Capacity development is about change and learning. We took on the development challenge from what we knew best, with a humanitarian mind-set and fix-it approach. We experienced some missed opportunities and when we saw success it was often attributed to dedicated and skilled individuals in organizations driving change. This guide came about from our need to learn and to establish a more coherent approach. We needed a reference document that suited our needs and those of the partners we work with. We have intentionally looked outside our own area for good practices, critical questions and challenges and dilemmas that face those working in capacity development, rather than for any one “perfect fit” model. We tried to keep it free from jargon and MSB specific models in order to create a resource to share and use together with partners.