I’ve been to countless team, committee, and Board meetings where entire packets and slide decks of lists, tables, and graphs of data are presented only to be glanced at and set aside. Rarely do we visualize and present data in a way that suggests we could and should reflect on or engage with it. What[…]
Management and quality guru W. Edwards Deming said, “Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.” Does that sound like one of your committee meetings? Lots of opinions? Do your committees glance at reports you spent hours preparing and then say things like, “And?” or “So?” or “Yeah, but . . .” Do your[…]
This is the fourth and final post in a series on Evaluative Thinking (ET) in nonprofits. In the first post, I shared definitions of ET and contrasted it with evaluation itself. Next, I shared some tips and tools for encouraging and practicing ET. And last time, I shared some examples of what ET looks like[…]
Often, people in the nonprofit world hear the “e” word (whispers: evaluation) and they think of program evaluation, outcomes, and impact. However, evaluative thinking is a way of leading, planning, and making decisions that can be applied to all of an organization’s operations. Recall that the various definitions of evaluative thinking emphasize that it: Is[…]
In my last post, I offered some common definitions of evaluative thinking compared to evaluation and stressed how critical evaluative thinking is to meaningful and useful evaluation. In this post, I want to share some tips for encouraging and practicing evaluative thinking within your organizations. Setting the Stage In their article Defining and Teaching Evaluative[…]
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[…]
This is the third post in a series in which I implore nonprofits to do some critical reflecting and planning before they purchase, design, or modify their client databases. However, the same tips are helpful before you embark on any evaluation work or make changes to your data collection forms, tools, or processes, too. This[…]
Happy New Year! This is the time of year when many of us make resolutions or set goals. Lose weight. Learn a new skill. Build our networks. Save a certain amount of money. I am wired for quality improvement, so I still do this every year. Though, I could benefit from following some of my[…]
In my last post, I offered a basic definition of organizational culture: the system of shared beliefs, values, and assumptions that govern the way people behave in organizations. Culture shapes how we communicate, make decisions, reward and incentivize certain behaviors, solve problems, make change, set direction, and on and on. Culture can Kill Change In[…]
Peter Drucker, the ultimate management guru, famously said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Most nonprofits will invest hundreds of hours if not tens of thousands of dollars to create strategic plans, while few approach their culture with the same level of intention. Consultants like me love to design and build things – plans, processes,[…]