Just published.

6 August 2009
by Arnaldo Pellini
Uncategorised

 

Here is the introduction and link to an article I just wrote with Eddie Borup on Management and change in Vietnam.

Available at Projects and Profits

Transition Management: The Key towards Achieving Results

Nothing in this world is as certain as change. At the same time, the search for a definition of `change’ has been taking place for a long time and is still unresolved. The Greek philosopher Aristotle, has said, “change is the actuality of the potential qua such.” This can be translated in a more modern language, as noted by Jonathan Barnes, “something is in the process of change whenever it possesses a capacity of change and it is exercising that capacity of change.”

Barnes argues that Aristotle struggled to provide a clearer definition. However, Aristotle’s attempt to come to terms with the idea of change also demonstrates the relevance of the concept for human activities. This difficulty has always been present during the 2,300 years, which separate us from Aristotle and even though the definition provided by Barnes seems more intelligible to us, change remains an elusive concept.

In this article, we look at `change’ in the area of transition management. We present the experience of introducing a Western management approach at the Vietnam Academy of Social Science (VASS). This is being done through a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) funded project: “Support for Effective Policy Making Through the Development of Scientific Evidence-Based Research” (EBPM). In doing so, our aim is to reflect on the process of cultural exchange as well as on the challenges that this exchange poses.

Development assistance has gone through considerable changes during the last 50 years. During the 1950s, the theories associated to John Maynard Keynes asserted the central role to the government in devising policies to promote demand and fight unemployment. These led to the design of centralized modernization strategies, aimed at achieving higher rates of economic growth. In the early 1960s, Hans Singer produced evidence that development did not achieve poverty reduction and pointed at individuals’ capacity to increase capital as a key element of economic development. His ideas led to the concept of `human capital’, which describes the crucial contribution of knowledge and schooling to economic growth. In the late 1980s, the return to a neo-liberal emphasis brought the market back on the development agenda, but by the 1990s, the `third way’ political discourse advocated a new role for the state, in designing institutions that are conducive to accelerated growth and socioeconomic development.

Plinius and (half-read) books

14 July 2009
by Arnaldo Pellini
Quote

images I remember collecting sign books for some years.  One day I got hold of one of the Italian publishing house Adelphi. Pink color, with just one sentence on it by, Gayus Plinius Secundus also known as Plinius the “Old”, born in 24 B.C. in Como. The rough English translation of Plinius sentence could be: ‘there is not such thing as a bad book where you cannot learn at least one thing’.  After that i bought good books as well as bad books. Books I could not stop reading and others where I felt it was like walking in a mires. I used not to give up on bad books, looking for the good thing Plinius mentioned centuries ago. Giving up was bad.

In recent years things have changed. I hardly finish a book anymore. Good or bad does not matter, I just rarely manage to get to the end of them. As I am typing this two exceptions come to my mind: The Magus which I could not stop reading and which was my book of 2008 and more recently The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwel. These are exception and no longer the rule. I just seem to jump from one book to another. Two weeks ago I was in Tanzania, bought Unbowed by Nobel Peace price winner, Wangari Maathai. It is the story of her life and how she established the Green Belt Movement in Kenya. I really like reading it while in Africa. He memories of childhood living in villages in the mountainous region of the country. her description of the changes that occurred with independence and the arrival of settlers and missionaries. I reached, I think, page 85 and then put it away as soon as I arrived home when my eyes caught The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. I ma at page 69, determined not to let go. But that is maybe a wrong resolution. It is in fact OK not to finish a book. Plinius lesson holds still valid as it does not matter how much of a book you read, you can still get things out of it. One sentence which is worth underlining, a quote, a thought, a description of a landscape which gives you the wish to travel, a feeling. It is probably true that the sum of all these  elements give the overall meaning of a book, but it may be ok  just to have glimpses of it.  Some books also need to be red in certain place and at a certain time. Wangari book was for the two weeks I spent in Tanzania (which were not sufficient to finish it). The Millenium trilogy by Stieg Larsson I had to finish while still living in the Swedish Camp in Ha Noi and really slep very little in the two three last days there to read what would happen to Lizbeth. The Black Swan is here next to me. Wanted  to read it tonight and then started to type this blog.

