In times of uncertainty, disruption, and change it’s easy to view intentional learning as a luxury. It is not. Complexity — situations when the relations between causes and consequences are unclear and dynamic — requires we learn in order to thrive. Our ability to sense and respond to what we perceive and experience is what […]
Learning is Not a Luxury Read More »
Evidence is the way we tell truth from mere belief and, when used responsibly, can positively shape our world while limiting the harms we do through our actions. There has never been more data to inform our evidence generation work, yet this abundance has brought with it new challenges that we don’t have the means
Evidence in Context: The State of Things in 2024 Read More »
When we recognize the diversity in our nervous systems, the problems with most organizational planning models become more evident, and we can start designing them for humans, not ideas. If you work with more than one other person — and how many of us don’t? — you encounter diversity. When we design systems to improve
The Neurodiversity of Work and Perils of Planning Read More »
Impact is the ultimate outcome for any social change initiative yet it’s also the most elusive and poorly defined of our evaluation metrics in practice. How do we change this? In this first post in a series, I bring us into the world of understanding impact. Non-profits are in the business of making a positive
What Does Impact Look Like? Read More »
Welcome to the Censemaking Methods Series where today we look at how to apply principles to guiding evaluation and strategy. This builds on our previous lessons on Principles-Focused Evaluation and the building blocks that underpin the approach. What are principles and why do they matter? Principles are anchors between values and strategy that allow for decision-making
Using Principles To Frame Strategy and Evaluation Read More »
In this latest in the Censemaking Methods Series we look at the Prototype Death Rate, a metric for assessing innovation productivity. When an idea has matured enough in our design process, it’s time to create a prototype. This is a tangible or digital ‘mock-up’ of the concept that serves as its first real-world representation. Before
A Metric for Innovation Productivity: The Prototype Death Rate Read More »
Welcome to the Censemaking Methods Series dedicated to profiling tools, techniques, methods, and issues tied to strategic design for impact. Today we look at evaluative thinking, the bedrock of understanding our influence on the world. Evaluative thinking is a disciplined approach to reflective practice, inquiry, and creative design that forms the backbone for any initiative
Three Questions to Enhance Evaluative Thinking Read More »
Evaluation is a practice of applying a critical lens to what we’ve done and created and assessed what value it brings into the world. Its value can’t be overstated if we look and listen. Evaluation is not a concept that many people embrace with affection. Too often I see it used and discussed in a
Evaluation’s Great Value (Often Missed) Read More »
Persistent, dramatic changes are taking place that influence our work, communities, and personal lives and understanding what it means to learn, respond, and succeed will take changes in how we evaluate it all. A key feature of change in a complex system is that once its shifted, it never goes back; there’s no ‘undoing’ what’s
Whole System Learning and Evaluation Read More »
The famous Dutch cycling culture didn’t always exist; it was designed. A look at how this came to pass can help us to understand what it means to transform culture and keep it healthy. There are lessons to be learned whether you’re building a bike culture or transforming your organization. If you think of life
Unlocking Organizational Change: Learning from the Cultural Phenomenon of Dutch Cycling Read More »
