levy rpo2012

Presented by:Melissa LevyYellow Wood Associates

April 26, 2012

Transportation and Measurement

© 2012, Yellow Wood Associates, Inc.

You Get What You Measure®

A values-based facilitated group process developed by Yellow Wood Associates in St. Albans, Vermont, that integrates systems thinking into strategic planning, identifies key leverage indicators and aligns actions to achieve goals.

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Presentation Notes

It combines strategic planning, setting an action plan to reach your organization’s goals, and selection of indicators to measures progress toward that goal.


Selected Applications

National Good Food Network to develop a strategic plan to strengthen regional food systems

U.S. Forest Service, Cooperative Forestry Program Vermont Environmental Consortium (non-profit) Board to

develop and monitor implementation of a strategic plan Northwest Area Foundation to develop a framework for

evaluation of grantee projects Advantage Valley Entrepreneurship Development System

Collaborative to evaluate a three year initiative funded by the Kellogg Foundation

Community Foundation of Greater South Wood County to engage nonprofits and funders in workforce development


Measurement Dilemmas

No measures at allMisleading measuresProcess measures onlyMeasures without context

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Presentation Notes

3 measurement dilemmas: 1) ) No measures – we don’t know why we do it or what we expect the results to be, e.g. Credit Union go to home shows 2) Misleading measures – e.g. poverty 3) Process measures only – so what? 4) Measures without context – no frame – no understanding of what is realistically possible


Strategic Planning Dilemmas

False assumptions: e.g. We all understand the goal to mean the same thing

Arbitrary priorities: e.g. Whatever gets the most dots wins

Unspoken and untested assumptions – limits our sense of what’s possible

Lack of engagement and participatory learning –planning is for managers

Seeing measurement as an afterthought rather than a powerful tool for formative evaluation


Systems Thinking

Systems thinking is a discipline for seeing wholes. It is a framework for seeing interrelationships rather than things, for seeing patterns of change rather than static “snapshots.”

- Peter Senge


Fuels continuous learning through reflection Creates new information and new patterns of information

flow Captures results of risk and experimentation Supports constructive self-organizing behavior Can lead to new and unprecedented conversations,

particularly with information gatekeepers

Why Measure?

Measurement:

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Presentation Notes

Choosing what we will measure and how we will measure it is a creative process. Everyone likes to see progress. Measurement provides tangible evidence of progress which, in itself, motivates us to keep at it. Measurement helps us know where we are now, and to get to where we want to be. Measurement is an iterative process. Measurement is a learning process. Measurement is a creative process. Measurement focuses action.


EXERCISE: Everyday Measures

List a few things that you count or measure as part of your daily life (not connected to work).

Think about how you measure them and what kinds of decisions or actions you take based upon the measurements.

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Give an example and debrief to show relationship of measure to implicit goals, leverage points, and assumptions. Discuss many ways of measuring and how we naturally measure what matters to us and we use the information to direct our behavior. Example: I measure the amount of dirty laundry piling up in my house. The implicit goal is that members of my family always have clean clothes to wear. The key indicator is that the amount of dirty laundry is increasing. The action I take as a result of this measurement is that if there is more dirty laundry than clean clothes, I do laundry. If there are more clean clothes than dirty laundry, I wait. Ways of measuring include: Observation. Research. Instrumentation.


Process Overview

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Presentation Notes

Linking Goals with Values Identifying Key Leverage and Key Results Indicators Developing a Measurement Plan Taking Action Goals which are built on “participants” values (3 types of stakeholders need to be involved) Those whose cooperation is absolutely essential to reaching the goal Those in a position to prevent the organization from reaching the goal Those who will be affected as the organization makes progress towards its goal, but whose cooperation is not essential Note:Everyone has a voice in articulating values, selecting themes, creating goals, and identifying indicators that would demonstrate real progress toward meeting the goal.


Goal

A goal is a condition that you wish to achieve. A goal is not an action. It is not about doing or making; it is about being.

Achieving a goal requires a change in the way your organization or your community looks, feels, andacts.

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Presentation Notes

For example, creating jobs is an activity; being a community in which everyone who wants a job has one is a goal. Goals are usually broadly stated. A well chosen goal should reflect what you really want, not what you think someone else, like a funder, wants to hear.


Goal: From Spartanburg County Foundation

“In the year 2030, 40% of our residents age 25+ have a baccalaureate degree.”

