MILLENIUM INDIA EDUCATION FOUNDATION

13 Community Centre, East of Kailash, New Delhi-110065,India

Phone : (+91) 9810301261, (+91)- 11-26472557 Fax : (+91) 11-26419491 Email : info@mief.in
Namo Namah

rad Mission
The revival and efflorescence of the rad script,
an abugida writing system of the Brahmic family of scripts,
developed around the 8th century. She was used for writing Sanskrit and Kashmiri.
rad is the swarupa of Shakti ingressed in Saraswati, the goddess of learning.

Proposal for transformation

from project to Mission Mode Project
DEVELOPING MISSION STRUCTURE AND PROCESS USING THE

CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT RESULTS FRAMEWORK

Identification
and Needs
Assessment

Program
Design

Implementation
and Monitoring

Completion and
Assessment

1.

4.

8.

10.

Validate the overall

mission goals

Specify objectives of
prgram in terms of
capacity indicators
targeted for change

Monitor learning
outcomes, adjust
program as
necessary.
Return to steps 4
and 5

Assess
achievement
and learning
outcomes and
targeted
changes on
capacity
indicators.
Specify follow
up actions

5.
2.
Assess the capacity
factors relevant to
the Mission Goals

3.
Decide which
changes in capacity
factors can be
facilitated by
learning

Identify agents of
change and envision
change process

6
Set intended
learning outcomes
and their
indicators

7.
Design capacity
development
activities

9.
Monitor targeted
capacity factors
and progress
toward the
development goal.
Adjust program as
necessary.
Return to steps 4
and 5

12 Nov, 2014, Version 1 (Pre CDRF Workshop)

compiled for participants by: Sanjay Doctor | Dera Kabira Research Unit
131 Silver Beach, Suryavanshi Hall, Off Savarkar Marg, MUMBAI 400028. INDIA. Email: sanjay.doctor@gmail.com

MIEF

| rad Mission

| CDRF Workshop: transforming from project to Mission Mode Project

PREMISE
The rad project of Millennium India Education Foundation (MIEF) commenced in
late 2012 and has been gained momentum with Agreements of Coperation signed with the
Special Centre of Sankrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and Dept. of
Sanskrit, Mumbai University. Also a core team of resource people are contributing to the
main activity of the project as of date to train a cadre of transliterators who are literate in
the rad script. Till date, 4 training workshops have been held at New Delhi and Mumbai
for about 275 participants.
The emergent ecology for the project shows that it will grow into a larger and more
complex network provided that its need for resources financial, human and
infrastructural are anticipated and satisfied. The initiative has the potential to become a
major historical research and cultural renaissance for the revival and efflorescence of the
rad civilisation.
THE CONSULT
It is observed that the project has been invested with a high degree of emotional
energy based on the identification of the rad script and culture with the ethnicity of
Kashmiri Pandits. This has and continues to serve the purpose of providing the impetus
required to drive the project onwards. However the following developments require a
change in strategy:
Moving from founders to stakeholders: The project has attracted many stakeholders
with their expectations that require to be met
Complexity: The network has become complex and requires a structure that can
sustain the inter project collaboration
Academic focus: The shift is towards retaining and attracting acaemic partnerships
and carrying out result oriented work
Global footprint: Building credibility for the project at regional, national and
international levels with public and private institutions for cooperation and
resource mobilisation.
Supra goal: Creating a springboard for moving from rad script literacy to the
larger objective of the rad cultural renaissance.
It is proposed that the project transform itself to a Mission Mode Project (MMP).
This approach has been tested in many development projects and provides a structure that
can sustain future growth. The Government of India has also adopted this method and
converted priority projects to the MMP and met with considerable success in the Sarva
Shikshan Abhiyan, NREGA, etc.
The defining attributes of a Mission approach is detailed planning, design of
interventions with defining indicators for meeting a result-based outcome which is
measurable and have a time-bound phased rollout. Continuous monitoring of the targets is
integral component to bring transparency and re-design indicators and interventions as
the implementation is underway.

sanjay.doctor@gmail.com

12/11/14

MIEF

| rad Mission

| CDRF Workshop: transforming from project to Mission Mode Project

The Competency Development Result Framework (CDRF)
The rad initiative is about developing human competencies. These are of 3 kinds
that constitutes the integral being: the cognitive, affective and the psycho-motor domains.
More simply put, these connect to the thinking, feeling and doing faculties present in us.
The variant of a result frame is the CDRF. Developed specifically for developmental
projects that work with human competencies, it offers the following advantages:
7 uses for the Capacity Development Results Framework
1.
2.
3.
4.

