About Us

We Believe Government Can—and Must—Work Better

Mission Statement: The Asian School of Governance GovLab exists to accelerate Asia's progress on difficult social challenges by improving how governments function and how they deploy public resources.

Vision: An Asia-Pacific region where every government has the capability, evidence, and political will to deliver services that measurably improve people's lives.

Values:

Outcomes Over Outputs We measure success by what changes for residents, not by reports produced or workshops delivered.

Partnership, Not Prescription We co-create solutions with government teams, never imposing external models without local adaptation.

Evidence-Based Practice We use data to understand problems, test solutions, and measure impact—and we share what we learn.

Asian Solutions for Asian Contexts We respect the diversity of Asian governance systems and build on indigenous knowledge and local innovations.

Capability Building We transfer skills so governments can sustain improvements long after GovLab engagement ends.

Adaptive Learning We experiment, learn from failure, and iterate—modeling the adaptive approach we teach.

Our Approach

How We Work: Proven Methodologies for Complex Reform

1. Problem-Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA)

What is it? A rigorous approach to reform that starts with locally-defined problems, works through rapid experimentation, and builds on existing capabilities.

Why it works? Traditional reforms often fail because they import solutions from elsewhere without adapting to local context. PDIA ensures solutions fit the problem AND the political, technical, and administrative realities.

How we apply it?

• Start by deeply understanding the problem from multiple perspectives

• Identify existing bright spots and positive deviance

• Design small experiments that can be tested quickly

• Learn from failures and successes to inform next steps

• Build political authorization at each stage

• Scale only what's proven to work

2. Capability-Based Governance Leadership (CBGL)

What is it? An approach that focuses on building organizational capabilities—not just individual skills—to solve complex problems.

Why it works? Sustainable reforms require changes in how organizations function, not just training individual leaders. CBGL addresses technical, political, and administrative challenges simultaneously.

How we apply it?

• Assess current organizational capabilities across dimensions

• Create safe spaces for experimentation and learning

• Build teams with diverse expertise and perspectives

• Develop adaptive leadership skills throughout the organization

• Address political economy and incentive structures

• Transfer ownership progressively to local actors

3. Action Learning

What is it? Learning that happens through doing real work, with structured reflection integrated into implementation.

Why it works? Government challenges are too complex to solve through classroom learning alone. Action learning develops judgment, adaptive capacity, and practical wisdom.

How we apply it?

• Fellows learn by leading actual reform projects, not case studies

• Regular reflection sessions extract lessons from experience

• Rapid feedback loops inform next actions

• Documentation captures knowledge in real-time

• Peer learning strengthens individual and collective capacity

• Continuous improvement based on results

4. Human- and Regeneration-Centered Design

What is it? Designing services with—not for—the people who use them.

Why it works? Services designed without input from residents often miss the mark. Human-centered design ensures solutions address real needs and work in practice.

How we apply it?

• Engage service users and frontline staff in problem definition

• Prototype solutions before full-scale implementation

• Test with real users and gather feedback

• Iterate based on what we learn

• Design for dignity, equity, and ease of use

• Measure success by user experience and outcomes