BOUNDARYLESS CONVERSATIONS PODCAST - EPISODE 91
#91 Rethinking Development: UNDP’s Journey from Projects to Portfolios
Join us as we delve into a thought-provoking conversation with Milica Begovic and Giulio Quaggiotto, current and former Head of Strategic Innovation at the UNDP, as they shed light on how they are reshaping the approach to global development by transitioning from traditional project methods to a portfolio approach. Tune in as we unpack the need for this systemic change and recognize how deep organizational shifts are required to the complexities of today’s most pressing challenges.
Podcast Notes
At Boundaryless, we always believed in the power of learning from parallel avenues, and this episode with Milica Begovic and Giulio Quaggiotto sharing their experience in the development sector, is a testament to that.
Milica, known for her innovative drive, and Giulio, with his extensive experience in public sector innovation, share their insights on UNDP’s recent shift from a project-based to a portfolio approach in tackling global challenges.
They explore how to address systemic changes, emphasizing the importance of broadening strategies to create sustainable impacts.
Taking practical examples from the ground, they discuss the role of cities in driving community-focused innovation, demonstrating the power of portfolio governance in achieving shared goals.
This episode is a compelling call to action for rethinking not just development work, but also what startups and corporates alike could learn to imbibe, in an increasingly complex ecosystem.
Key highlights
- Embracing a complex systemic approach over a linear project approach can ensure impactful response to the unpredictable ways of nature.
- The quest for coherence and the need for optionality have to co-exist while addressing dynamic complexities.
- Organizational agility and deep structural changes are crucial to drive systemic innovation
- Skin in the game through co-ownership of risks and success can lead to improved sustainability of solutions.
- Coherence attracts leverage when multiple independent entities come together to solve a problem, and this ensures an increase in an individual’s accountability towards the outcome.
Topics (chapters):
(00:39) Guests Introduction
(01:28) Transition from Project approach to Portfolio approach
(16:04) Trickling down of Optionality
(21:45) Generating Outcomes in Emergence
(26:53) Role of Skin in the Game
(37:12) Building Narratives in a Portfolio Switch
(45:21) Uptake of Portfolio Approach
(49:24) Composability and Modularity in Portfolio Approaches
(54:05) Arriving at common census in a fragmented world
(01:02:16) Breadcrumbs and Suggestions
(01:03:54) Closing
Recorded on 18th October 2023.
Get in touch with Boundaryless:
Find out more about the show and the research at Boundaryless at https://boundaryless.io/resources/podcast
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/boundaryless_
- Website: https://boundaryless.io/contacts
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundaryless-pdt-3eo
Music:
Music from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: https://blss.io/Podcast-Music
To find more about the guests
Other references and mentions
- Climate-KIC | The EU’s main climate innovation initiative
- Building Scalable Organizations that can Deal with Uncertainty — with Dave Snowden – Boundaryless
- Mariana Mazzucato – Wikipedia
- Christian Bason – Danish Design Center (ddc.dk)
- Dan Hill Linkedin
- Control and Coherence in the New Strategy Playbook — with Rita McGrath – Boundaryless
Guest suggested breadcrumbs
.png%3Fv%3D2026-07-07%2007%3A38%3A24.495%2B00&w=3840&q=75)
.png%3Fv%3D2026-07-15%2012%3A45%3A48.76%2B00&w=3840&q=75)
Stay in the loop
New podcast episodes, reports, webinars, and updates, directly in your inbox. Signal, not spam.