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Session Title: The Adaptive Action Cycle: Bridging the Gap Between Lessons Learned and Lessons Applied
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Panel Session 550 to be held in BOWIE A on Friday, Nov 12, 10:55 AM to 11:40 AM
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Sponsored by the Systems in Evaluation TIG
and the Human Services Evaluation TIG
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| Chair(s): |
| Mallary Tytel, Healthy Workplaces, mtytel@healthyworkplaces.com
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| Discussant(s):
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| Mallary Tytel, Healthy Workplaces, mtytel@healthyworkplaces.com
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| Abstract:
Human Systems Dynamics helps individuals and organizations see and influence patterns of interaction and behavior that surround them. Using a collection of concepts, processes and tools, practitioners can better understand what is happening in everyday connections. The Adaptive Action Cycle (AAC) is a process which asks three simple questions: What? So What? and Now What? These questions can assist program managers and evaluators in capturing good information about what currently exists, recognizing and shaping patterns and behavior, and allowing them to think about change and intervention in a different way. Lessons learned are only part of the solution. Using a community-based case study, this session will follow a multi-tiered process of data collection, analysis and decision making to demonstrate an approach to bridging the gap between lessons learned and lessons applied.
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A Case Study on Adaptive Action in Education
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| Royce Holladay, Human Systems Dynamics Institute, rholladay@hsdinstitute.org
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Knowing family mental health is critical to children, representatives from Minneapolis Public Schools and Hennepin County received a grant to provide therapy to immigrant families whose children were in their shared systems.
At project’s end, they wanted to identify lessons learned for this project and for their partnership. I met with healthcare administrators, project trainers, and psychologists who provided direct services. They used a timeline of events, describing individual and shared experiences in the project. The Adaptive Action Cycle (AAC) questions framed their responses. Ultimately we compiled a picture of activities, insights, and perceptions of these professionals.
The AAC brought coherence to responses among the groups, reducing variability in responses. It also provided a way to see how individual and systemic responses influenced patterns as they completed the project. From these findings, the client has made recommendations about the future of this partnership and applicability of some funding requirements.
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Translating Lessons Learned Into Lessons Applied
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| Mallary Tytel, Healthy Workplaces, mtytel@healthyworkplaces.com
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The field of Human Systems Dynamics uses a collection of concepts and tools to assist practitioners in better understanding what is happening in their everyday situations. One such tool is the Adaptive Action Cycle. By exploring this method, we see how three simple questions help program managers and evaluators capture information, recognize similarities, differences and relationships across space and time, think about change, and make critical decisions. Similarly, the idea of Lessons Learned also examines how knowledge emerges from program implementation and evaluation. Stakeholders familiarly use lessons learn to identify and measuring differences and improvements based upon what they have done. Where there is commonly a gap, is in the shift from lessons learned to lessons applied. Using the Adaptive Action Cycle, we will illustrate how smooth, user-friendly and efficient that transition can be for practitioners and stakeholders alike.
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