Kevin Starr talks about his article "Don't Feed the Zombies" and how if we focus on measuring reach, instead of caring about impact, we end up doing harm in the world. His vision is a world where you can't get taken seriously if you can't talk about real, measurable change in the lives of people we serve, and the evidence to back it up. "The minute you commit to impact, and a definition thereof, you're starting to be part of the solution." What's a definition of impact? Evidence of change that happened in someone's life, and a plausible description about how your part in that change worked. If we (especially donors) are not accountable for impact, they end up supporting groups that aren't accountable to the people they serve, and are not driving for the full potential of what we can get done in the world. Here are some other links to check out:
Processes and Privilege: How to prioritize innovative local partners in market solutions
Learning Backwards: How decisions we need to make should drive learning agendas
Weekly Screwups: the role of leaders in learning from failure.
What makes dreams impossible: How we can miss the mark on creating programs that last
Mistake Money, Premortems, and other ways to incentivize talking about failure
Raising our expectations: how our pre-conceived notions cause us to fail
A Year of Listening: Why we struck out with social movements the first time we tried
Fourth Quarter Failure: How we got the FY18 budget wrong, and what we're doing now
Look to Line 238: what happens when reporting impact is optional
The Missing 600: Impact we can't tell you about
A plan does not equal progress: Sri Lanka teaching us about new business models
Fences and Cucumbers: Why we need to ask more critical questions
Putting Survivors First: Ensuring that we make the right decisions in tough situations
You are not alone: Learning to apply systems thinking in cocoa projects
How Ebola Taught Us to Take Risks and Make Fast Decisions
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The Commercial Edge: Unleash the Power of People
The emPOWERed Half Hour
Advocacy Scoop Podcast
Social Dallas Podcast
Change Church Podcast
Six Degrees with Kevin Bacon
Nonprofits Are Messy: Lessons in Leadership | Fundraising | Board Development | Communications