MAKING A DIFFERENCE

You work hard, and sometimes you may have to do long hours. You’re getting better at your job, and maybe you have good team support with comparatively low staff turnover. Work can be stressful, sometimes very stressful, and unpredictable too, However, this is an area of work that you are committed to and want to be working in. So how do you know if your leadership, policy, practice, or research is making a difference or is effective? As the title of the book that some of you will be familiar with goes, in this area of work “trying hard is not good enough” - https://www.amazon.com/Trying-Hard-Not-Good-Enough/dp/1439237867.

Yes an evaluation can be commissioned to give you some answers and sometimes that will be absolutely the right thing to do. However, most of the following cost nothing:

1.        Be clear, very clear, on the precise purpose or purposes

2.        Be ambitious, but not delusional or so ridiculously ambitious that you can’t be held accountable for what you do now

3.        Articulate how whatever it is, is generally meant to work, and any steps involved

4.        Understand and question underpinning assumptions, write then down and review regularly

5.        Follow through beyond the initial implementation phase to make sure that it has become fully established

6.        Be curious and ask other people what they see

7.        Collect (and look at existing) evidence, develop KPIs if these can be sufficiently meaningful, and look for patterns in data over time

8.        Understand intended and unintended consequences – both positive and negative 

9.        Keep an eye on any changes in the wider context

10.     Be honest with yourself and others, and avoid ‘magical thinking’ and ‘marketing speak’

11.     Recognise the role of luck in success and not just in any failure

12.     Use a continuous cycle of Plan, Act, Observe, Reflect (aka action research) 

I’d love to hear your thoughts! You can email me at: iain@betteroutcomes.co.nz

Kia kaha (Stay Strong).

Iain