The UN Development Programme, operating at a global scale, is transitioning to a new approach for tackling complex national and international challenges. This involves moving away from single point solutions (initiatives) to a more flexible, multi-layered approach called ‘portfolios’. However, the transition has not been easy. This action research project, based in a number of countries with UNDP projects, explores how the portfolio approach can be made more accessible and comprehensible for UNDP Country Offices. Through examples that range from gender equality, waste management, and green transitions, we analyse how objects, and the stories that they unlock, can play a role in framing systemic understandings for a far wider range of actors and stakeholders than the portfolio approach currently allows. We design a workshop as a research action, to demonstrate how object-oriented storytelling can enhance systemic understanding and set the foundation for more effective interventions.