Goal


Indicator

An indicator is something that must be changed, or a condition that must be achieved, in order to claim that progress is being made toward a goal.

Since goals are generally quite broad, there are many possible indicators that could suggest progress toward the goal.

What needs to change?In what direction?

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Presentation Notes

A discussion of indicators is a discussion of values — it reveals how different people interpret the goal. Indicators are most powerful when created and agreed upon within the context of the community organization where they have real meaning to participants.


What Makes a Good Indicator?

If the goal is:Everyone in our community can find rewarding work.• Useful indicator: The number and diversity

of work opportunities in our community are increasing.

• Less useful: Number of jobs in our community.

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If the goal is Everyone in our community can find rewarding work A useful indicator could be More people in our community are satisfied with their jobs A less specific, and therefore less useful, indicator would be Jobs Another useful indicator could be The number and diversity of work opportunities in our community are increasing A less useful indicator that is really a measure would be Number of jobs in our community A third useful indicator might be More local residents are able to find jobs within this community A less useful indicator that is really a goal is People who live in our community work in our community


Indicator

• More early identification of students who have the ability to achieve academically.

• More parent involvement K-12 (16)• Increased high school completion (diploma/GED).• Increased community/parent knowledge, re:

planning for our children to go to college. • More sensitivity on the part of educated

professionals, re: economic disadvantage, social class, family background, children’s family problems.

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Presentation Notes


Indicator

• Indicators are contributed by each stakeholder at the table.

• The relationship between each indicator and every other is decided:– Strong relationship – Weak relationship– No relationship


“In the year 2030, 40% of our residents age 25+ have a baccalaureate degree.”

1 – More emphasis on parent involvement in elementary school. (si-1, di-1, so-4, do-2)

2 – More early identification of students who have the ability to achieve academically. (si-4, di-2, so-0, do-5) KRI #1

3- Eliminate socio-economic cultural prejudices in school. (si-1, di-3, so-3, do-2)

4- More emphasis on quality early childhood education for all birth –5years. (si-2, di-1, so-2, do-3)

5 – More action to break gangs. (si-4, di-2, so-1, do-2)

6 – More parent involvement K-12 (16) (si-0, di-1, so-8, do-1) KLI

7 Reduction of crime county-wide from youth to adult. (si-2, di-4, so-1, do-1)

8 – Increased high school completion (diploma/GED). (si-4, di-0, so-2, do-1)

9 – Increased community/parent knowledge, re: planning for our children to go to college. (si-3, di-3, so-2, do-1) KRI#2

10 – More sensitivity on the part of educated professionals, re: economic disadvantage, social class, family background, children’s family problems. (si-1, di-1, so-0, do-0) KRI#2


More parent involvement K-12 (16)

Key Leverage Indicator


Indicator Analysis

The result Key leverage indicatorsKey results indicators

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Presentation Notes

Check your numbers and spell out words


Assumption

An assumption is a hypothesis about some aspect of the way the world works that we believe to be true. Assumptions can be difficult to recognize because they are often deeply imbedded in the way we think about the world.

The tendency to treat our assumptions as unquestionably true allows them to shape our world and become barriers to innovation and creativity.

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For example, it was once assumed that an electrical signal could not travel more than 100 meters. If Marconi and others had not challenged that assumption, we wouldn’t have wireless communications, among many other things


Measure

A measure provides a way to actually count or value the status of an indicator.

For example, things may be measured in terms of “number of,” “percent of,” “quality of,” “frequency of,” or “rating of.”

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Presentation Notes

To track a measure over time, you must have a unit which defines what you are counting - inches, people, quarts, hours, etc., and a baseline which defines the value of the measure at some predetermined starting point in time.


Steps to Developing a Measure

1. Define the terms in your indicator so that everyone knows what they mean.

2. Determine the baseline. This is the first time you measure it.

3. Determine the unit. What are you measuring? People, percentages, miles, etc.

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Presentation Notes

Note: two assumptions are made clear here.


Using the Results of Measurement

Rule #1:If you don’t know how you are going to use information, don’t collect it. Consider using information to influence decision-makers, educate stakeholders, improve interventions.

Rule #2: Collect information that will be most relevant and useful in achieving your goal. The more closely your measures are tied to your interventions, the more useful they will be. Don’t try to measure too much.


