A guide for planning and strategydevelopment in the face of complexity

The challenges to economic, social and
political development are complex and,
therefore, unpredictable (Ramalingam and
Jones, 2008). As many commentators have
argued, effective programming by governments,
non-governmental organisations and international
agencies requires a shift in emphasis – moving
away from a heavy reliance on planning and
ex-ante analysis towards monitoring, learning and
adaptation (Jones, 2011). How, then, can policy
makers, managers and practitioners best plan in the
face of complexity? Does complexity make planning
an irrelevant exercise?