Another way of working


Another way of working

A true 100-Day Challenge story

Watch a 100-Day Challenge true story where the obstacles in the cartoons were neutralised. The story is in two parts, and after each part, you will see a series of screenshots of the video. These will conjure up parts of the story for you.

After each screenshot, you will be presented with three statements. Pick the statement that you think describes a unique feature of 100-Day Challenges.

Watch Part 1 of the video

Pick the one statement that describes a unique feature of the 100-Day Challenges you saw in the story.

Inclusive decision making: everyone has a voice/vote

In 100-Day Challenges, collective ownership trumps expertise and brilliant analysis. And when people feel they had a voice in the decision, they are more likely to own it!

Decisions based on deep analysis of the problem

Not this one - In 100-Day Challenges, collective ownership trumps expertise and brilliant analysis. And when people feel they had a voice in the decision, they are more likely to own it!

Decisive leadership

Not this one - In 100-Day Challenges, collective ownership trumps expertise and brilliant analysis. And when people feel they had a voice in the decision, they are more likely to own it!

Watch Part 2 of the video

Pick the one unique feature of the 100-Day Challenges for each image from the story.

Just to keep you on your toes, one (and only one) of the screenshots will have two of three statements representing unique features of 100-Day Challenges!

Selecting a team of front-line people and people with lived experience

You've got it - In 100-Day Challenges, the ones designing the solutions need to be the ones implementing them. And it turns out anyway that those on the front lines (the implementers) know much more about the problems - and the solutions - than people higher up in the organisational hierarchies.

Asking people to volunteer on the team

Risky choice - It would be good to ask for people to volunteer on the team, but this is risky as we want the right people, at the right levels, on the team.

Selecting a team of at least 20 people, to make sure every stakeholder group is represented

A team larger than 12 people becomes really hard to self-manage.

Providing monetary incentives to teams that achieve their 100-Day goal

It is risky to provide monetary incentives to 100-Day team members. It sets a precedent and becomes an expectation of future teams that is not sustainable. This needs to be addressed if the compensation system is not fair or equitable. But monetarily rewarding achievements of 100-Day teams is not the way to do this.

Giving visibility to the team to brag about its achievements

Giving the team “bragging rights” over the results they achieved is critical. It reinforces ownership, and it sends an important message to future 100-Day Challenge teams.

Making sure there is a rigorous M&E system to analyze the impact of team activities on the outcomes achieved

Most 100-Day Challenges deal with complex issues. Establishing a causal link between specific actions and outcomes is largely unhelpful,and not worth the effort. However, helping the team establish a simple system to track progress against its goal is critical. This way the team will know if the things they are doing is having a positive impact or not.

Leaders providing their feedback on the accomplishments and the lessons learned

If they are interested in creating a culture of performance and learning, the last thing leaders should do is take credit for the team's accomplishments!

Making sure leaders take the credit

If they are interested in creating a culture of performance and learning, the last thing leaders should do is to take credit for the accomplishments of the team!

Leading with confident humility - acknowledging the contributions of the team

In public settings, it is important that leaders signal to the team and to the audience that they are leading from a place of humility and confidence in the team’s wisdom, versus trying to ‘set the team straight’, or to show how smart they (the leaders) are.

Agreeing to a realistic and time bound goal - a SMART goal

In 100-Day Challenges, we encourage teams to go beyond SMART goals.

Making sure the goal is measurable

The Measurable M is good. But this is not enough.

Committing to an unreasonable but believable goal

Instead of the Realistic R, we ask them to go for the UNreasonable. If the team truly believes that they can achieve an unreasonably ambitious goal, this is the impetus for them to innovate, to try new ways of working, and to move quickly into action and experimentation. Even of the goal is not achieved, this will “shock the system” out of the groove and habits it may be in… Which is what we’d like to see happen in 100-Day Challenges.

Creating a monitoring system to meet donor requirements

Too often, performance data is used to report to donors and/or to senior management. It becomes a tool for compliance and evaluation imposed by ‘outsiders’ on the teams.

Using progress data to report to sponsors on weekly calls

Too often, performance data is used to report to donors and/or to senior management. It becomes a tool for compliance and evaluation imposed by ‘outsiders’ on the teams.

Team using performance data as a compass during the 100 days

100-Day Challenges, teams are intrinsically motivated. They set their own goals. And so the primary use of performance data is for them to know how they are doing and to adjust course, not for someone else to manage them.

