40 years of DAI

As business picked
up, DAI moved into
new digs at 1823
Jefferson Place, N.W.,
Washington, D.C.
(center).
10
DAI’s clients at USAID demonstrated patience,
confidence, and loyalty during and after the
study. Two of them, Jerry French and Harlan
Hobgood, were closely engaged with the study
as it unfolded, and when DAI was running short
of time and money, they extended the contract
and found the extra funds that helped the study
team reach the finish line. Like the postman who
brought the check to pay for the Land Rovers,
French and Hobgood were vital to DAI’s
survival at a critical time. They also stepped up
to defend the quality of the work, which was
published in two volumes by Westview Press in
1976, and was widely read in donor agency and
academic circles.
The Strategies study also had important things
to say about project design. Up to that time, the
usual approach to project planning resembled
an architect’s blueprint—a detailed plan covering
all contingencies from beginning to end. But
these plans rarely worked in practice due to
complications that inevitably arose. DAI’s analysis
posited that projects worked best when they
followed a “process approach” that created
space for managers and project participants to
deal with unanticipated events, and the likelihood
that some interventions might initially fail,
but could be adapted or redesigned during the
project. Philosophically, the process approach
embraced disciplined learning and experimentation,
with course corrections being the norm,
rather than the exception (as would be the case
in a traditional project design). As Mickelwait
described it, “Instead of preparing a blueprint,
we start a program with a known goal and we
find the answer as we go along.” DAI’s team
argued that the process approach was also
more likely to produce benefits that would be
self-sustaining after the project terminated. DAI
did not invent these concepts, but in Strategies,
DAI posed the right questions and came up with
answers that USAID as the client, and many
others in the development community, found
persuasive.
The small farmer study proved to be a turning
point for DAI. “After that,” said Mickelwait,
“people started to value our expertise, and we
were in high demand.” The company began
paying salaries and moved into more sizable
quarters, a townhouse at 1823 Jefferson Place
in Washington. It was still something of a shoestring
operation. “Don Mickelwait and Charlie
Sweet did everything from editing to bookkeeping
to writing and signing checks,” recalled
Craig Olson.