Dojos Guide
What Are ImpactMojo Dojos?
Dojos are 90-minute, cohort-based practice sessions where development professionals build specific skills through structured exercises — not lectures. The name comes from martial arts: a dojo is a place where you practise, not where you watch someone else perform.
ImpactMojo offers 56 sessions across 6 skill series, available in Delhi, Bangalore, and Online.
Cost: ₹1,500 per person per session. No long-term commitment — join individual sessions or follow a full series.
The 6 Skill Series
S01: Thinking Clearly in Development (8 sessions)
Build the foundation of clear reasoning for development work. Topics include calibrating your confidence, spotting cognitive biases in programme design, probabilistic thinking for uncertain environments, and avoiding common reasoning traps.
Who it's for: Anyone who makes decisions under uncertainty — which is everyone in development.
S02: Evidence Reasoning (9 sessions)
Develop the ability to read, interpret, and apply evidence critically. Topics include statistical thinking without the maths anxiety, hypothesis testing in field conditions, research design basics, cost-effectiveness analysis, and updating beliefs when new evidence arrives.
Who it's for: Programme managers, MEL officers, and anyone who needs to make evidence-informed decisions.
S03: Political Economy & Implementation (16 sessions)
The largest series, covering the practical realities of getting things done in complex systems. Topics include stakeholder mapping, implementation diagnosis, scaling decisions, adaptive management, systems mapping, negotiation tactics, service design, exit strategy design, value and pricing, live facilitation, and participatory methods.
Who it's for: Senior programme staff, team leads, consultants, and anyone navigating organisational and political dynamics.
S04: Methods That Actually Work (9 sessions)
Practical methodologies for development fieldwork — the techniques that experienced practitioners use but rarely teach formally. Focused on methods that survive contact with the field.
Who it's for: Field researchers, evaluation specialists, and practitioners designing data collection.
S05: Epistemic Hygiene (8 sessions)
Build intellectual honesty as a professional skill. Topics include catching common lies we tell ourselves, calibrating magnitude (does this number actually matter?), distinguishing evidence from intuition, Fermi estimation for quick sanity checks, and honest writing.
Who it's for: Anyone who writes reports, makes claims, or presents findings — and wants to do so honestly.
S06: Gender, Power & Data (6 sessions)
Apply GESI (Gender Equality and Social Inclusion) principles with rigour, not just rhetoric. Topics include third gender in South Asian fieldwork, quantifying social dynamics, power analysis, and designing gender-responsive data collection.
Who it's for: Gender specialists, GESI advisors, and anyone designing programmes that claim to be inclusive.
How Dojos Work
Each dojo session follows a consistent format:
Orientation — every series begins with a session that sets ground rules and calibrates the group
Brief framing (10–15 minutes) — the facilitator introduces the skill and its relevance
Structured practice (50–60 minutes) — participants work through exercises, often in pairs or small groups
Debrief (15–20 minutes) — group reflection on what was learned and how it applies to real work
The emphasis is on doing. Participants leave each session having practised a specific skill, not just having heard about it.
How Educators Can Use Dojos
For Team Development
Send team members to specific series based on their development needs:
New staff → S01 (Thinking Clearly) as a foundation
MEL team → S02 (Evidence Reasoning) for technical skills
Senior managers → S03 (Political Economy) for leadership challenges
Report writers → S05 (Epistemic Hygiene) for honest communication
As a Learning Pathway
Series are designed to be taken in sequence within a series, but participants can join individual sessions. For a comprehensive development, consider:
Start with S01 (foundations of clear thinking)
Add S02 (evidence and research skills)
Specialise with S03, S04, S05, or S06 based on role
For Workshop Facilitation Skills
S03 includes sessions on live facilitation and participatory methods — valuable for anyone who runs workshops or training sessions.
Combined with Online Learning
Dojos complement ImpactMojo's free courses. A participant might:
Take the MEL course online (self-paced, free)
Attend S02 dojos to practise evidence reasoning skills in person
Complete the MEL Plan Lab to produce a real deliverable
Logistics
Duration
90 minutes per session
Cost
₹1,500 per person per session
Locations
Delhi, Bangalore, Online
Group size
Small cohorts for active participation
Commitment
Pay-per-session, no subscription required
Prerequisites
None for S01; other series are accessible independently but benefit from S01 foundations
Getting Started
Browse the Dojos catalogue at impactmojo.in/dojos.html
Start with S01: Thinking Clearly if you're new — it builds the mental foundations all other series rely on
Pick individual sessions from any series if a specific topic matches your immediate needs
Contact hello@impactmojo.in for group bookings or custom cohorts
Tips
Dojos are not lectures. Come prepared to participate, not just listen. The value is in the practice.
One session builds one skill. Each 90-minute session is focused and self-contained — you leave with a specific capability you didn't have before.
Cohorts create accountability. Attending with colleagues or joining a regular cohort builds peer learning relationships that extend beyond the sessions.
Sliding scale available. Grassroots organisations can request adjusted pricing — contact hello@impactmojo.in.
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