25 minutes)

Tabletop Discussion (50 minutes)

Plenary Discussion

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• How many of you are working with a program or approach that you

think has the potential to be scaled up?

• Did you find it useful to discuss scaling approaches with each other?

• Did anyone have an insight about scaling that they would like to

share?