Latest thinking from Keystone
DAVID BONBRIGHT is one of our key accountability advisors. His company, Keystone, has published a raft of guidance on how charities (and other organizations) should behave if they are to be truly accountable. It has a lot to recommend it.
Last week, Marijke and I met with him to discuss our current thinking. We touched on many points. But the key insight from my perspective was the primacy of theories of change. According to Bonbright, true accountability is demonstrated when an organization is properly loyal to its theory of change. Ensuring that this theory is at the heart of decision-making at all levels implies that an organization will balance its stakeholders' opinions in an effective way, and will perform to the best of its abilities.
I find this a remarkably persuasive argument. But I am concerned about how it works out in practice. Keystone's work has a tendency to be written from an a priori perspective - and evidence of acountability delivering improved effectiveness is, so far as I know, thin on the ground.
Last week, Marijke and I met with him to discuss our current thinking. We touched on many points. But the key insight from my perspective was the primacy of theories of change. According to Bonbright, true accountability is demonstrated when an organization is properly loyal to its theory of change. Ensuring that this theory is at the heart of decision-making at all levels implies that an organization will balance its stakeholders' opinions in an effective way, and will perform to the best of its abilities.
I find this a remarkably persuasive argument. But I am concerned about how it works out in practice. Keystone's work has a tendency to be written from an a priori perspective - and evidence of acountability delivering improved effectiveness is, so far as I know, thin on the ground.
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