Given Hapunda

34 Introduction All men dream; but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusky recesses of their mind, wake up in the day to find that is was vanity; but the dreamer of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams which open eyes to make it possible – T.E. Lawrence The quotation above sums up the content of this chapter within the context of developmental projects. Hence, this chapter discusses how developmental organisations can have a shared vision of the future they aspire to achieve. Having a shared vision of what a programme, project or policy is meant to achieve and how it can make significant positive impact is important. However, an aspired vision is just a dream. Deliberate planning and execution of planned activities to realise the vision is the cornerstone. Therefore, this chapter will also discuss how to develop a theory of change - well planned events that are expected to lead to a particular desired outcome. These planned events are sequenced in such a way that they can lead to the realisation of the project’s vision. The chapter will end by discussing how projects can manage for impact, after all, any project aims to achieve maximum impact. To achieve the desired impact a project goes through a rather not easy and straightforward path to impact. Figure 1 below is a pathway to impact. Figure 1: Pathway to impact Project’s Shared Vision Vision connotes imagining the future. Kotter (1995) defines vision as something that helps clarify the direction in which to proceed. Vision articulates a view of a realistic, credible and attractive future for the programme, project or policy, a condition that is better in some important way than now exists (Bennis & Nanus, 1997). Because programmes, projects or policies are driven by a pool of staff within an organisation, vision is not a preserve of a project leader, but all entities that contribute to its realisation. Hence, there is need for a shared vision in a project by all its stakeholders. Moving towards a shared vision is largely dependent on leadership management style. How leaders construct a project’s vision determines expected project outcomes. Therefore, developing and communicating a project’s vision and the impact of this on a project’s success is important, but not as important as having a shared vision with the project’s stakeholders. It is no wonder that one criterion of Having a shared vision Conceptualizing a theory of change Managing activities towards impact Impact