Taleb writes that the people who visit Umberto Eco house are really impressed by his 30.000 books. The visitors can be divided in two groups: the majority are the ones who ask how many books Eco has managed to red, and a minority who understand that the books are research tools and that maybe the most valuable  ones are those that have not been red yet. This may justify fact that it is ok not to finish a book. However I still feel a sense of guilt when I give up on a book. As if I missed the chance to discover all it has to say to me.

So what do you think? Should books be read form page 1 to the end or is it ok to capture bits and pieces here and there?

Plinius and (half red) books

14 July 2009
by Arnaldo Pellini
Uncategorised

I remember collecting sign books for some years.  One day I got hold of one of the Italian publishing house Adelphi. Pink color, with just one sentence on it by, Gayus Plinius Secundus also known as Plinius the “Old”, born in 24 B.C. in Como. The rough English translation of Plinius sentence could be: ‘there is not such thing as a bad book where you cannot learn at least one thing’.  After that i bought good books as well as bad books. Books I could not stop reading and others where I felt it was like walking in a mires. I used not to give up on bad books, looking for the good thing Plinius mentioned centuries ago. Giving up was bad.

In recent years things have changed. I hardly finish a book anymore. Good or bad does not matter, I just rarely manage to get to the end of them. As I am typing this two exceptions come to my mind: The Magus which I could not stop reading and which was my book of 2008 and more recently The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwel. These are exception and no longer the rule. I just seem to jump from one book to another. Two weeks ago I was in Tanzania, bought Unbowed by Nobel Peace price winner, Wangari Maathai. It is the story of her life and how she established the Green Belt Movement in Kenya. I really like reading it while in Africa. He memories of childhood living in villages in the mountainous region of the country. her description of the changes that occurred with independence and the arrival of settlers and missionaries. I reached, I think, page 85 and then put it away as soon as I arrived home when my eyes caught The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. I ma at page 69, determined not to let go. But that is maybe a wrong resolution. It is in fact OK not to finish a book. Plinius lesson holds still valid as it does not matter how much of a book you read, you can still get things out of it. One sentence which is worth underlining, a quote, a thought, a description of a landscape which gives you the wish to travel, a feeling. It is probably true that the sum of all these  elements give the overall meaning of a book, but it may be ok  just to have glimpses of it.  Some books also need to be red in certain place and at a certain time. Wangari book was for the two weeks I spent in Tanzania (which were not sufficient to finish it). The Millenium trilogy by Stieg Larsson I had to finish while still living in the Swedish Camp in Ha Noi and really slep very little in the two three last days there to read what would happen to Lizbeth. The Black Swan is here next to me. Wanted  to read it tonight and then started to type this blog.

Taleb writes that the people who visit Umberto Eco house are really impressed by his 30.000 books. The visitors can be divided in two groups: the majority are the ones who ask how many books Eco has managed to red, and a minority who understand that the books are research tools and that maybe the most valuable  ones are those that have not been red yet. This may justify fact that it is ok not to finish a book. However I still feel a sense of guilt when I give up on a book. As if I missed the chance to discover all it has to say to me.

So what do you think? Should books be read form page 1 to the end or is it ok to capture bits and pieces here and there?

Once in a while you come across ‘Once’

12 July 2009
by Arnaldo Pellini
Uncategorised

Only once in a while, while zapping an endless number of TV cable channels you come across a movie which is a little gem. Just once in a while. That is when time passes, you know that is getting late, that tomorrow morning will be an early wake up, but you do not care. It has happen tonight, here in Ha Noi, coming across ‘Once’ by Glen Carney. Had the same feelings I had when watching Trust of Hall Hartley many years ago. It seems to me that it tells once of those true stories of life when you just touch with your fingertips the soft fabric of a life that could have been. But then, you realise that what you have is what you want. There are videos of the songs of the movie by Glen Hansard here.

