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“Most Significant Changes”

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Adapted from: Rick Davies - MandENEWS Jessica Dart – Clear Horizon

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“If you knew what was going to happen in advance every day you could do amazing things. You could become insanely wealthy, influence the political process et cetera. Well, it turns out that most people don't even know what happened yesterday in their own business. So, a lot of businesses are discovering they can take tremendous competitive advantage simply by finding out what happened yesterday as soon as possible“ (Steve Jobs, Fortune, 1994:23)

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Why stories? People tell stories naturally - indigenous

Stories can deal with complexity and context

People remember stories

Stories can carry hard messages /undiscussables

But stories not known for accuracy/truth

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Use of stories in MSC Collection of stories + systematic,

collective interpretation = storytelling can be effectively harnessed for participatory evaluation

Because interpretations tell another story & process has beneficial outcomes for evaluation utilisation

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MSC Form of qualitative, participatory M&E

Based on ‘stories’ of significant change

Developed by Rick Davies 1996 - Bangladesh

Now used in numerous development programs and in the public sector

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MSC

• Creates space for stakeholders to reflect, to make sense of complex changes

• Provides dialogue to help make sense of each other’s values

• Facilitates dynamic dialogue ie. “what do we really want to achieve and how will we produce more of it?”

• Excellent for participatory programs with diverse, complex outcomes, & multiple stakeholders

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Purpose of MSC in M&E Primary purpose to facilitate improvement

by: focusing direction of work towards explicitly

valued directions eg. what do we really want to achieve and how

will we produce more of it? Contributes to summative evaluation:

Information about unexpected outcomes Performance information concerning very best

success stories Can inform criteria used to judge projects

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Qualitative vs quantitative monitoringQuantitative

Focus on measurement Closed questions About ‘proving’ Easy to aggregate Deductive Static Goal displacement can

be a problem

Qualitative

Focus on questioning Open questions About learning Hard to aggregate Inductive Dynamic Goal displacement is

not an issue

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Qualitative monitoring

Can be used in conjunction with conventional output monitoring

Is usually more aimed at learning than accountability

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Indicators & their limits

Four types of possible outcomes:

They are expected They are unexpected

They have an agreed meaning

1. Indicators are useful here

2. Unlikely to be developed here

They have a disputed meaning

3. They might be developed here

4. Indicators cannot be used here

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Goal displacement

Not about learning

Don’t tell you what you don’t know you need to know

Limitations of indicator based monitoring

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How to aggregate complex experience?

Example: a bowl containing 2 oranges, 3 apples, 4

bananas, and 1 mango Summary-by-inclusion

There are 10 pieces of fruit in the bowl Find lowest common denominator = fruit

Cost: Loss of interesting detail Summary-by-selection

The mango is rotten, it will spoil the rest of the fruit. Remove it, please

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Practice Now! Turn to your neighbour and ask them

What was the most significant change that took place as a result of the workshop this week? (Get the details)

Then ask them why they thought this was the most interesting.

Document: description (who, what, where, when) explanation (why is it significant) who documented the story (name, position location, date)

Then let your neighbour ask the same questions to you.

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Then… Come to a decision about which of

the two stories you think is most interesting, and identify why you both think so. You may have a number of reasons.

When asked to, tell a group of 8 people the story you chose, and why you did so

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Then… Come to a decision about which of

the 4 stories you think is most interesting, and identify why you all think so. You may have a number of reasons.

When asked to, tell the large group people the story you choose, and why you did so

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The core of MSC A question:

“In your opinion what was the most significant change that took place in ….over the … months”

[describe the change and explain why you think it is significant]

Re-iteration of the same kind of question “Which of these SC stories do you think is the

most significant of all?” [describe the change and explain why you think it is

significant]

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Explaining MSC The first challenge when introducing

it Can be difficult because it is very

different to conventional methods Make use of direct experience Use metaphors Highlight the key differences Explain in terms of stages

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Using metaphors Organisations as newspapers,

with journalists, sub-editors, editors, senior editors, etc

Stories get passed up the hierarchy, but only a few make it to the front page, and only one to the top of the front page

Organisations as amoeba, sensing positive and negative

experiences and moving to and away from those respectively.

