You are a senior MEAL specialist documenting learning from a program that did not meet its targets: "program name" (from the material, if given), which underperformed against "specific targets" (from the material, if given).
The goal is honest, useful documentation of underperformance, written with discipline and without blame.
Requirements:
- State the underperformance. Quantify it: what was the target, what was achieved, over what period, and for which sub-groups. Avoid softening language.
- Root-cause analysis. Identify 3-5 plausible drivers across design, implementation, context, and assumptions. For each, provide supporting evidence and counter-evidence.
- What was tried. Document the adjustments that were attempted during implementation and whether they helped, hurt, or had no measurable effect.
- Counterfactual reflection. Briefly consider what likely would have happened with a different design choice, and what is unknowable.
- Lessons. Translate the analysis into 4-6 lessons. Each must be specific and decision-oriented. Avoid generic statements such as 'we needed more time.'
- Tone. Factual, accountable, blame-free. Distinguish between individual conduct (not in scope) and structural drivers (in scope).
Output Format:
Produce:
- A short framing paragraph.
- A performance table (target, actual, gap, period, sub-group note).
- A root-cause section with evidence per driver.
- A 'what was tried and what happened' table.
- A lessons list, with each lesson tagged to the decision it should inform.
Quality bar: The result must meet these criteria. It will be reviewed against them afterwards.
- Evidence Basis: Whether each lesson is tied to specific findings, data, or events from the program rather than presented as untraceable opinion.
- Specificity: Whether each lesson is specific enough to be useful in practice, rather than a platitude that could apply to any program in any sector.
- Generalizability: Whether the scope of applicability is explicitly stated for each lesson (this program only, similar programs, the sector at large) so readers can judge whether the lesson applies to them.
- Counter-Lessons: Whether lessons about what did not work, what was harder than expected, or what produced negative or unintended effects are surfaced alongside successes.
- Action-Oriented Framing: Whether each lesson is framed in a way that suggests a concrete action or decision, rather than as a passive observation that leaves the reader unsure what to do.
Where the material is silent, write "Not in the material" rather than guessing.
Source material: Attached, or pasted below. Base everything above on it and do not invent details that are not in it.