Zan – Zi – Bar

21 June 2009
by Arnaldo Pellini
Uncategorised

There are two Zanzibar. One is the idea of Zanzibar. The second is Zanzibar itself. This is often the case with travelling destinations but it is still interesting, I think, to compare the idea of a place with the place itself. Thus when I was on the ferry on Saturday morning from Dar es Salaam I was thinking about the books and stories I red in the past which told of kind of magical places: Samarkand, Isfahan, Kathmandu, and of course Zanzibar.

These are all places described by early travelers and traders. Reached in often adventurous circumstances. Places where cultures came together and often clashed. Places that have been on the early maps as reference points for sea travelers. Zanzibar, Zan – Zi – Bar. The sound of this name reminds me of that movie, Marrakesh Express or maybe Tourne’ where the two friends travel in this old car and remember the trip they did many years before to Kathmandu in this very same car. At one point, one of the two tells to the other: do you remember the noise that this car used to do? A strange noise that accompanied our journey. A rhythmical noise which we have never been able to fix but which sounded like: kath-man-du, kath-man-du, kath-man-du,…. The same here, although I am not on a car but on the sea: Zan-zi-bar, zan-zi-bar….

Zanzibar today is very different from the one of the books. Probably Zanzibar has never been like the one described in those books. This evening I was sitting on the terrace of the restaurant where I had dinner, looked at the people in the garden near the shore setting up their food stalls, hot pans, pizza table, bamboo juice machines. The first customers. Arab families, African families, tourists strolling at sunset and having dinner out. I looked at them and thought that not so long ago there was similar place in town. A market where people used to stroll around and buy slaves. A market where people were put on display to be sold to other people, who would buy them bring them to work in their homes or in their fields. A slave market of African people. That ended badly with an insurrection which cause thousands of deaths.

That is also Zanzibar or at least one of its many pasts. The old town with its narrow alley, white houses, wooden doors with carvings above them has a strong Arabic characters and resemble to Essaouira, Galle, Tangier. These old town which lie next to the sea and have seen passing through them people from distant places bringing spices in exchange for wood or cotton. Walking in this intricate labyrinth display renovated houses, other which are kept together by simple though insufficient wooden scaffolding. the smell fo garbage left in some corners mixes with sewage which spills out of some gully-holes. At the same time it is possible to detect in the air spices, incense which all mix together in a strangely attracting way.

SO how is it for people to live here? It looks like the weight fo all this history is really testing the solidity of the building in the old town and even though I can have glimpses of homes and courtyards through half open wooden doors I cannot see who these homes and houses are and how people live. I can only guess and I think it is not very good. there is too much do to here. Too much to fix. Too much to renovate and not enough money I guess. Outside the harbor a large sign reminds visitors that the old town of Zanzibar is a UNESCO world heritage site and I wonder how is it to live in a world heritage site which is falling down.

Again the memories of those old stories or reference to this town come to my mind and in a way help to keep distant the voice of the sellers who at every shop try to convince me to buy the same things: a painting, a masai carved figure, a wooden bowl, a CDrom, a pareo with the picture of Barack Obama printed on it. This happen at every shop along the main streets in the old town also called Stone Town. However by turning on the side of these main streets one can only hear the noise sandals, open windows which bring voices, a bicycle which goes too fast and nearly hits me, a radio from a shop selling a bit of everything. At six this evening the loudspeakers with the chanting calling for prayer. Lights into a small mosque. People standing up and kneeling following the rhythm of their prayer.

