Anytime we do things for the “wrong” reasons, there’s a good chance that experience will be less fulfilling, less meaningful, and less useful than if we’d done it for the “right” reasons. The same is true of evaluation. When we do it because someone tells us to (funder, donor, accreditor) and not because we want to, we are likely to experience evaluation as an extra burden, as meaningless effort to be resented, and as a waste of energy and resources.
Leading thinkers in this space have found that evaluative thinking is the essential ingredient that makes evaluation successful and builds organizations’ evaluation capacity in significant and sustainable ways.
Evaluative Thinking vs. Evaluation
Simply stated, evaluation is the doing while evaluative thinking is the being.
Evaluation is a set of activities. Evaluative thinking is an approach and, well, a way of thinking. Here are some definitions.
What is Evaluation?
“Program evaluation is the systematic collection of information about the activities, characteristics, and results of programs to make judgments about the program, improve or further develop program effectiveness, inform decisions about future programming, and/or increase understanding” (Patton 2008).
“Evaluation refers to the process of determining the merit, worth, or value of something, or the product of that process” (Scriven 1991).
“Evaluation is a process that applies systematic inquiry to program management, improvement, and decision making” (Baker & Bruner 2012, p. 1).
What is Evaluative Thinking?
“Evaluative thinking is a type of reflective practice that uses [key evaluation skills] in areas other than programs, strategies, and initiatives. It is an approach that fully integrates systematic questioning, data, and action into an organization’s work practices” (Baker & Bruner 2012, p. 1).
“Evaluative thinking is a cognitive process in the context of evaluation, motivated by an attitude of inquisitiveness and a belief in the value of evidence, that involves skills such as identifying assumptions, posing thoughtful questions, pursuing deeper understanding through reflection and perspective taking and making informed decisions in preparation for action” (Archibald 2013).
It is “questioning, reflecting, learning, and modifying . . . conducted all the time. It is a constant state-of-mind within an organization’s culture and all its systems” (Bennett & Jessani 2011, p. 24).
It is “an analytical way of thinking that infuses everything that goes on” (Patton, 2005, p. 10)
It is “a combination of commitment and expertise comprised of evaluative know-how and evaluative attitude” (Buckley et al, 2015, p. 377).
What’s the Difference and Why Does It Matter?
As you can see from the definitions, evaluative thinking is more broadly applied and deeply embedded than evaluation activities might be. It is integrated throughout an entire organization and all its operations. It is not isolated to one program, one purpose, one point in time. And it is motivated by natural curiosity and desires to learn and improve. Evaluation requires certain skills, resources, and capacities. Evaluative thinking requires certain attitudes, motives, and habits, too. Evaluation is the “what” and evaluative thinking is the “why.”
It is possible to evaluate without evaluative thinking. But to do so is often painful and pointless.
By cultivating an organizational culture and habit of evaluative thinking, nonprofits can elevate their evaluation, quality improvement, and performance management efforts so that they are no longer required burdens but rather valued inquiries. Evaluative thinking is the attitude and approach that brings life, meaning, and value to otherwise required and oft-resented activities.
Coming Up . . .
In this remaining three posts of this series, we will examine ways to encourage and embed evaluative thinking within your organization and across departments and describe what an organization’s operations look like when they are driven by evaluative thinking. Stay tuned!
References
Archibald, T. 2013. “Evaluative Thinking.” Free Range Evaluation, WordPress, 11 November 2013. Retrieved from: https://tgarchibald.wordpress.com/2013/11/11/18/
Baker, A & Bruner, B. 2012. Integrating Evaluative Capacity into Organizational Practice. The Bruner Foundation. Retrieved from: http://www.evaluativethinking.org/docs/Integ_Eval_Capacity_Final.pdf
Bennett, G. & Jessani, N. (Eds). 2011. The Knowledge Translation Toolkit: Bridging the Know-Do Gap: A Resource for Researchers. New Delhi, India: Sage.
Buckley, J., Archibald, T., Hargraves, M., & Trochim, W.M. 2015. “Defining and Teaching Evaluative Thinking: Insights from Research on Critical Thinking.” American Journal of Evaluation, 36(3), 375-388.
Patton, M.Q. 2005. In Conversation: Michael Quinn Patton. Interview with Lisa Waldwick, from the International Development Research Center. Retrieved from: http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-30442-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html
Patton, M.Q. 2008. Utilization-Focused Evaluation. 4th Edition, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Scriven, M. 1991. Evaluation Thesaurus. 4th Edition, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.