Custom Assessment Landscape Methodology 2.0

Our flagship Custom Assessment Landscape Methodology (CALM) was first published in late 2018, outlining our approach to optimizing decision-making with data and digital solutions by comprehensively assessing the complex ecosystem of information, tools, decision-makers, power relations, and decision spaces.

Five years later, this white paper re-introduces CALM to help our partners, collaborators, and teammates better understand and engage with this kind of flexible and adaptive assessment methodology.  This publication explains:

• WHAT CALM’s theory of change is, including its roots in the problem-driven iterative adaptation (PDIA) approach to capacity-building, human-centered design thinking, and Agile software development;
• WHY we believe this is the best approach to understanding the complex digital ecosystems in which we work;
• HOW CALM’s implementation methodology aligns with its theory of change by being adaptive and co-designed with stakeholders, rather than rigid and prescriptive; and
• DEFINITIONS for key CALM terms like decision space, use cases, supply/demand/use, and incentives.