Lewis Atkinson (Haines Centre for Strategic Management LLC)The systems thinking approach is an important tool for evaluators
because it is a way to:
- clarify the system level that you are trying to change
- be people-centric by having a focus on clarity of measures of their ‘better-off-ness’ Rapidly build evaluation capacity
- establish a common language for measuring impact focus on evidence-based practice and continuous
- improvement Turn strategic reflection into practical action
- ensure a participative process with stakeholders to codesign to create systems change Have a low tech/low cost introduction to measuring outcomes of programs
- use iterative hypothesis testing to validate theory of change for programs
- ensure accountability for theory of change over time, by whom and at which systems level
- Create a narrative that is evidence-based and reported as a contribution to social impact
The authors use group reflection & discussion based on a Results Based Accountability (RBA) adoption case study within a medium-sized NFP company delivering community services in Queensland. Practitioners will be exposed to how RBA and other systems thinking tools and participative methods for stakeholder engagement are used build evaluation capacity, create an evaluative culture, encourage timely utilisation of feedback loops and a commitment to strategic learning.
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
- understand how systems thinking that can be applied facilitate evaluative thinking
- understand how Results Based Accountability (RBA) is used to Build Evaluation Capacity
- understand how to use RBA to report change for people at different system levels
- understand that the systems thinking approach can accommodate any validated method of measurement of change over time.
