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Session Title: Evaluating the Wicked: Implications of the "Wicked Problem" Concept for Program Evaluation and Organizational Leadership
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Panel Session 922 to be held in Huntington C on Saturday, Nov 5, 12:35 PM to 2:05 PM
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Sponsored by the Non-profit and Foundations Evaluation TIG
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| Chair(s): |
| Gayle Peterson, Headwaters Group Philanthropic Services, gpeterson@headwatersgroup.com
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| Abstract:
Many of the issues addressed by philanthropies and public agencies that hire evaluators - issues like poverty, global epidemics, food security, and climate change - are classic "wicked problems": they have multiple root causes and defy clear definition; attempted solutions are a matter of judgment and are likely to generate new, unpredictable problems; and they involve many diverse stakeholders, all of whom have different ideas about the problem and its solutions. Since 1973, when Rittel and Weber introduced the idea, the concept of wicked problems has stimulated a large body of research and practice in fields such as management, planning and organizational behavior. The presenters suggest that the concept has important implications for the values of the agencies attempting to address them, as well as for the design and conduct of program evaluations.
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The Culture of Leadership in the Context of Wicked Problems
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| Gayle Peterson, Headwaters Group Philanthropic Services, gpeterson@headwatersgroup.com
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The values underlying an agency's culture and the way it undertakes its business reflects its leadership. Gayle Peterson will provide an overview of leadership issues which an evaluation team needs to consider when designing, implementing, and reporting on evaluations in the context of wicked problems. Co-founder of the Headwaters Group Philanthropic Services, Peterson brings more than two decades of experience in philanthropic leadership and multi-sector collaboration. She is currently an Associate Fellow at Oxford University's Said Business School, where she is exploring innovative approaches to global philanthropy. Peterson and Sherman are writing a book on wicked problems in philanthropy, "Good , Evil , Wicked: The Art, Science, and Business of Giving," which draws on interviews with 1000 global givers. Peterson's presentation will set the stage for the next two presenters.
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Evaluation of Leadership and Organizational Values and Culture
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| John Sherman, Headwaters Group Philanthropic Services, jsherman@headwatersgroup.com
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Evaluating wicked problems starts with evaluating the leadership and organizational cultures of the agencies attempting to solve them. John Sherman will discuss evaluation approaches and experiences he and his firm (Headwaters Group) have used in evaluating leadership and organizational cultures, and the lessons learned from those efforts. With experience in managing nonprofits and foundations as well as over fifteen years in evaluating them, Sherman brings first-hand leadership and on-the-ground evaluation experiences along with an empathetic understanding of how to communicate evaluation approaches and lessons to leaders.
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Evaluation and Double-Loop Learning
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| Edward Wilson, Headwaters Group Philanthropic Services, ewilson@headwatersgroup.com
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With 25 years of experience in evaluation research and a background in Social Systems Sciences, Ed Wilson (currently a Senior Evaluation Fellow at Headwaters) makes the case for an approach to evaluation that encourages critical reflection on problem frames - the assumptions and values that underlie the formulation of a wicked problem and the choice of solutions. Evaluators typically set out to assess the effectiveness of programs without systematically questioning underlying assumptions and values. Such "single loop learning" evaluations play a useful role, but there is an equally important role for evaluations aimed at "double-loop learning," which engage stakeholders in processes to reveal, question and rethink underlying problem frames. In fact, many evaluations serve to facilitate double-loop learning even though they are not explicitly designed to do so. Wilson suggests that a more intentional approach to double-loop learning can help organizational leaders and evaluators more effectively cope with "wicked" complexity.
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