0. Overview

What is evaluation to you? What are the first notions that come to your head when you read this word?

Perhaps, you think about impact measurement.

Or about performance reviews and KPIs.

Or about testing whether a desired outcome has been achieved, and how.

What is the essence of evaluation for you?

E-Valuation

To us at Prisma, evaluation is a practice. Just like acting is, capacity-building is, writing is, and all other practices that make up any collective endeavour.

What would the verb in motion be for evaluation, if you didn't think about it.

It would be valuing.

Evaluation, therefore, can be considered the act of 'valuing'.

And the 'e'? It stands, as it does in science - for energy.

E-valuation is the practice of valuing energy flows. This is ultimately what any stakeholder is doing when they evaluate any effort that has been undertaken. They are considering the energy that has been put in, comparing the outcomes generated against what was desired, and conducting an analysis of the value generated.

Purpose

At prisma, our mission is to enabling collectives to undertake intentional action-learning journeys, imbue them with regenerative potential, and make visible the value generated therein for the evolution of multiple levels of stakeholders and orders of systems.

The purpose of evaluation then, is to assist this endeavor in three ways: 1. To enable the groups undertaking these journeys to be clear about what they are valuing 2. To provide tools that make visible the value being generated, and inform analyses and insights that enhance future group endeavors as well as the broader ecosystem of systems change experiments. 3. To enhance the ability of the group to grow as a system by weaving in insights from their own behavior into organizational and personal development

Perspective

As should be evident from the broader narrative of prisma, we are grounded in an ethos of co-creation. That is to say, we are vehemently opposed to the notion of prisma being seen as a parachuting service provider that is flown in by an organization to meet a need, deploys its machinery, derives the required results and leaves with little to no long-term programming in place.

Rather, we see our work as that of facilitators who work with the People, Place and Practice to concoct the ideal recipes for long term, systemic catalysis.

As such, we hold the following perspectives towards evaluation:

  1. Co-creative: What shall be evaluated (variables), how it will be measured (metrics), what level of growth is expected (standards) are all decided in consensus with the community - with processes tailored to match local decision-making practices and actively pulled towards greater self-organization.

  2. Multi-perspectival: While we are stubborn about co-creation, we are also stubborn about ensuring a multi-capital lens to valuing flows of energy. Our approach is premised on seeing, valuing and developing all forms of capital - not just financial and economic.

  3. Developmental: We see evaluation as an ongoing act, not just something that begins when the action is complete. Our tooling is designed to start valuing flows the moment they begin, even before the journey starts, and we are building our capacity to provide stakeholders with live signals and insights into value generation.

  4. Regenerative: The direction of our evaluation methodology is towards seeing potential, rather than measuring effectiveness. We are looking for how (& why) different components of the system are growing, and not just temporary manifestations designed to meet short-term needs. We are placing the capacity, potential and will of the people, the place and life itself at the center.

Implementation Framework

In addition to the above perspectives, we have designed our evaluation methodology by bringing together the following elements into a general framework that can be deployed anywhere in a contextual manner:

  1. The Logistics
    1. When (does Data get Collected for Evaluation)
      1. In response to regular programming
      2. On a regular basis
      3. When emergent events happen
    2. Which (Touchpoints for Data Collection are Used)
      1. Verbose input (reflections, feedback)
      2. Point systems (ranking, rating)
      3. Programmatic data (submissions, sensor readings)
    3. Who (are the Value Generating Entities)
      1. Individuals (acting as sovereign agents)
      2. Communities (groups of stakeholders)
      3. Systems (as understood through ongoing processes)

The above 9 elements form the container for evaluation. These are largely set and do not change from place to place, although the specific nature of each element depends on the case in question.

  1. The Variables
    1. What (is of value to us)
      1. Activities (effort put into doing something)
      2. Knowledge (writing documents, sharing past work)
      3. Space (hosting a session, connecting to a network)
    2. Why (is it valued by us)
      1. Regenerative Shifts
      2. Organizational Growth
      3. Outputs Generated
    3. How (is value flowing through us seen)
      1. Actions ()
      2. Reflections
      3. Attributions

The above 9 elements form the playground within which the stakeholders experiment with value generation and learning. These are simply examples and comprise the template that we offer to each community.

  1. The Delivery

Methodology

Each of the above perspectives are operationalized via simple frameworks to construct a bricolage methodology and a general model for evaluation.

First, we work with the general flow of action-learning journeys to set-up the evaluation cycle: 1. Enrollment: This phase is used to work with the participants and other stakeholders to co-create the variables, metrics and standards for evaluation. 1. Variables are those forms of energy flow that will be focused upon