Handout during ICT4D Learning workshop

1. 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.
Capability to
adapt and
self-renew
Capability to relate and to
Capability to carry out
attract resources
technical, service delivery
and support
and logistical tasks
Capacity
Capability to commit
and engage Capability to
balance diversity
and coherence

2. The capability to adapt and self-renew:
Capability to
adapt and
self-renew
Capability to relate and to
Capability to carry out
attract resources
technical, service delivery
and support
and logistical tasks
Capacity
Capability to commit
and engage Capability to
balance diversity
and coherence
An example from ……….
on the capability to adapt and self-renew:

3. 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.

4. The 5 Capabilities
Capability to
adapt and
self-renew
Capability to relate and to
Capability to carry out
attract resources
technical, service delivery
and support
and logistical tasks
Capacity
Capability to commit
and engage Capability to
balance diversity
and coherence
An example from ……….
on the capability to carry out technical, service
delivery and logistical tasks:

5. 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

6. The 5 Capabilities
Capability to
adapt and
self-renew
Capability to relate and to
Capability to carry out
attract resources
technical, service delivery
and support
and logistical tasks
Capacity
Capability to commit
and engage Capability to
balance diversity
and coherence
An example from ……….
on the capability to balance diversity and coherence:

7. 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.

8. The 5 Capabilities
Capability to
adapt and
self-renew
Capability to relate and to
Capability to carry out
attract resources
technical, service delivery
and support
and logistical tasks
Capacity
Capability to commit
and engage Capability to
balance diversity
and coherence
An example from ……….
on the capability to commit and engage:

9. 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.

10. The 5 Capabilities
Capability to
adapt and
self-renew
Capability to relate and to
Capability to carry out
attract resources
technical, service delivery
and support
and logistical tasks
Capacity
Capability to commit
and engage Capability to
balance diversity
and coherence
An example from ……….
on the capability to relate and to attract resources
and support:

11. 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.