During the couple of days I spent here I had mixed feelings but also a bit a like a tourist again. I travel a lot for work and also live abroad but that is different. I guess it was the feeling that accompanied the decision to get on the ferry and come here. Find this hotel and just discover this new place with not much information than a simple map. It was a nice feeling and the sellers, the tourists guides, the students who just want to practice their English did not bother me too much. But I must admit that I often thought how would it be to be here with Olga and Venla and show to them these narrow streets where it is only possible to walk, these old houses which needs renovation as they are crumbling down, this mosque, the nearby madrasa. What would they say? Before leaving from Dumageute, Olga told me she wanted to come with me to Africa. She wanted to see the lions, the elephants, the hippos. I told her I would check how to do and where when pen day we will come here together. In the end, I came to Zanzibar where there are not many lions to be seen. But I think that she would have liked to walk this evening on the white sand beach , near the Africa House and watch that group of kids 8 or 10 years old practicing to become acrobats using a an old truck tire as jumping trampoline. So, maybe, next time we will be here all together.

90% humidity 35C scattered clouds

25 May 2009
by Arnaldo Pellini
Uncategorised

I arrive at the track and field track and am already sweating. The bicycle ride from home is just 10 minutes. The air seems cool at the sunset but is just an impression. As soon as you stop moving the sweat starts. I jump down. Pay the 10 Pesos offer at the entrance. Lock the bike. Fix my iPod Shuffle. Earplugs. Walk to the loop. For the first time in my life I find myself going jogging on areal 400m track and field loop in this small stadium in Dumaguete. And I am not alone. The opening times for this track to the public are 04:30am to 09:00am and from 04:00pm to 07:00pm. I did not tired yet the 4:30 in the morning and I am not sure I ever will. But I like to arrive here in the late afternoon before the quick sunset of the tropics sets in. The has a warmer tone but the sun is not so hot anymore.  People come here stretch, to walk, jog, and practice. All walk anticlockwise with the slower on the outer lanes and the runner in the inner lanes. The impression is that people seem to talk at a lower tone or in whispers when walking next to each other. But it is just an impression. the place is quite open, there are no high building around the stadium. The breeze at times form the sea and at times form the nearby mountains carries the words away.

I stretch a little bit the legs which are already quite warm for the bicycle ride. Then stand up and start to walk with the flow. Select ‘Message in a Bottle’ and start to run at an easy pace in lane 5. I have not been running for some time. First I have been in Ha Noi alone while Katja was already here in the Philippines. The moving here. Looking for a house. The school. The work. A lot going on the last couple of months.

I reach the second turn and feel good. The knees are doing fine and Sting is singing in alive version of So Lonely. Somebody in lane 2 is doing 200m series. The recovers for 200m then again a sprint for 200m. I am tempted but better to leave it for in a month or so, depending how I can keep up with running between the trips for the work. The sun is setting behind the mountains its rays are spreading all over the blue sky. How strange to be here. Running on this track in a town that 6 months ago we never heard of. In the last few days I have felt more a sense of routine and normality. The fact that we now get our Guardian Weekly has of course helped. We are connected again!

Keep up my pace. Will do 14 loops today. Listening music. Breathing clean air. With the company of unknown fellow runners. The night will come quickly but for the time being we are ok. It is 90% humidity, 35C, and scattered clouds which are turning form white to orange hide the top of the vulcano which towers over the mountain range behind Dumaguete.

On working remotely

20 April 2009
by Arnaldo Pellini
Journal and Diary

Here is my contribution on working remotely in the last issue of ODEye, the internal newsletter of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI)

Far away, but still so close (with a little help from IT and PRINCE2)

The Wim Wenders movie Der Himmel über Berlin is– the story of two angels who comfort mortals, but cannot be seen by them. Images from that movie came to mind when I was asked to contribute to ODEye and share thoughts on my work in RAPID and on the fact that I live overseas with my family, in Ha Noi for the last two years and soon in the Philippines. In one sequence, angels wander among the readers in a library, ‘hearing’ the minds of the people reading, but unable to speak to them or be seen. They are very close, but also very far away. I find it similar to my work with RAPID: I am a long way from my colleagues (seven hours ahead of GMT and 9.600 km from London), but feel quite close to them, thanks to the communication possibilities provided by our IT system, and the management processes that we are developing.

