Category Archives: Learning from failure

Commissioning XGEMs – the sequel

In Monday’s post, Extreme Genuine Evaluation Makeovers (XGEMs) for Commissioning, I discussed a way of kicking off the process of selecting an evaluator for a project by suggesting that well-designed EOIs would often be more informative, less onerous (on both … Continue reading

Posted in Causal inference, Commissioning evaluation, Evaluative questions & answers, Learning from failure, The client's role, Values-based | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The Friday Funny: The “dead horse” evaluation

According to the wisdom of the unattributed traditional saying, passed on from website to website, “When you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.“ We have been studying a particular species of evaluation … Continue reading

Posted in Appropriate inference, Friday Funnies, Learning from failure | 13 Comments

The importance of visible, high level commitment to evaluation

One of the favorite stories I tell about evaluation is about going to meet a senior manager to discuss evaluation and finding him standing on a table in the middle of an open-plan office, with the staff gathered around him, … Continue reading

Posted in Evaluation team composition, Government programs, Learning from failure, The client's role | 4 Comments

The Friday Funny: Community evaluation of bike lanes

This week brings together two issues that seem to be recurring themes in genuine evaluation – dealing with making mistakes and community involvement in evaluation processes. Check out these sites on the world’s worst cycle lanes. Continue reading

Posted in Appropriate inference, Appropriate reporting, Civil society engagement, Friday Funnies, Learning from failure | Tagged | Leave a comment

Business leaders learning from ‘stuff ups’

In response to an earlier post, Caroline Heider asked the million-dollar question: How does one develop .. a culture [of reflective or evaluative thinking] when it is not intrinsic or when incentives exist to share information only about success/the positive … Continue reading

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