Acknowledging and Learning from Different Types of Failure.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Development Studies
• Program Management

Background:

• Sanitation and hygiene programs encounter numerous complex challenges, making failures common.
• Current practices often involve sharing only uncontrollable or unanticipated failures, hindering comprehensive learning.
• A need exists for improved methods to identify, reflect on, and learn from program failures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a typology of failure for sanitation and hygiene programs.
• To establish criteria for research and learning processes that prioritize timeliness, relevance, and actionability.
• To encourage a more open and reflexive sector by facilitating the broad sharing of all failure types.

Main Methods:

• Development of a failure typology based on practical experience in rapid action learning and research.
• Identification of criteria for research and learning processes focused on timely, relevant, and actionable insights.
• Formulation of practical suggestions for stakeholders to foster open failure-sharing.

Main Results:

• A proposed typology categorizes failures within sanitation and hygiene programs.
• Criteria are presented to guide research and learning, emphasizing speed, relevance, and practical application.
• Practical suggestions are offered to promote a sector culture that openly shares diverse failure experiences.

Conclusions:

• Sharing all types of failures, not just those deemed uncontrollable, is essential for effective learning in sanitation and hygiene.
• Implementing the proposed typology and criteria can accelerate reflection on both failures and successes.
• Stakeholder engagement is key to fostering an open and reflexive sector that learns from all program experiences.