Disciplined implementation: weekly team meetings

Having weekly team meetings ensures that the team has a management cadence that enables them to execute with discipline. And it helps them identify opportunities for collaboration.

Making sure there is consensus on all team decisions

Team decisions cannot all be consensus based. In fact, rarely do team decisions require consensus. As long as everyone feels that their point of view is heard, team decisions are generally taken by majority vote, or by the team member in charge of a particular work stream after consulting with those affected by the decision.

Collaborating intensely during the 100 days

There are two choices that are both right here. Bingo!

Rapid experimentation & innovation

One thing that enables teams to succeed is a culture of experimentation - where it is OK to try things even if they do not work. And the 100-day deadline forces the team to try many things and to do this quickly.

Making sure there are permissions from leaders before acting

Being hampered by permissions and approvals is the last thing a 100-Day Challenge team needs.

Solving the easy things - picking low hanging fruit

Some people immediately think “let’s pick the low hanging fruit” when they hear 100-Day projects. We prefer that leaders and teams focus on the toughest issues that can only be tackled with intense collaboration and rapid innovation. 100-Day Challenges are designed to tackle the toughest issues. Let’s take full advantage of this.

Doing more and more 100-Day Challenges

It is often the case that 100-Day Challenges beget additional 100-Day Challenges. But this is not always the case.

Creating clear boundaries between groups

Boundaries between groups is a useful concept. But it is not particularly relevant for 100-Day Challenges.

Using the power of peers

One thing we have seen in 100-Day Challenges is that a sense of camaraderie and friendly competition is a powerful motivator for groups. So we try and create peer groups wherever we can: multiple teams launched at the same time, with visibility to each other; team leaders meeting every 2 weeks during the 100 days; and so on. One team pulling ahead often pulls all others along...
Back to

Thought starter reflection questions

Jot down thoughts on these questions – to the extent they are relevant to your experience at the session:
  • When did the mood in the event shift from “why are we here?” to “this could be interesting – I am excited to be part of this.” What triggered this shift? 
  • When did you have to go “off script” on the agenda or to change the agenda? What triggered this? What did you adjust? How did it go?
  • What was most surprising to you at the event?
  • What new insights did you gain about the issue at hand, and about the way leaders in the system interacted with each other?
  • Where did the conversation get stuck? What got it unstuck?
  • How would you characterise the level of trust among participants in the meeting? To what extent did this shift as the meeting progressed? To what do you attribute this shift, if indeed it happened?

Thought starter...

Reflection Questions 

Jot down thoughts on these questions – to the extent they are relevant to your experience at the session:

  • When did the mood in the event shift from “why are we here?” to “this could be interesting – I am excited to be part of this.” What triggered this shift? 
  • When did you have to go “off script” on the agenda or to change the agenda? What triggered this? What did you adjust? How did it go?
  • What was most surprising to you at the event?
  • What new insights did you gain about the issue at hand, and about the way leaders in the system interacted with each other?
  • Where did the conversation get stuck? What got it unstuck?
These are 100-Day Challenge Mentors. 

They did some work before you received the Challenge Note. This included:

  • Writing the Challenge Note, and making sure that the leaders of all the organisations represented on the team are comfortable with it – and committed to supporting the work of the team
  • Helping the leaders of these organisation recruit you and your colleagues to the team
  • Gathering some baseline data and other information that will help you and your teammates set your 100-Day goal and develop your plan.
  • Making sure all the preparations are made for a successful Lift-Off workshop, when you and your teammates will meet and get your 100-Day Challenge started. This includes venue, facilitation support, food, swags, comms, travel arrangements and whatever else is needed.

 

Mentors will participate in all or part of the Lift-Off Workshop, mostly at the start to provide context and answer questions, and at the end to give you and your teammates feedback about the goal and plan you develop.

During the 100 days following the Lift-Off Workshop, here’s what the Mentors will do:  

  • They will check in every two weeks with the team leaders to see how the team is doing and what support they and the team need.
  • They will keep other organisational leaders informed and engaged during the 100 days, and pull them in to help as needed.
  • They will participate in the last part of the Refuelling Workshop, halfway through the 100 days, to see what additional support the team needs, and to begin to plan with the team for sustainability and scale-up.
  • They will work with the team at the Sustainability Workshop to finalise recommendations on sustaining the results and building on the work of the team.