Lessons in failure: applying an organizational learning framework to understanding attitudes towards failure in development

Weekly, Charlotte (2021) Lessons in failure: applying an organizational learning framework to understanding attitudes towards failure in development. Environmental Health Insights, 15. 1 - 9. ISSN 1178-6302

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Abstract

This paper applies an organizational learning framework to explore attitudes towards failure in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) development sector. It draws on 35 key-informant interviews, contextualized by organizational theory and existing scholarship on failure in development, to understand the challenges faced by WASH practitioners in identifying failure, analyzing failure, and deliberate experimentation. Through interrogating past and present initiatives for publicizing failure in development, this paper digs deeper into the successes, obstacles, and lessons learnt from mainstreaming failure into organizational practices. It then synthesizes these findings to advance a 3-tier conceptual map for organizations to build an enabling environment for learning from failure in development.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ehi
Additional Information:	© 2021 The Author
Divisions:	Social Policy
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management
Date Deposited:	11 Mar 2022 16:33
Last Modified:	17 Apr 2024 20:27
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/114336

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