Goals, viewed from the bottom up and from the top down, allow a designer to explore alternative futures. This process of defining and setting targets and goals can help a programme team to determine what is possible and to move forward with a shared vision.
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” is what we ask girls as they progress through our programmes. And we design pathways in our programmes to help a girl move towards her goal. But, when we ask “What do we want our sport programme to be when it grows up?”, we probably think about scaling, but do we think about reducing CPP while scaling? As Stephen R. Covey, states in his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People:
To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you're going so that you better understand where you are now so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.
Designing with the end in mind can begin with identifying a shorter term goal, such as training 10% of participants as peer leaders or reducing cost by 5% over two years, and a longer term goal such as placing two peer leaders into staff jobs, or a strategic goal to replace the programme director with a girl who has come up through the programme within 7 years. Each challenge will provide space for creativity in the programme design to meet that goal.
Based upon the experience of Women Win partners, it has been found that ideally 1 in 10 girls who participate in a sport for development programme should attain the level of peer leader, and 1 in 30 can develop the skills to achieve paid leadership positions at the programme level. Applying the Rule of 10 as a design criteria, programmes can test different strategies that work within the context of their programme and their community to achieve a higher level of peer leadership and economic empowerment. For example, in Women Win's DFID funded programme Building Young Women’s Leadership through Sport (BYWLTS), programme partners reported a total of 44% of the girls who participated in the project held some sort of leadership role. Consquently, Women Win saw a substantial decrease in the cost per AGYW over the course of the programme, and a related increase in the programme’s value for money. For more information, download the summary evaluation report for BYWLTS.