To guide capacity needs assessments and identify capacity constraints

To engage stakeholders in the entire program cycle and ensure local ownership
To define capacity development strategies to apply at community, regional, or country levels
To build indicators into program design to track progress and, when necessary, adjust program
for improved adaptive management
5. To assess program results achieved, as well as results-orientation of program design and actual
implementation
6. To communicate meaningful results to diverse stakeholders, other practitioners, and donors
7. To compare programs and determine what does and does not work to advance practice

Previewing this document will show that there are 4 critical stages with a total of 10
steps that must be systematically and thoroughly followed. This is the difference between a
personal dream and a shared vision. It is the difference between exclusive and inclusive. A
random scrutiny of any of the questions will show that it will unlock so many deeper layers
that are implicit in the mind of the project team but has not been made explicit.
The CDRF Workshop
The successful completion of the CDRF log frame requires a diverse set of
representative stakeholders, a collaborative environment and sufficient investment of time.
The plan unfolds, it evolves and always delights because of group unconscious processes
that are at play and the power of group-think.
Ideally, a few days of an off-site could lead to the formulation of the plan. Practically,
it can be broken up into several local sessions that cover each of the 10 steps as per time
availibility of the participants..
Then the draft logframe would be circulated to absentia members of the think-tank
and to the regional centres and stakeholders who cannot attend the CDRF workshop. Their
reponses would then be considered and a final CDRF report would be prepared.
To save time and allow for sufficient homework, this document provides the
theoretical inputs so that participants arrive with some work done and can share and
collaborate with others.
The role of the workshop facilitator is to (1) create a learning Matrix that allows for
growth and regeneration of ideas (2) hold the 6 boundaries of time, place, task, technology,
sentience and understanding on behalf of the participants (3) to prepare a workshop draft
report that covers the documentation of the CDRF workshop (4) to facilitate the feedback
session to incorporate the feedback and (5) collate the final CDRFplan.

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12/11/14

MIEF

| rad Mission

| CDRF Workshop: transforming from project to Mission Mode Project

QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED AT EACH STEP

1.

What are the perspectives of the stakeholders (donors, partners and

learners)?
1.1.

What is the mission goal of the potential capacity development

program?

Validate
overall
Mission
Goals

1.2.

A
Identification
and Needs
Assessment

How is progress with the mission goal observed and

measured?

2.

What other efforts or activities are ongoing or planned related to the

mission?

3.

4.

What are other stakeholders currently doing? What are other

stakeholders planning for the future?
What does existing analysis say about capacity constraints to and
opportunities for achievement of the development goal?
4.1. What does the situation look like now in terms of capacity
factorsconduciveness of the sociopolitical environment,

Assess the
capacity
Factors
relevant to the
Mission Goals

efficiency of the policy instruments, and effectiveness of the

organizational arrangements? How can these capacity factors be
defined in terms of capacity indicators? Which of the capacity
indicators are particularly critical for achievement of the
development goal?
5.

How would an impartial observer know what is the current situation

with respect to the capacity factors? How has this been documented?
5.1.

What needs to happen to enable achievement of the overall

development goal?

5.2.

Does it involve changes in the capacity factors?

5.3.

What are the specific indicators of the capacity factors that

need to change?

5.4.

Does the existent data provide adequate information for

assessing these capacity indicators?

6.

Who is/are interested and involved in the success of this achievement

or improvement? (clients, partners, recipients, etc.)

7.

Which required capacity indicators are to be changed through learning,

and how?
7.1.

How does the team envision that learning could lead to changes
in these capacity indicators? (If possible, cite the examples,

Decide which
changes in
capacity factors
can be
facilitated by
learning

observations, or analyses that support the hypothesis or vision

of how the change in capacity indicators would take place.)
7.2.

How were the targeted capacity indicators selected?

7.3.

If other stakeholders are working in this area, how will the team
integrate its capacity-development efforts with their work?

7.4.

Are there important deficiencies in capacity indicators that are

not being addressed by the capacity development program?

8. Who will be responsible for those changes in capacity indicators that

need to be made to achieve the development goal but that are not
targeted by the capacity development program? How will the progress
on these capacity indicators be monitored? What are the risks for the
capacity development program if the changes in these other capacity
indicators are not achieved?

sanjay.doctor@gmail.com

12/11/14

MIEF

| rad Mission

| CDRF Workshop: transforming from project to Mission Mode Project

4
Specify
objectives of
program in
terms of
capacity
indicators
targeted for
change

Specification of the objectives of a capacity development program in

terms of capacity indicators targeted for change

A well-specified program development objective:

Describes the effects that the changes in the targeted capacity factors
are envisioned to have on the beneficiary individuals, organization, or
community.
Is measurable.
Is attainable through learning outcomes.
Is set so that the agents of change can influence its achievement.
Establishes the strategic positioning of the capacity development
program in relation to the broader development goals.
Describes the indicators to be used to measure achievement

Program
Design

The capacity development objective provides the basis for a logical flow
that connects the objective to (a) the particular capacity factor indicator(s)
to be improved, (b) a determination of the appropriate methodological
approach for learning, and (c) the capacity development activities to be
designed. A well- specified capacity development objective is measurable,
tightly connected to the program logic, and reasonably attainable through
capacity development interventions. The definition should include the
indicators to be used in measuring achievement. The capacity development
objective should be defined so that the agents of change agree that they
can influence its achievement.