Intervention

An intervention is something you DO in order to achieve your goal. The intervention should be defined broadly enough to involve people in a variety of different tasks and provide opportunities for participants who don’t normally work together to do so.

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Presentation Notes

Successful actions build energy and produce spin-offs. They broaden our perspective and suggest new relationships and possibilities.


Information and Direct Action

• Information action – Letting someone know your situation.

• Direct action – Fixing the problem.

• An action plan should have both.


Choosing Sample Measures

1. What has to happen for it to “count” as progress toward the goal?

2. What are the behavioral changes that indicate progress?

3. What is the baseline that meet the definitions?

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Presentation Notes

What has to be discussed to be meaningful? Is it just calling and introduction? – no. It includes understanding current practices for procurement of regionally produced food. Commitment. Benefits of regionally produced food. Barriers to purchasing regionally produced food. Behavior change – increased commitment and a change in volume procured year to year. Baseline – relationships with suppliers. More volume and more regional suppliers.


Choosing Sample Measures

Framing Measure:

Measure:

Unit of Measure:

Baseline:

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Presentation Notes

Think about how you will measure the number of buyer contacts or conversations that occur over a given period of time which meet the criteria you have established. How will you record and track them? How will you know which ones were successful and which not so much? For example, Framing measure – proportion of regionally produced food that they buy is from regional sources. Measure - # of conversations. Volume of regionally produced food procured. Unit – a conversation. A seller. A buyer. Volume. Act of baseline – informs the buyers and sellers about opportunities. One buyer doing a good job – can be used as an example for others.


Measuring as Action

The act of measuring helps us learn what we need to know to make progress toward the goal.

Measurement can create progress.

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Presentation Notes

The measurement process turns our typical act first, think later behavior on its head by asking us to clearly define our goal, our leverage point, and one powerful measure of progress before we take action. When we do this work in a group, it helps us appreciate the different perspectives, connections, and resources we each bring to the table. The result may be an agreement to engage in one particular action, or it may be that each participant or participating group undertakes a different action, each of which strives toward the same goal. The alternative, to pull everyone together into one action, can also be effective, but only when the group keeps its eye on the goal. Other- wise, a great deal of energy typically gets tied up in the action and it becomes an end in itself. The measurement process helps us re- member why we’re doing this in the first place. Successful actions build energy and produce spin-offs, unsuccessful actions don’t. Since there are always many possible actions that could help us reach our goal, successful actions help us broaden our perspectives and connections and understanding of new possibilities. Unsuccessful actions, in contrast, are self-limiting and result in burnout. A community adopted the goal to increase the number of kids who got through their teens without becoming parents. Although the goal was widely shared, there were significant differences of opinion and philosophy as to how it would best be reached. Rather than fighting over which action was the “right” one, the group simply encouraged everyone to pursue the goal in the ways they thought were best. The result: a dramatic county-wide drop in teenage pregnancies. This type of self-organizing synergy is very powerful, but can only succeed when goals are clearly understood and widely shared, and when there is a willingness to admit to and allow many “right” answers. Clinton County example ???


Key Leverage Indicators

Measures

Actions

Definitions

Measurement Plan

Indicators to Measures to Actions

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Presentation Notes

ALSO ADD A DISCUSSION OF FRAMING MEASURES WITH AN EXAMPLE 1. What type of change in the measure will indicate progress toward the goal? 2. Where will we get the information we need? 3. How will we get the information we need? 4. Can you get the information in a way that encourages the behavioral change you are looking for? 5. Who will collect the information we need? 6. What measuring partners do you need? 7. How much time do you expect it to take? 8. What will it cost to collect the information? 9. Who will analyze the information? 10. How will it be used, by whom, and when?


The Power of Measurement

Allows us to identify and test our assumptions about the way the world works.

Focuses our efforts and helps us align our resources.

Helps us tell our stories to potential supporters.


Strengths of This Process

Community priorities – bottom up planning.

Iterative annual process.

Using experts to inform the process

Engaging a variety of stakeholders

Progress toward goals

Tradeoffs between multiple goals

Measures inform what happens next.

Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. is a woman-owned firm providing services in rural community economic development since 1985. You Get What You Measure® is a trademarked service developed by Yellow Wood. For more information, email [email protected]

Melissa LevyYellow Wood Associates, Inc.228 N. Main StreetSt. Albans, VT [email protected]

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