I joined RAPID in June 2008 after working with UNDP in Ha Noi , researching the 20 years of the Doi Moi reform. Before that, I had finalised my PhD and worked on civil society and local governance issues in GTZ projects in rural Cambodia. During my first six months at ODI, there have been two possible destinations for my relocation: Europe and Asia. The first never materialised because of the difficulties in finding relevant employment opportunities for my wife, Katja, who has now found a position in the Philippines. So I will manage my work for RAPID from there. One point from RAPID’s five year strategy grabbed my attention in summer 2008: the medium term goal of having RAPID staff relocated or seconded in the South and have staff from Southern institutes working in London I interpret ODI’s acceptance of my life overseas as a step towards that goal.

I am managing two main projects. First, a three year project funded by UNDP, providing support to evidence based policy development at the Vietnam Academy of Social Science (VASS). I am also facilitating the attempt to establish a South East Asia evidence-based policy in development network (ebpdn), as well as providing support to the existing South Asia network.

In my opinion, two elements are required to close the distance between Asia and London and allow good communication between myself and the team as well as the smooth running of projects where team members are based in different parts of the world.

First, a good IT infrastructure. Despite the effort required to learn to use and tailor SharePoint, I think it is a very useful tools. It always amazes me being, as I am now, at the Highland Coffee bar in Ha Noi typing these words, and being able to access my emails, upload and share files in the server in London. It is because of our IT infrastructure that, for example, I have been able to work with RAPID colleagues to coordinate a three day training session at ODI in London for economists from the Middle East and North Africa. In doing so, I have been able to exchange documents to describe roles, tasks and deadlines, discuss them through Messenger and organise Skype calls that often take place late in the evening for me, but reduces the number of short messages and emails back and forth.

Second, a structured management system that defines roles and responsibilities for project governance. I have been working with PRINCE2 for the last two years with UNDP, based on two main principles: product-based planning and regular reviews of project performance and product delivery. All UNDP staff must complete an official test and become certified in PRINCE2.

I remember looking at the boxes, arrows and lists in the manual and thinking: ‘Oh no, more bureaucracy!’, but my experience with PRINCE2 is now proving useful in my work with RAPID. For example, every week I prepare a highlight report for John Young, my Director and line manager, with a bullet list of the week’s activities and any comments or concerns. Every fortnight, I speak to John on Skype, using this report as an agenda. Another example concerns the governance of projects that involve a number of team members, as in my work with VASS. I have prepared a plan based on deliverables and products for the three years with inputs by team members so that they can plan ahead for missions to Ha Noi or home-based work. I have divided the project into six main activities and am preparing work packages for each to describe background, objective, products to be delivered (e.g. working paper or a training), and roles of team members. The aim is a standard approach to help all team members stay up to date with the project progress, and allow them to take up management responsibilities without too much effort.

None of this would be possible without ODI’s understanding of my family situation. I am close to my family and able to foster closer cooperation with partners in the region, reducing the time and cost of travel. However, I cannot access all the learning opportunities provided by ODI and I have fewer opportunities to get to know colleagues from other research groups. Nonetheless, I hope that the benefits of this experiment will outweigh the costs and that my colleagues will feel, with a bit of help from IT and PRINCE2, that I am even closer than an angel in a library.

