Solutions at Scale: Developing Robust Plans with 100&Change Finalists

August 26, 2020 Perspectives 100&Change
Larry Cooley

Larry Cooley, President Emeritus of Management Systems International (MSI), describes the emphasis placed on scrutinizing and strengthening the scaling plans of each finalists during the project development phase.


 

Many grant programs are dedicated to developing innovative solutions to important problems. The 100&Change competition is built around a different proposition—that some solutions can be implemented in ways that match the scale of the problems they address. For this reason, the criteria for the award include the salience of the problem to be addressed and the probability that, with a $100 million investment, the potential grantee has the capacity and a strategy for making sustainable progress in solving that problem at scale.

Given the competition’s focus on scale, the project development phase of 100&Change places special emphasis on scrutinizing and strengthening the scaling plans of each of the finalists. MacArthur enlisted Management Systems International (MSI) to help the finalists elaborate on their plans for reaching scale and for overcoming the challenges they are likely to face along the way. With few exceptions, sustainable delivery at scale requires that solutions be incorporated into the priorities and practices of governments, private markets, and/or sustainable philanthropy. Scaling plans detail the changes that are needed and the strategy for making this happen. 

Specifically, MSI will support finalists in addressing seven issues:

 

Planning for Scale

The strength of the scaling strategy, including plans for dealing with the different ways the problem—or the proposed solution—may manifest in different populations and contexts

 

Credibility

The persuasiveness of the proposed solution to the key audiences, and/or the strategy for establishing its credibility

 

Support

Evidence that policy makers, funders, and proposed beneficiaries recognize the urgency and priority of solving the problem and/or plans for galvanizing that sense of urgency

 

Comparative Advantage

Evidence that the proposed solution is—or can become—perceived by policymakers, practitioners, and beneficiaries as preferable to alternative solutions and to the status quo

 

Ease of Adoption

Identification of the biggest changes that need to be made in policy and in practice and plans for enhancing and assisting transferability

 

Organizational Capacity

Elaboration of the organizational and human resource implications of implementing the proposed solution at scale and plans for ensuring the needed capabilities

 

Financial Sustainability

Budgets and plans for reaching scale and for implementing at scale, during the grant funding and subsequently

 

MSI’s approach to scaling, summarized in Scaling Up—From Vision to Large-Scale Change, helped inform MacArthur’s thinking on how to scale proposals and provides a framework for these discussions.

MSI provided similar support to the eight semi-finalists and four finalists during the inaugural round of the 100&Change competition, and that support was assessed by each of the applicants as having been very useful in bringing their efforts to fruition, whether or not they ultimately were awarded a grant by the MacArthur Foundation. On the strength of that experience, MacArthur decided to make the same support available to the current group of finalists.  

Whether they receive funding from MacArthur or other new support, our goal is to see each of the six finalists emerge with the stronger and more compelling proposals that can make an even greater impact in the world.