
We all know that working together, solving problems innovatively and experiential learning is fun and rewarding for any organization, but have we realized that playing games and using our hands when building pathways, structures, and solutions will create better end products and services? That creating together and thinking aloud while doing so can allow an organization to achieve better outcomes?
All organizations, large and small, encounter challenges and bottlenecks that prevents them from achieving the highest results and making the impact they envisioned. Charlotta Sandin and QED have developed a game that can be played by any team in any development organization to solve any problem and design pathways to improve results.

Makusudi / Purpose
The game – Makusudi (meaning Purpose in Swahili) – is an adaptive management tool and is used by teams in an organization when they need to figure out how to meet challenges, address problems and find ways to correct the course. It is currently used by USAID in Uganda, USAID in Egypt and headquarters of development organizations in Washington DC.

Come and have a conversation about how to build an organization that promotes collaboration and learning to allow for course corrections and adaptations.
The above is from my November Learning and Development Roundtable. Wish you could have been there? No problem. You can see the PowerPoint, listen to the workshop or watch the video below.
Workshop leader Charlotta Sandin has 20 years of professional experience in strategy and policy development in public administration and extensive experience in Organizational Development, M&E and Quality Assurance system management, including CLA in USAID. Her areas of expertise include: Strategy and policy, Organizational Learning, Governance, Political Economy Analysis. A Swedish national, she now makes her home in Kenya.
Now go on and learn, laugh and lead.
Learn
- Watch the session recording or listen to the audio recording
- See the PowerPoint
- The Learning and Development Roundtable about games that Lotta refers to and which inspired her creation of Makusudi is here:: L&D Roundtable Games for Learning. February 15th, 2019.
Laugh
- Adaptive management is all about being innovative, flexible and looking at things from a different perspective. Kind of like this quirky, fun fellow.
Lead
- Pick an issue that you could use some adaptive thinking around and, with a colleague, apply your learning from this post to it.
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