Adaptive management is driving change at USAID: since 2017, USAID’s foundational policy, ADS 201, has mandated that “USAID must be able to readily adapt programs in response to changes in context and new information.” However, the primary intended audience for most of USAID’s guidance on adaptive management is missions, not partners. Where can partners turn for directions? Based on more than 24 years of combined experience supporting USAID and international development partners, we present a 4-point path based on Buckley et al.’s (2015) definition of Evaluative Thinking (ET): 1) identify assumptions, 2) pose thoughtful questions, 3) pursue deeper understanding through reflection and perspective making, and 4) inform decisions in preparation for action.
These waypoints can help implementing partners articulate a process for adaptive management, leverage reporting requirements to document adaptation, and demonstrate a capability to feed into program decisions at USAID. Following Buckley et al.’s advice that ET “should infuse all of an organization’s work processes,” we provide examples showing how teams and organizations alike can build adaptive management processes using this framework.