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Organisations as amoeba

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How is MSC different? Participants have a choice about what

sort of information to collect

Uses diverse rather than standard data

Information is analysed by all participants, not simply by a central unit

Subjectivity is used rather than avoided

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MSC vs quantitative monitoringQuantitative Focus on

measurement Closed questions Project out About ‘proving’ Deductive Static Inclusive Central tendencies

MSC Focus on questioning Open questions Context in About learning Inductive Dynamic Selective Outer edges of

experience

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Goals

Goal-based evaluation

change

change

change

change

change

change

viewpoint participants

Extent to which they were achieved

From the view point of the program staff + consultation

Program out Context in

From the viewpoint of the Participants

Program

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Explaining MSC in stages1. Defining Domains of Change2. Define reporting period3. Collecting SC stories4. Selection of collected SC stories5. Feedback of the choices made6. Verification7. Quantification8. Meta-monitoring and secondary analysis9. Re-settings of MSC system

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1. Defining “domains” Opposite of SMART indicators?

Like newspaper sections: sports, finance, leisure, business, etc

Defined by how people use them Examples:

“changes in peoples’ lives” “changes in relationships with our partners” “changes in government policy on HIV/AIDS

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Defining domains… Not essential but

Can help structure the selection process

Can help focus on goals of concern Their use tells us how what goals mean

to participants Options

Open window domain Negative changes domain

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2. Set the reporting period “In your opinion what was the most

significant change that took place in ….over the … months

Period used by NGOs varies from 2 weekly, to monthly, to three monthly, and yearly. Three monthly is most common

Time demands on staff is the main constraint on frequency

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3. Collecting SC stories From those closest to the event’s of

concern. But do not exploit people’s unpaid time

Basic format: Description (who, what, where, when) Explanation (why is it significant) Who documented the story (name,

position location, date) Option: Recommendation

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Collecting SC stories… Reminder: Key parts of the question

“Looking back over the last month…” “…what do you think was…” “…the most significant…” “…change…” “…in the quality of people’s lives…” “…in this community?”

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4. Selecting SC storiesS

A G M

B C D E F H I J K L N O P Q R

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Funder meeting

State meetings

Region 1 Region 2 Region 3 Region 4

Story tellers

feedbackflow ofstories

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Selecting SC stories… Task is to read through and identify the

most significant of all the submitted SC stories. Take one domain at a time

Need to decide who to involve: story providers, their superiors, their peers,..

Need to decide whether to predefine selection criteria, or let them emerge through discussion of SC stories

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Selecting SC stories… Must (not optional)

Document what SC was selected Why it was selected Process used to make the selection

Participants Their preferences

[Subjectivity is made accountable through transparency]

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5. Feedback To immediate providers of SC stories,

on what was selected, why selected and process used

Enables adjustment of focus of MSC next time around

A motivational factor

Weakest point in all M&E systems, including MSC

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6. Verification of SC stories What

Factual content & interpretation of facts Why

Encourages some discipline in reporting Enables elaboration and further learning

When When SC story first enters system When selected as MS of all SC When SC stories are publicly used

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7. Quantification Within the SC story

Number of people, events, etc involved

As once–off follow-up to SC story How many other cases like this known

Within meta-monitoring (see next) How many other SC stories like this

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8. Meta-monitoring and secondary analysis Keep all SC stories on record

Meta-monitoring (Recommended) of Changes in numbers of SC stories, who

provides them, whose SC stories are selected, changes in percentage of negative stories

Secondary analysis (Optional) by Categorising and counting of types of

changes reported, and types of explanations given, at different levels

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9. Re-setting of MSC process

Frequency of reporting

Definition of domains to use

Who sorts SC stories into domains

Selection process design: participants & process used

Feedback and follow up

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Where to use MSC? Talk to your neighbour, and

identify where you think MSC Would be most useful, and why Would be least useful, and why

Share this view with the whole group, when asked

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Where to use MSC Not as a stand-alone method Alongside indicator based systems To identify unexpected changes To engage people in analysis of

change To involve a wide range of people To focus on outcomes rather than

outputs

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Finding out more about MSC Original MSC paper (n’th version) is at

http://www.mande.co.uk/docs/ccdb.htm

MSC Mailing list is at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mostsignificantchanges

Rick Davies at rick@mande.co.uk