SHOW ME THE CHANGE
Complexity and the Art of Evaluation – Reporting Sheet
Leader: Steton Kantmon
Participants: Amy O’Brien, Pam Beattie, Nicole, Kate Patken, Keren Winterford, Catherine Doran, Natalie Moxham, Jen Orange, Narelle Chambers, Liz Franzmaan, Rob Catchlove, Julie Richmond.
Key Points:
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Drivers |
Barriers |
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Learning |
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SHOW ME THE CHANGE
Complexity and the Art of Evaluation – Reporting Sheet
Leader: Damien Sweeney
Background to Toolbox:
Four councils involved with their project and Swinburne University is the academic partner
Current stage – putting tools together, have piloted some already with participating councils
Phone contact for case studies
Online forum would be useful
Have limitations of evaluation technique is useful
Qualitative is common – interview and qualitative
Cost benefit analysis is useful for CSIRO examples
Attribution – were you influenced by something else or this project? (Categorises the other influences)
Links to online surveys and tips to use that would be useful
Need to say what evaluation to have when ie. Evaluation plan for duration of project
City of Ballarat – project on planning and how engaged people are in programs – would be willing to pilot toolbox
Behaviour Change blog – through conference, could be useful to have this on site for blog
Survey – difficult to follow up on outcomes. Survey monkey is useful
Needs to be able to change the toolbox – not have it static, eg, add case studies, reviews of tools etc – make it interactive
Have volunteer from City of Ballarat willing to pilot the toolbox
Wicki page – people can add their own information and use as a blog
The National Social Marketing Centre in the UK is a good example of an online toolbox
Clear Water – storm water project
SHOW ME THE CHANGE
Complexity and the Art of Evaluation – Reporting Sheet
Leader: Candice Bruce
Key Points:
• Ask for input – pose a question = ownership – outcome
• Run perpetual initiates
– normalise behaviour
• Develop trust
– Adaptation
– Solution focus
– Visuals – “in a perfect world?” Grading from 1 to 10
– where are you now? What are the good things and the learnings? What is one thing that you can do to move forward?
• Collective Social Learning Process – Professor Valerie Brown – “Leonardo’s Vision”
• Spacial marking (buy special chalk to mark on carpet) – participants step in and out
• Structured workshops
– home work before
– brain storming
– objectives – business plan
– options
– time frame
– post-it notes
• Action learning (W.I.L)
• Getting action at the end – pair up – what I’m going to do
– follow up in 2-3 weeks – accountable
• Never make a statement when you can ask a question
• Two ears, one mouth – listening – hear how you are being heard.
• Telling stories about our own journey
– photos – pick a picture you identify with and say why
– share with 1 other person
– then share with the table
• Disposable camera – photos of what are their favourite areas or their home
• Shared Resources:
– “Estelo” specialist training supplier Sydney
– Book – Climate Action – Diesendorf
– Edward de Bono – 6 Thinking Hats
– Storms of my grandchildren – Hanson
– The Rational Manager – Kepner and Tregoe
– “Kids Teaching Kids” Aaron and Richard Wood
– MS Project – Microsoft Excel
• Make time for individual reflection and to do visual stuff
– Role model deliberate actions
• Transition handbook – share slides – use art and participant centred
• Use of PCs – SKYPE – Web Cam – interactive learning solutions
• Conversation Tech World Café – small group, slightly different question
• Avoid Death by PowerPoint – ½ page is read by each – feedback to group
• Lend out lecture notes eg. Harvard – ask for question out of the lecture (day before) – get student to answer questions – 5 minute lecture
• Participants to present chapters in book
• Question – what is in it for them? List main outcomes – collect at beginning, everyone walks out satisfied
• Appreciative enquiry process
• Look for criteria – start where they are at
• Australia Standard on Governance – transition towns: Heart, Head, Hand, grassroots, self-sustaining
• Favourite warm up – yes, but = blocker, yes, and opens up possibilities
SHOW ME THE CHANGE
Complexity and the Art of Evaluation – Reporting Sheet
Leader: Zandy Tibballs
Participants: 12
One open space session was called to produce an inventory of evaluation tools in current practice. The two attached files are the results of that session. Both are in .pdf format.
As I sit here it’s mid-afternoon on the first day on the long-anticipated Show Me the Change Conference. About 180 people have gathered in Melbourne to explore topics and pose questions, share ideas and tools around evaluating behaviour change. I’ve met people with a wealth of experience and others bring new enthusiasm; there’s conversations of all shapes and sizes; there’s the usual challenges of working in large groups.
Chris Corrigan opened space this afternoon and about 40 topics went up on the wall to be discussed today and tomorrow. I can sense more topics brewing.
While many people have experienced Open Space as a process before, for many people it’s their first open space gathering. Open space taps into people’s passion around the topic and enables them to set the agenda (rather than a designated group pre-determining what everyone wants to talk about/listen to). Open space is an example of complexity in action.
Every now and again it’s good to be reminded about what makes open space work. Many of us try and intellectualise too much, and make it more complicated than it needs to be. Harrison Owen reminds us about the four principles and one law of open space, and what these mean in terms of the practice of open space in our lives and organisations.
The Principles:
Whoever comes are the right people
Whatever happens is the only thing that could have
Be prepared to be surprised!
Whenever it starts is the right time
When it’s over, it’s over.
The Law of Two Feet
If, at any time, you find yourself in a place where you are not contributing or not learning, then use your two feet and go somewhere else.
In response to a comment on the Open Space List regarding internalising these principles and law, Harrison Owen, wrote the following. I think there’s great wisdom in this.
I suspect that it is more a matter of remembering what we already know and for one reason or another have chosen to repress. All of this goes with the idea that Open Space is truly not something new and radically different. In fact it is a forceful confrontation with a pre-existing condition. We are already in Open Space by virtue of the fact that we have forever been in a self organizing world (the usual 13.7 billion years stuff).
The Law and the Principles are descriptive of normative behavior in a self organizing world, and therefore Open Space, I think. In short, we do all of the above all the time — unfortunately we usually feel guilty about it, and because of this, we tend to do it/them badly, or at least awkwardly and grudgingly. Thus with the Law: when faced with a nonproductive situation (no learning, no contribution) we always leave (hearts and mind out the window) — but the body remains feeling miserable, and making others miserable as well. Once we get the picture, things work better, and we feel a lot better. But it is not about doing something new, or internalizing some new truth — but rather remembering what we already knew and doing what we should/could have been doing in the first place.
Why bother with all this? Well if nothing else, I think it makes our job as consultants and facilitators a lot easier. First of all we are not inviting our clients to engage in risky behavior. Quite the opposite, we are opening a space in which they can really be themselves. And the real risk is to continue with the non-productive, guilt inducing, dependant behavior. The old Marxist Battle Cry might have some application here (with modification): People of the World Unite — You have nothing to lose but your chains.” In a word — Be yourself!
Hear, hear!
Viv McWaters
