Analytical and Adaptive Capacities in an International NGO58
The Asia Region of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) is based in Bangkok and operates in 23 countries. It has nine country programmes and seven technical programmes in fields including: biodiversity; environmental economics; forests; marine and coastal; protected areas; water and wetlands; and environmental law. It is, in practice, a trans-national organization with 445 staff members of which 82 per cent are located in country offices. Two of the key challenges for the IUCN Asia Region (AR) are the following:
• to be simultaneously decentralized and integrated, and
• to be able to respond to the rapid pace of events across the region.
Fast learning and adaptation are therefore essential for IUCN Asia Region’s effectiveness and even survival. As an organization IUCN has responded to this by making systematic efforts across the range of its operations to build these capacities. The leadership function is strong at the top of the structure but encourages the emergence of staff throughout the organization who can take initiatives and respond quickly. Staff at all levels are encouraged to develop new competencies. New ideas and reflection, including those that are disruptive or risky, are encouraged, and the space to express these is protected. The organizational structure is designed on a basis of team working and matrix management to encourage networking, connections, relationships and the flow of information. All staff, whatever their function or location, are encouraged to scan the horizon to get a sense of what is happening or what might happen.
The Asia Region also tries deliberately to destabilise itself from time to time to stimulate new patterns of action. As a result, it now seems to have entered into a ‘virtuous spiral’ – that is, cycles of effective capacity building, performance, client demand and organisational confidence which are mutually reinforcing and propel the organisation upwards and forwards. Three main insights from the AR experience are the following:
Main insights from the experience of IUCN in the Asia Region
1. Key capacities are not tacked or bolted on to the side of the organization. They are not technical functions that exist independently of the rest of the system. They are, in reality, emergent properties of the system or organization that come out of a series of complex interactions. Such capacities are an integral part of the organisation.
2. The IUCN Asia Region sees itself as a living human community as well as a performance achiever. It spends little time on formulating explicit strategies. But it consciously and continuously thinks about its own capacity and the best ways this can be proactively developed.
3. IUCN Asia Region does not rely heavily on founders for advice or technical assistance when it comes to capacity issues. It welcomes support and/or new approaches. But it sets its own course.
The Asia Region of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) is based in Bangkok and operates in 23 countries. It has nine country programmes and seven technical programmes in fields including: biodiversity; environmental economics; forests; marine and coastal; protected areas; water and wetlands; and environmental law. It is, in practice, a trans-national organization with 445 staff members of which 82 per cent are located in country offices. Two of the key challenges for the IUCN Asia Region (AR) are the following:
• to be simultaneously decentralized and integrated, and
• to be able to respond to the rapid pace of events across the region.
Fast learning and adaptation are therefore essential for IUCN Asia Region’s effectiveness and even survival. As an organization IUCN has responded to this by making systematic efforts across the range of its operations to build these capacities. The leadership function is strong at the top of the structure but encourages the emergence of staff throughout the organization who can take initiatives and respond quickly. Staff at all levels are encouraged to develop new competencies. New ideas and reflection, including those that are disruptive or risky, are encouraged, and the space to express these is protected. The organizational structure is designed on a basis of team working and matrix management to encourage networking, connections, relationships and the flow of information. All staff, whatever their function or location, are encouraged to scan the horizon to get a sense of what is happening or what might happen.
The Asia Region also tries deliberately to destabilise itself from time to time to stimulate new patterns of action. As a result, it now seems to have entered into a ‘virtuous spiral’ – that is, cycles of effective capacity building, performance, client demand and organisational confidence which are mutually reinforcing and propel the organisation upwards and forwards. Three main insights from the AR experience are the following:
Main insights from the experience of IUCN in the Asia Region
1. Key capacities are not tacked or bolted on to the side of the organization. They are not technical functions that exist independently of the rest of the system. They are, in reality, emergent properties of the system or organization that come out of a series of complex interactions. Such capacities are an integral part of the organisation.
2. The IUCN Asia Region sees itself as a living human community as well as a performance achiever. It spends little time on formulating explicit strategies. But it consciously and continuously thinks about its own capacity and the best ways this can be proactively developed.
3. IUCN Asia Region does not rely heavily on founders for advice or technical assistance when it comes to capacity issues. It welcomes support and/or new approaches. But it sets its own course.
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