How to Pilot Your Project Successfully
Joi Danielson
System Change and Transformation Specialist
Pilot projects can be grueling but it’s where real system change takes root. Join Joi Danielson as she explores the steps to pilot your project with success.
Pilot projects can be grueling but it’s where real system change takes root. Join Joi Danielson as she explores the steps to pilot your project with success.
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How to Pilot Your Project Successfully
15 mins 22 secs
Key learning objectives:
Identify steps for pilot project success
Outline how to build strong governance
Overview:
To stack the odds in your favour, start small and choose a location with genuine potential for success. Building trust early on is also critical - stakeholders know the local context best. By asking them where to pilot, what success looks like, and how the project can support their goals, you ensure your work is relevant and welcomed. Implementing anything in the real world involves setbacks such as political shifts, resistance, limited capacity, or competing priorities. Governance provides structure (e.g. clear roles, responsibilities, rules, and accountability) so the system doesn’t collapse when people or politics change.
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Summary
What does it take to set up a pilot for success?
To stack the odds in your favour, start small and choose a location with genuine potential for success. This involves assessing environmental need, feasibility, economic viability, narrative value and location. Building trust early on is also critical. Spend time on the ground, listen closely to stakeholders, and understand local politics and power dynamics. Design your pilot to reflect the priorities of those whose buy-in you rely on.
Why is listening to stakeholders so essential in the early stages?
Stakeholders know the local context best. By asking them where to pilot, what success looks like, and how the project can support their goals, you ensure your work is relevant and welcomed. Taking their advice helps build trust and collaboration, which are vital in the first pilot. This doesn’t mean staying tied to one approach forever. The first pilot is about laying foundations, gaining trust, and understanding existing theories of change. Once those basics work, you can begin to experiment with new models, technologies, or systems in future pilots.
How can you learn from others to strengthen your pilot design?
It’s important to seek out those who’ve already walked this path. Interview experts, study successful frontline projects, and immerse yourself in their real-world lessons. Learning from different regions or sectors can help you avoid common mistakes and bring tried-and-tested ideas into your own design. Inviting practitioners to the pilot location for hands-on workshops can also be invaluable. Working side-by-side in the actual environment builds confidence and grounds your plans in lived experience, rather than theory.
What mindset is needed during pilot implementation?
Expect it to be demanding, slow, and humbling. Implementing anything in the real world involves setbacks such as political shifts, resistance, limited capacity, or competing priorities. It often feels like walking through mud but these challenges are normal, and they’re where real systems change takes root.
Why is building strong governance crucial for scaling a system?
Even with the right solution, weak governance can cause a system to fail or remain small. Governance provides structure (e.g. clear roles, responsibilities, rules, and accountability) so the system doesn’t collapse when people or politics change.
For individual-dependent to system-dependent governance, early systems often rely on motivated leaders, making them fragile and inconsistent. System-dependent governance embeds roles and processes so progress continues regardless of elections or leadership changes.
For community-managed to institutionally coordinated systems, community-led efforts can be passionate but lack scale and resources. Central coordination by governments helps ensure consistency, funding, accountability, and wider coverage.
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Joi Danielson
Joi Danielson is a transformation leader with over 15 years of experience driving complex, high-stakes system change. She began her career as a consultant at McKinsey, later became a Partner at Systemiq, and now serves as Managing Partner of Vital Ocean. Joi specialises in turning ambitious ideas into practical, lasting outcomes that deliver real impact at scale, while developing the leaders and partnerships needed to sustain that change.
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