Post on 27-Dec-2015
Learning as You GoDevelopmental Evaluation can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your organization’s work
Introductions
• Name• Organization• Role• Experience with Evaluation
Where do you work?
Easy St.?
Or Here?
Simple…Piece of Cake
Complicated…Wedding Cake
Complex…Cake Shop
Task 1: Simple
What is one of the tasks that your organization completes that is simple: • You use a known method • It involves few parts or people• You are sure you can complete it
successfully
Write it down on the Green card
Task 2: Complicated
What is one of the tasks that your organization completes that is complicated: • It involves many parts or people• Interactions between parts are
predictable• If you are careful and thorough, you
can complete it successfully Write it down on the
Blue card
Write it down on the Orange card
Task 3: Complex
What is one of the goals that your organization would like to do that is complex: • It involves many parts or people• Interactions between parts are
unpredictable• Even if you are careful and thorough, you
may not complete it successfully
Social Innovation
• Strong vision of what could be• Commitment to making a difference• Explore possibilities for new
approaches• Uncertainty• Messiness
Social Innovation
Think about a time you or your organization had a vision and commitment, but you faced either (or both) • Uncertainty• Messiness
Write it down on the Yellow card
Evaluation of Social Innovation• Collaborative: Innovators + Evaluators • Open and adaptive• Valuing all perspectives• Eager for feedback• Tolerance for ambiguity• “Getting to Maybe”
From your Yellow card — What feedback did you seek? Did you get a solution that’s still in use?
Developmental Evaluation
• Term coined by Michael Quinn Patton• Nurtures promising
innovation• Supports adaptation• Documents actions taken• Identifies short-term
consequences• Connects consequences to
larger vision
Developmental Evaluation
Does your organization do some of the things that are “developmental evaluation?” Describe any that you do – or, think about why you don’t.(Innovation, adaptation, short-term consequences, connected to vision)
Write it down on the Pink card
“What’s in a name?”
• “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
- William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
• Other frameworks for complexity, innovation, and adaption: Strategic Learning Results-Based Accountability Emergent Learning
Culture of Evaluation
• Building a culture of evaluation• DIY Evaluation• Use an external evaluator
Culture of Evaluation
Involve your staff:• Give them a voice• Increase engagement• Know you are listening• Validate their efforts
Culture of Evaluation
Use what you have:• Track and follow what is happening
now• Look for small successes• Value qualitative data — not everything
important can be reduced to numbers
Culture of Evaluation
Communication:• Be consistent about valuing feedback• Embrace transparent decision-making
Learning is at the center
• A lessonChanges what you know
• A lesson learnedChanges what you do
• Developmental evaluation is focused on changing what you do
Learning is at the center
• The learning cycle:• Plan• Act• Reflect• Adjust• Plan
…
Learning is at the center
• The learning cycle• Developmental evaluation
helps you completethe learning cycle
Thank You!
Peter Flanagan-Hyde, MACertificate in Social Impact MeasurementASU Lodestar Center, Nonprofit Management Institute
peter@flanagan-hyde.comwww.flanagan-hyde.com602-314-6460