9.

How will the team specify the program or project development

objectives in terms of capacity indicators to be changed?

10. With whom will the team partner (if needed)? How will the
responsibilities be shared?
11. How would an impartial observer know when progress occurs, or
when the targeted state of the capacity indicators has been reached?
How does the team plan to document it? What are the indicators?
What measures will the team use for these indicators? What values of
those measures will the team choose as baselines?
12. What is the program trying to achieve?
13. How does the team measure what it is achieving?
13.1. What types of indicators or measures already exist?
13.2. What indicators or measures will the team develop?
13.3. What is the current value of the chosen measures?
13.4. What target values of the measures will the team use?
14. Where do specific interventions need to happen? (The question where
can apply to a physical location or to a specific part of an organization,
a sector within society, etc.)
15. What is the outlook for complementary factors (that is, the factors
external to the capacity development program) that would influence
the likelihood of achieving the transformation envisioned through the
capacity development program?
16. When would the team expect to see changes in the capacity
indicators that could result from the capacity-development program?

sanjay.doctor@gmail.com

12/11/14

MIEF

| rad Mission

| CDRF Workshop: transforming from project to Mission Mode Project

5
Identify
agents of
change and
envision
change
process

A change process is more likely to succeed if it is envisioned, recorded, and

communicated. The critical action at this stage is to specify how the
envisioned interventions would lead to that change.
Defining the change process also involves specifying the time frame
expected for the envisioned causes and effects in the program logic to play
out. In particular, designers should plan when to expect completion of
activities, achievement of learning outcomes, measurement of changes in
capacity indicators, assessment of changes in capacity factors, and
achievement of the ultimate development goal.

B
Program
Design

Agents of change play a critical role in the goal-oriented process of planned

change. They initiate and manage the change process. The program team
and stakeholder(s) should identify the agents best placed and best qualified
to initiate and manage the change process. Agents of change often can be
significant individuals, groups (particularly when change targets the
sociopolitical environment), or teams.
Strengthening agents of change themselves might be an important
component of a capacity development strategy. Further, multiple agents of
change could be necessary to build enough critical mass to make a change
process sustainable.

17. What is the envisioned chain of causes and effects?

17.1. How do the team and stakeholders envision the chain of cause
and effect that will lead from changes in targeted capacity
indicators to progress on the development goal? (If possible,
cite the examples, observations, or analyses that support the
hypothesis or vision of causal relation between the targeted
indicator and the development goal.)
17.2. How does the team envision that learning by agents of change
could lead to the desired capacity changes?
18. Are there parts of the change process that cannot be foreseen at the
design stage?
19. How will any gaps in the logic model be addressed?
20. Who can make the envisioned changes happen? Are different agents
of change needed for different capacity indicators? To specify agents
of change, it is important to specify not only the organization(s)
involved, but also the particular group(s) within the organization, and
the particular individuals within the group(s).
21. How will the team ensure that the environment of the agents of
change is favorable to act on their learning?

Key documents to include in the explanation of the change process and

agents of change are the program logic document, illustrations of time
frames, and memoranda of understanding with agents of change and
other stakeholders.

sanjay.doctor@gmail.com

12/11/14

MIEF

| rad Mission

| CDRF Workshop: transforming from project to Mission Mode Project

6
Set
intended
learning
outcome
s and
their

6 Learning Outcomes essential to all capacity development efforts

Altered
Status
Altered
Processes
New Products

Raised awareness
Enhanced skills
Improved consensus/ teamwork
Fostered coalitions/networks
Implemented strategy/plan
Formulated policy / strategy

B
Program
Design

indicators

22. What learning outcome(s) are needed for each targeted capacity indicator or
capacity development objective? Which learning outcome(s) will the program
target?
22.1. How will the team define each learning outcome specifically in the context
of the program? How will an impartial observer know when the learning
outcome has been achieved? How will the team document it?
22.2. What is the sequence in which learning outcomes need to be achieved?
22.3. How will the learning outcomes activate/facilitate the change process of
each targeted indicator? What is the program timeline? What are the
program milestones? What is the critical path? How does the team
envisage the reporting cycle?
23. To what extent do the required learning outcomes have to be achieved to make
the targeted progress on the capacity indicators and factors? How will the team
measure this?

sanjay.doctor@gmail.com

12/11/14

MIEF

| rad Mission

| CDRF Workshop: transforming from project to Mission Mode Project

A learning objective refers to the observable attributes that participants or groups of

participants will have after successfully completing a learning activity.

