Iran has one of the most extensive histories of development programs in developing nations. The sixth of the national programs is currently in operation, and none of them have been a success. This article attempts to identify three mental structures that contributed to Iran's development plans failing. Elite development planners were interviewed for the research, and data were also collected from some published documents. Grounded theory was used to analyze the data. The outcomes show that the economic plans for development were not realized because the political ideas concealed in the development plans are incompatible with Iran's circumstances, development programs have epistemologicalF flaws, meritocracy , the rule making and rewarding system have not produced motivation, even for those in charge of program implementation. As a result, voluntary public participation doesn't help the implementation of programs.
Keywords: Development Programs, political ideas, methodological perspective, motivation, Iran