On working remotely

20 April 2009
by Arnaldo Pellini
Uncategorised

 

Here is my contribution on working remotely in the last issue of ODEye, the internal newsletter of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI)

Far away, but still so close (with a little help from IT and PRINCE2)

The Wim Wenders movie Der Himmel über Berlin is– the story of two angels who comfort mortals, but cannot be seen by them. Images from that movie came to mind when I was asked to contribute to ODEye and share thoughts on my work in RAPID and on the fact that I live overseas with my family, in Ha Noi for the last two years and soon in the Philippines. In one sequence, angels wander among the readers in a library, ‘hearing’ the minds of the people reading, but unable to speak to them or be seen. They are very close, but also very far away. I find it similar to my work with RAPID: I am a long way from my colleagues (seven hours ahead of GMT and 9.600 km from London), but feel quite close to them, thanks to the communication possibilities provided by our IT system, and the management processes that we are developing.

I joined RAPID in June 2008 after working with UNDP in Ha Noi , researching the 20 years of the Doi Moi reform. Before that, I had finalised my PhD and worked on civil society and local governance issues in GTZ projects in rural Cambodia. During my first six months at ODI, there have been two possible destinations for my relocation: Europe and Asia. The first never materialised because of the difficulties in finding relevant employment opportunities for my wife, Katja, who has now found a position in the Philippines. So I will manage my work for RAPID from there. One point from RAPID’s five year strategy grabbed my attention in summer 2008: the medium term goal of having RAPID staff relocated or seconded in the South and have staff from Southern institutes working in London I interpret ODI’s acceptance of my life overseas as a step towards that goal.

I am managing two main projects. First, a three year project funded by UNDP, providing support to evidence based policy development at the Vietnam Academy of Social Science (VASS). I am also facilitating the attempt to establish a South East Asia evidence-based policy in development network (ebpdn), as well as providing support to the existing South Asia network.

In my opinion, two elements are required to close the distance between Asia and London and allow good communication between myself and the team as well as the smooth running of projects where team members are based in different parts of the world.

First, a good IT infrastructure. Despite the effort required to learn to use and tailor SharePoint, I think it is a very useful tools. It always amazes me being, as I am now, at the Highland Coffee bar in Ha Noi typing these words, and being able to access my emails, upload and share files in the server in London. It is because of our IT infrastructure that, for example, I have been able to work with RAPID colleagues to coordinate a three day training session at ODI in London for economists from the Middle East and North Africa. In doing so, I have been able to exchange documents to describe roles, tasks and deadlines, discuss them through Messenger and organise Skype calls that often take place late in the evening for me, but reduces the number of short messages and emails back and forth.

Second, a structured management system that defines roles and responsibilities for project governance. I have been working with PRINCE2 for the last two years with UNDP, based on two main principles: product-based planning and regular reviews of project performance and product delivery. All UNDP staff must complete an official test and become certified in PRINCE2.

I remember looking at the boxes, arrows and lists in the manual and thinking: ‘Oh no, more bureaucracy!’, but my experience with PRINCE2 is now proving useful in my work with RAPID. For example, every week I prepare a highlight report for John Young, my Director and line manager, with a bullet list of the week’s activities and any comments or concerns. Every fortnight, I speak to John on Skype, using this report as an agenda. Another example concerns the governance of projects that involve a number of team members, as in my work with VASS. I have prepared a plan based on deliverables and products for the three years with inputs by team members so that they can plan ahead for missions to Ha Noi or home-based work. I have divided the project into six main activities and am preparing work packages for each to describe background, objective, products to be delivered (e.g. working paper or a training), and roles of team members. The aim is a standard approach to help all team members stay up to date with the project progress, and allow them to take up management responsibilities without too much effort.

None of this would be possible without ODI’s understanding of my family situation. I am close to my family and able to foster closer cooperation with partners in the region, reducing the time and cost of travel. However, I cannot access all the learning opportunities provided by ODI and I have fewer opportunities to get to know colleagues from other research groups. Nonetheless, I hope that the benefits of this experiment will outweigh the costs and that my colleagues will feel, with a bit of help from IT and PRINCE2, that I am even closer than an angel in a library.