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Of all observable societal trends, the proliferation of standardizing processes is striking. Auditing standards are an illustrative example of this. Not only privately owned companies must today make available numbers and key figures to satisfy needs of information and knowledge. Government agencies are increasingly conforming to this trend, adopting standards for quality assurance and monitoring, producing numbers and annual reports – despite their somewhat ambiguous task and role. This essay focuses on the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Sida, and the effects of their attempt to standardize their activities. Sida have adopted an internationally accepted standard, called LFA (Logical Framework Approach), purposed to secure the quality of development efforts. The LFA has two distinct parts, one being the planning aspect and the other the controlling and evaluative aspect. In this study, I have found that adopting the standard gives rise to four logical dilemmas, or inconsistencies. These dilemmas seem to be particularly connected to the controlling and evaluative aspect of the LFA. The result is that the planning aspect of the standard is, at least partly, implemented, whilst the controlling and evaluative aspect is translated and/or de-coupled from the agency’s activities. I argue that Sida, despite the obvious inconsistencies and difficulties, have adopted this standard to conform to the trend towards standardizing, auditing and quantifying. By doing so they create what is largely an illusion of pro...