Design
the

24. What decisions will be made regarding learning design and participant group

Activities

A learning method refers to the way a particular set of skills or knowledge is

transferred or change in attitude fostered.

Program
Design

composition? (Consider instrument choices: activity types and objectives, for

whom, in what order, with what contextual incentives for participation and for
applying learning.)
24.1. How can the learning outcomes be broken down into specific learning
objectives?
24.2. How will the exact composition of the participant group(s) be determined?
Reference the assumptions made about the agents of change in step 5.
24.3. Which learning methods will be most effective in achieving the stated
learning objectives and learning outcomes?
24.4. How will the learning content for each objective be identified or created?
24.5. What is the most appropriate blend of delivery modes for the audience and
the type of learning content?
25. How will the stated learning objectives and their corresponding learning content and
participants be grouped into program activities (e.g., course, workshop, field visit,
conference, etc.)? How will the program activities be sequenced in time so that the
entire program is most likely to achieve the desired outcomes according to the plan
and under given time and other constraints?
25.1. What will be accomplished by the end of each activity (e.g., action plans,
acquired skills, other indicators of output)?
25.2. How is it envisioned that participants will use the learning after each activity
(indicators of contribution to learning outcomes)?

Input and output indicators for monitoring learning activity

For monitoring purposes, a learning activity is considered as an action taken or work
performed by which inputs are converted into specific outputs. Learning activities, such
as providing training, conducting a workshop, etc. are designed to deliver outputs that
allow achieving learning objectives.
Inputs are the financial, human, and other resources mobilized to support activities
undertaken by a capacity development program.Input indicators would measure the
quantity (and sometimes the quality) of resources provided for program activities. In a
context of a capacity development program, these can include:
Funding (counterpart funds, co-financing, grants)
Human resources (number of person-years for client/partner agencies, consultants,
and technical advisers)
Equipment, materials, and supplies, or recurrent costs of these itemsfor example,
textbooks, classroom facilities.
Outputs are the products and services resulting from a learning activity that is designed
to generate learning outcomes. The key distinction between outputs (specific goods or
services) and learning outcomes is that an output typically takes the form of an
increase in supply of knowledge and information, while learning outcomes reflect
behavioral changes resulting from the use and application of acquired knowledge
and information.Output indicators would measure the quantity (and sometimes the
quality) of the goods or services created or provided through the use of inputs. Using a
capacity development program as an illustration, these might include the number of
people trained, the number of new courses offered, and the number of new
consultations conducted.

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MIEF

| rad Mission

| CDRF Workshop: transforming from project to Mission Mode Project

26. Do monitoring arrangements provide adequate and timely information on

Monitor
learning
outcomes
:
adjust
program
as
required

28. Do the program instruments (activities) need to be revisited?

29. Does information from periodic monitoring indicate that the envisioned changes in

implementation progress relative to plans?

27. Does information from periodic monitoring indicate that the envisioned learning

outcomes are being achieved for the agents of change?

Monitor
targeted
capacity
indicators
and the
progress
toward
the
mission
goal, and
adjust
program
as
required

10
Assess

achievement

of learning
outcomes
and
targeted
changes in
capacity
indicators,
and
specify
follow-up
actions

Implementation
and Monitoring

Sample format for monitoring report

on the interim status of the targeted learning outcomes

capacity indicators are occurring? (If new indicators have become available since
the program was designed, they can be used as well; however, comparisons
across time must use consistent indicators.)
30. Does the capacity development objective (see step 4) or the program instruments
need to be revisited?

D
31. What are the overall learning outcomes that were achieved by program activities?
Use indicators defined in the design stage. What are the overall changes in the

targeted capacity indicators that were achieved during the program? Use indicators
defined in the design stage.

Completion
and
Assessment

32. Was progress made toward the development goal? Can that progress be plausibly
related to the change process supported by the learning outcomes? Does the
success or failure of any of the program activities suggest other steps that might
be taken to achieve the development goal more efficiently or effectively?
33. Are there any changes in capacity factors that are anticipated to occur in part as a
result of the program after program completion? If yes, establish a timeline for
follow-up assessment of capacity factors.

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12/11/14