DESTA conducted a systems convening at the Dialogues on Development Management organised by the Indian School of Development Management (ISDM) in New Delhi, where different philanthropies and nonprofits came together to consider why certain systemic problems persist despite their best efforts to solve them. The convening highlighted concerns about an overemphasis on measurable results; a preference for short-term, tangible outputs over long-term outcomes; and an imbalanced funding landscape leading to overinvestments in specific issues. The convening helped participants self-reflect on their institutional policies, behavioural aspects, and belief systems that are contributing to the problems they are trying to solve. The need for listening to, trusting, and co-creating solutions with people whose opinions might be different from ours, were some of the major takeaways. Read the full report here.
