Noyce Conference Room
Workshop
All day
Our campus is closed to the public for this event.
Enormous amounts are invested by foundations each year into the non-profit sector. The traditional model of evaluation of foundation-funded programs is a very linear one:
inputs=>outputs=>outcomes=>impact
Many foundations have recognized that this system of evaluation has problems. Human systems are inherently complex and require a different approach –a complex adaptive systems (CAS) approach. Foundation-funded interventions and programs take place in a highly interconnected human ecosystem where one action can have multiple effects, can be amplified or dampened, and can cascade into large events for the better or for worse.
Can complex systems thinking transform evaluation from a backward-looking/post-mortem tool to a pro-active, forward-looking method for the assessment of future investment opportunities to maximize impact? How do we define and measure impact? What cost-effective interventions can we design and/or fund that will have the most impact? If success is appropriately defined and the parameters of success are better understood, more effort can be directed toward factors that improve the odds of success. Although SFI has no particular expertise in evaluation systems, much as we have in workshops on history, law and international relations, by bringing together members from the complex systems community, foundations and non-profit practitioners, this event will help foster a dialogue between participants to start exploring these questions.
Examples include:
· Community building/development/management
· Poverty alleviation
· Education
Issues to seed dialogue:
· Timescales: significant delays between intervention and success
· Complexity and multiplicity of pathways
· Inconsistent use of language
· Lack of common measures in the social sector
· Lack of quality data on social impacts, outcomes, outputs, and cost
· Lack of incentives for transparency
· Unintended consequences
· Inadequate utilization
· Cost of measurement
Relevant concepts:
· Complex adaptive systems
· Network science
· Adaptation and learning
· Econometrics (e.g., finding surrogates for variables that can’t be measured directly and/or now)
inputs=>outputs=>outcomes=>impact
Many foundations have recognized that this system of evaluation has problems. Human systems are inherently complex and require a different approach –a complex adaptive systems (CAS) approach. Foundation-funded interventions and programs take place in a highly interconnected human ecosystem where one action can have multiple effects, can be amplified or dampened, and can cascade into large events for the better or for worse.
Can complex systems thinking transform evaluation from a backward-looking/post-mortem tool to a pro-active, forward-looking method for the assessment of future investment opportunities to maximize impact? How do we define and measure impact? What cost-effective interventions can we design and/or fund that will have the most impact? If success is appropriately defined and the parameters of success are better understood, more effort can be directed toward factors that improve the odds of success. Although SFI has no particular expertise in evaluation systems, much as we have in workshops on history, law and international relations, by bringing together members from the complex systems community, foundations and non-profit practitioners, this event will help foster a dialogue between participants to start exploring these questions.
Examples include:
· Community building/development/management
· Poverty alleviation
· Education
Issues to seed dialogue:
· Timescales: significant delays between intervention and success
· Complexity and multiplicity of pathways
· Inconsistent use of language
· Lack of common measures in the social sector
· Lack of quality data on social impacts, outcomes, outputs, and cost
· Lack of incentives for transparency
· Unintended consequences
· Inadequate utilization
· Cost of measurement
Relevant concepts:
· Complex adaptive systems
· Network science
· Adaptation and learning
· Econometrics (e.g., finding surrogates for variables that can’t be measured directly and/or now)
Purpose:
Research Collaboration
SFI Host:
Doug Erwin, SFI and Nancy Deutsch, SFI