Mark Twain supposedly said, “Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection."
In the philanthropic sector, we seek out opportunities to make a difference. We crave big questions and thorny challenges. Relying on evidence and investigation, we develop hypotheses for how to make a change, and that’s only the beginning.
For any organization that strives to make a positive impact on the world, measurement and evaluation are crucial tools to improve performance over time. Once we act on our hypotheses, these tools allow us to test our assumptions, challenge our thinking and, as necessary, adjust our course in pursuit of our objectives.
Gordon Moore encourages us to “swing for the fences.” As we aim to tackle complex, important problems, we understand the world may change in profoundly important ways that we cannot predict. We work diligently to drive change to a certain scale or scope and understand there are times we may fall short. When things don’t go according to plan – for better or worse – the most important thing we can do is learn from that experience and be prepared to improve the next time.
We can learn a great deal from both successes and failures. Over the course of my career, I have conducted, commissioned, reviewed and received many program evaluations. I have seen firsthand, the value of taking the time to understand what is and is not working, in order to accelerate progress.
As an organization committed to creating enduring impact, I believe we have a responsibility to learn from our success and our failures, and to publish them, so that grantees, co-funders and others can also learn from our experience.
Proactively publishing evaluations enables everyone inside and outside the organization to identify best practices and to benefit from lessons learned. Transparency is not an end in itself, rather, it is a means to demonstrate a consistent desire to learn from our own experience and to extend that learning to the benefit of others.
While perfection remains elusive, we have endless opportunities to learn and improve.
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Thank you for sharing.