What is common between Gates Foundation and a world-class learning organization?
You might ponder over the probable responses ranging from development of respective constituencies, various programs they run for their capacity & capability building in societies and individuals to even billions of dollars of investments they make annually to their respective constituencies!
Remotely would you ever guess the most appropriate common thread that runs along in both of these organizations- Outcome Investing! Simply put, it's a philosophy that states and I quote from the website of Gates Foundation, "From the outset of the grantmaking process, we work with partners to define the overall results we hope to achieve and the data needed to measure those results. We call this approach outcome investing."
As you can make out from the above definition, it comprises of consultation with stakeholders (partners), defining expectations (results) and measurement of results (metrics)- Aren't these the very strands of the DNA of a world-class learning organization?
I have been contemplating of penning down this piece for some months now and my cadence of conviction around the theme got louder the more I interacted with learning professionals across the globe and from various industries. My standard theme of conversation with such professionals has been
"Output-obsessed or Outcome-driven?"
There has been an almost-defined pattern of response leaning towards the former. Various metrics are rattled out instantly such as- Learning hours, Learner population, Course uptake %, Content reuse, Learning expenditure and the list goes on. In fact, the prominent annual survey & research reports such as SOIR (State of the Industry Report by ATD) or the CIPD's Learning & Development Survey, all point towards such metrics and benchmarks. No wonder, most of the learning leaders are comfortable talking such metrics and success measures. Things are further compounded and perpetuated as few business leaders confront their learning leaders on the outputs. You can read a related post here which I wrote some years back explaining why it's imperative on the part of the learning leaders to trade the learning-lingo with the business counterparts! It appears that the world around the learning fraternity in most of the organizations have transformed very little!
In such a scenario, it does make sense to look outside and draw inspiration from unrelated quarters and hence my port-of-call was an unlikely canvas- Gates Foundation! Watch out this theme video on Outcome Investing as a philosophy of philanthropic investments by the foundation. It appears straight out of the classical learning-professional's manual. Let's step back and ask the fundamental question 'Why do today's progressive NGOs need to be highly outcome-centric?'
Robert M. Penna who specializes in measurement for the nonprofit sector and the author of The Nonprofit Outcomes Toolbox, Wiley, 2011 explains why it makes a business case for the non-profit organizations to incorporate charitable results into its rating system. Just think of the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation and other philanthropists such as Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. They look for data-driven causes to back with their fortunes.
Before I go on to the next section of 'Hows' you, as a learning leader, can integrate robust framework for measurement and evaluation of your learning initiatives, it would make perfect sense to revisit the fundamentals of the terminologies. These are beyond semantics and jargon. Knowing the nuanced distinction will help all in the fraternity.
Inputs: All the ingredients that go into producing various formats of learning programs, tracks and contents either by the internal function or stakeholders or the external partners.
Outputs: Any form of intervention or program that is designed and developed with the inputs taken and is implemented as learning interventions
Outcome: The short to medium term shift on the defined objectives as a result of a well-executed output
Impact: Relatively long-term positive and negative, primary and secondary long-term effects produced by a development intervention, directly or indirectly, intended or unintended
For those of the uninitiated practitioners of M&E (Measurement & Evaluation) the above terms might sound confusing and difficult to discern distinctively in practice. The following example might help
In case 1 of the above example, an organisation might carry out eye operations in the field (outputs) in order to improve sight (outcomes/impact). But it might also train local partners to carry out the operations (case 2) to a higher standard – in which case the training is the output and the carrying out of effective operations by partners an outcome. So what on first inspection seems to be a clear deliverable – the carrying out of effective eye operations – may be an outcome of an organisation’s work in different circumstances. As you can see the context of activities and expectations does play a clear role in improving the understanding. Having taken the academic tour of M&E in learning's context, it would make sense to reason out why most of the L&D folks develop cold feet when it comes to M&E and what could be done about it.
- The L&D fraternity itself must take the rigor of learning and specializing in the matters of M&E. Here specific credentialing can help. You can look up to ATD's Learning Impact Certification.
- The consulting skills of learning professionals must leapfrog. If you have a thorough performance consultation with your business stakeholders and hold them and yourself accountable for specific and clear objectives, your M&E will shine through
- Most of the learning professionals and the organizations want to spare themselves from the rigor and discipline of M&E. They are happy singing the tunes from the 'Smiley sheets'. Here your role as an ace L&D pro will help.
- In many cases the business stakeholders are also to be blamed for this sorry state. They simply want to escape from their own accountability towards their share of disciplined execution. For them learning and development initiatives are good medals to flaunt but 'earning their wings' as learning evangelists is perhaps way too much for them!
You might wonder that given all these constraints, how do you achieve 'Ctrl+Shift_ Outcome'? Classical frameworks such as Kirkpatrick's 4-levels of evaluation or Jack Phillips' ROI model might offer help. Some of the more contemporary thoughts are refreshing though they flow out of consultation and evaluation philosophies. No matter what is your approach, there's no denying the fact that M&E efforts will be fully effective and achieve desired outcomes provided the professionals and practitioners have certain distinctive skills beyond the knowledge of these technicalities.
Enter storytelling in M&E!
Humans are hardwired for stories. No matter which stage or status of life we are in, we all love and engage through stories. Corporate and business life is no different. The power of business storytelling is gradually but surely catching up in most parts of the world. Your business stakeholders for any learning & development intervention will receive the M&E outcomes through storytelling much more naturally than any surveys or feedback. The prerequisites are logical yet simple,
- A robust consultation with all stakeholders to uncover effectively the nature and extent of the 'pain-points' your intervention seeks to alleviate
- Getting a buy-in from all to agree on the 'what good looks like' for the output and why does that matter
- Crafting a compelling narrative around why the existing state of affairs is a 'villain' that needs to be overpowered by the 'heroic act' of your intervention's outcome
- Getting the participants present their narratives of successful implementation and application of their learning- these should carefully selected to weed out chaffs from the grain. You might also need to educate and build capabilities around storytelling for the audience.
- Visual narratives and anecdotal interviews are great ways to present the stories.
I will love to pen down a structured blog around storytelling in M&E separately. The above road-map, however., can be a great starting point for you to consider.
No matter which M&E philosophy we buy-in and what we practice, it's emergent and absolutely ripe for the L&D and HR folks to announce
'Ctrl+Shift_ Outcome'
I solicit your your insights, views and critical comments to the above so that the tribe of L&D practitioners can truly find their space under the sun!
This post was first published as part of LinkedIn article on 6-Sep, 2018 and can be accessed here https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ctrlshift-outcome-sadhan-k-bhattacharya-cplp-acc/
