With case studies on Millennium Development Goal (MDG)-oriented reform projects in Vietnam, this article focuses upon a persistent dilemma in attempting to turn worthy goals into implementable programmes and sustainable results. How to achieve these goals is uncertain but modern performance management, as expressed in Logical Frameworks, demands certainty. The article suggests how an open-management style can allow for pragmatic adaptation to circumstances or, more radically, how Log Frames could be redesigned to focus upon interpretation of contextual challenges.
