All the work for this
project came down to one final presentation to senior leaders. Part of me
wanted to ignore the importance of this meeting because I felt so emotionally
invested in the outcome. The mission of Save the
Children--to make real and lasting change in the lives of children--had become
part of my own personal life mission.
Five minutes before the
meeting, I pulled out a picture of a child in need that touched my heart and breathed
a few breathes. "This is about you, not me. This is about how we can help
you and I promise to do my best."
We began with the three
big questions that woke me up many mornings and occupied my thoughts during
daily runs along the ocean.
How can we consistently
measure progress and compare results for children across programs? We can do
this with the “end-game” evaluation framework. The model is flexible and
lets you decide what goes in each bucket. The key is that the last bucket,
representing program impact, is defined first.
Just as a financial
advisor asks, “What do you want your life to be like when you retire?”
The “end-game” evaluation model asks, “What do you want the lives of children
to be like when the program achieves results at scale?”
Can a 5-20 year plan with
performance targets be presented on one page?
Specifying the
"end-game" helps focus on what matters most over the next 5-20 years.
We can use best evaluation practices, including Save's theory of change, to map
out a critical path for success on one page. This involves answering several
key questions up front.
For example, in terms of
building partnerships, critical questions include, "Who are the most
important stakeholders that need to be involved?" and "What must
happen to involve them?" For innovation, it is important to identify key
elements of program logic, along with assumptions and risks.
How do we relate the
end-game to quarterly progress? Each target can be accompanied by
a qualitative or quantitative indicator that measures quarterly progress against plan. The technical criteria for good indicators can be represented by
the acronym CREAM (Clear, Relevant, Economic, Adequate, and Monitorable
(Schiavo-Campo & Tommasi, as cited in Castro 2011, p3.)
By the end of the meeting,
the leader said, "You earned your spurs today." The dashboard and
roll-out plan received initial endorsement.
I am now back at GSK and
my PULSE assignment is over. The biggest gift came yesterday by email. I
learned that a key milestone in the roll-out plan was reached. Dashboard feedback reports were sent to all stakeholders along with communications
for next steps to keep them engaged. It is with a tear and a smile that I let
go now.
Thank you Save the Children for giving me the opportunity to
work with you and improve the lives of children in need. I will pay this
forward and continue to focus on serving children in need and patients back at
GSK.
