Tomorrow & Then (Page 2)

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Evaluation’s Journey towards the Future, Part 6. Evaluating yesterday's world for tomorrow’s challenges?

Evaluation’s Journey towards the Future, Part 6. Evaluating yesterday's world for tomorrow’s challenges?

Why are we still evaluating yesterday’s world to plan for tomorrow’s challenges? Evaluation after evaluation describes what happened in the past without grappling with what is emerging. This post argues for a fundamental reorientation of evaluation practice.

The Zoo of Future Risks

The Zoo of Future Risks

Part of a series of thought morsels. This one is fun but also sobering – a look at the colourful menagerie of animal metaphors we use for the risks shaping our future, from black swans to grey rhinos to dragon kings.

Evaluation's Journey towards the Future, Part 5. The Liminal space of Not-Yet Futures

Evaluation's Journey towards the Future, Part 5. The Liminal space of Not-Yet Futures

We live in a liminal space, suspended between what was and what is becoming. Like a cocoon where the old dissolves before the new takes shape, this in-between space is where the transformations we need become possible. What does this mean for evaluation?

Evaluation's Journey towards the Future, Part 4. It has always been political

Evaluation's Journey towards the Future, Part 4. It has always been political

Evaluation has never been neutral. Throughout history, the act of assessing has served as both instrument of control and catalyst for justice. This post examines how power, politics and ideology have always shaped what gets evaluated, by whom, and for what purpose.

Evaluation's Journey towards the Future, Part 3. The tributaries that make up our field

Evaluation's Journey towards the Future, Part 3. The tributaries that make up our field

Evaluation does not flow from a single source. Like a river fed by countless tributaries, it draws from government accountability, Indigenous wisdom, professional practice, academic research, digital innovation and activist movements.

Evaluation’s Journey towards the Future, Part 2. How did we get here?

Evaluation’s Journey towards the Future, Part 2. How did we get here?

From ancient aquifers to modern canals: how evaluation evolved from intuitive human practice into a structured profession. Tracing the currents that carried evaluative thinking from millennia-old traditions into the formalised field we know today.

Evaluation’s Journey towards the future, Part 1: Ancient tributaries

Evaluation’s Journey towards the future, Part 1: Ancient tributaries

As we chart evaluation’s future, its earliest beginnings continue to shape the field. From ancient Egypt’s Nile governance to China’s imperial examinations, from Indigenous knowledge systems to Athenian civic audits – a vivid journey through five millennia of evaluative practice.

“What went wrong with woke?” The problem of measurement and influence.

“What went wrong with woke?” The problem of measurement and influence.

How twisted narratives and simplistic measures can destroy a major effort to do good. This post examines what the backlash against ESG and ‘woke’ culture reveals about the dangers of poor measurement, ideological capture, and evaluation’s role in defending evidence-based progress

The E-T Nexus: Connecting Evaluation and Transformation

The E-T Nexus: Connecting Evaluation and Transformation

Evaluation professionals increasingly work where evaluation and transformation meet – yet few truly navigate this space. This post introduces the evaluation-transformation nexus - evaluation OF, FOR, AS and In transformation - and its use when working on complex change.

Nine Reasons for Hope and Optimism. And why we need to seize this moment.

Nine Reasons for Hope and Optimism. And why we need to seize this moment.

Despite the polycrisis, this is also a time to celebrate. Nine reasons for genuine hope – from shifting power dynamics to regenerative movements – and why evaluation professionals and change-makers should seize this exceptional moment.