CORE Group GHPC15 October 9, 2015 SBC Workshop: Behavior Change in the Age of Complexity: Implications for Monitoring and Evaluation

1. Working
Backwards
(not backwards thinking)
Ann Hendrix-Jenkins
Palladium
Soon: Health Policy Plus
October 9, 2015

2. Capacity
Development
Systems
Thinking
Social
and
Behavior
Change
M&EOther
Sectors
Community Level

3. * Local here
means…

8. “The aid game is changing: you are now in a
facilitating and brokering role.” (vs. expert)
– USAID
CD 1.0—training individuals. CD 2.0—supporting
organizations. CD 3.0—systems approach
Strengthen capacity, measure performance.
–David Jacobstein, USAID
USAID FORWARD, Local Systems
8
Immediate implications

9. Outcome
Harvesting
9

10. 10

11. What is Outcome Harvesting?
Ricardo Wilson-Grau, Heather Britt, et al ~ Ford Foundation
Connected to Outcome Mapping
Harvest = “what changed, for whom, when and
where, why it matters to the development
objective—the significance of the change—and
how the program contributed to the change.” WB
Stakeholder-centered, qualitative, tacit knowledge
Process…
Works backwards.

12. What is an “outcome”?
“Observable changes in the behavior,
relationships, activities and actions of
social actors, who in turn were defined
as individuals, groups, organizations or
institutions that were influenced in a
small or large way, directly or indirectly,
intentionally or not by [your project
here].” (BioNET evaluation)
12

13. Six Iterative Steps
1. Design the Outcome Harvest.
2. Gather data and draft outcome
descriptions
3. Engage change agents in describing
outcomes
4. Substantiate
5. Analyze and interpret
6. Support use of findings
--Wilson Grau, Britt
Today’s Mini-
Harvest
activity

14. Today’s Mini-harvest
Consider the evidence and match
each to the two outcomes
Do they build a convincing case?
What else might be needed?

15. Mini-harvest Results
What can METSI and SBCHealth
learn about their intervention?
Do you see relevance of this
methodology to what you do?

16. World Bank conclusions re: OH
Capture tacit and
contextual knowledge
from program
implementation
Use for systematic
learning to maximize
benefits of
interventions
Triangulate outcomes with
other data to validate
results, particularly for
small projects
Seek evidence and
lessons from an
implementation process
Use for client reporting on
results and promoting
learning by doing

17. 17

18. 18

19. 19

20. Root Change example, Nigeria
STAR Index: measuring
degree to which
National Anchors and
Cluster Members
improved organizational
capacity to effectively
work as an advocacy
cluster as a result of the
SACE* program.
20
Change Types
1. Adaptive Voice and
Accountability Strategy
and Tactics
2. Knowledge Exchange
3. Monitoring and Evaluation
4. Member Engagement
5. Member Development
6. Alliance Building
7. Innovation &
Experimentation
8. Public Awareness
*Strengthening Advocacy and
Civic Engagement

21. Capacity
Development
Systems
Thinking
Social
and
Behavior
Change
M&EOther
Sectors
Community Level

22. Systems Thinking & M&E
• Barrier: Seems impossibly complicated
to some, i.e. What is a system? How to
draw bounds?
• Iteration and adaptation rather than
linear planning and execution
• Contribution not attribution
• Unintended outcomes are likely and
important—with M you can pick up en
route and iterate.
• Less proving, more improving. (Tx Janine)

23. Systems Thinking at Community Level
• Community is a system. (Duh!)
• How can systems thinking spotlight
additional “local” stakeholders?
• Implication of “Strengthen Capacity,
Measure Performance”? What is
community capacity? What does
community performance/outcome look
like?
• Capacity to contextualize, adapt, self
renew

24. System-oriented M & E as part of
capacity development process
for sustained transformation.
• Aligning understanding (constructivist,
schema, concept mapping—early and
often)
• Systematic thought, critical thinking
• Peer learning, dialogue
• Adaptation
• Innovation
• Integration (connecting dots skill set)