Visualize 2016! Over the last decade or so, strategic planning and evaluation geeks like us have been watching the dawn of a golden age of evidence-based decision making-- and it looks like that trend is only going to accelerate in 2016. At TrueBearing, we think a big part of our job to is to put actionable [...]
I had the opportunity recently to attend a solidarity rally in support of the Charleston 9 at First A.M.E. Church in Seattle. The room, though packed and sweltering, was filled with an overwhelming sense of a community unifying for change. It was powerful. Among the speakers was Dr. Sheley Secrest with the Seattle- King County NAACP. Dr. Secrest’s work focuses on economic development, and she spoke of a meeting at Boeing in the wake of significant recent layoffs. When she asked about data on who was being laid off – by race, hire date, and so on – she was told “Boeing doesn’t track that information.” For me, Dr. Secrest’s observation resonated as another example of data (or in this case, its absence) being used as a weapon. In The Current we recently reflected on the weaponization of data as part of a conversation with our friends and colleagues, Vu Le and Dr. Jondou Chen. Data can be weaponized, as well as the absence of data – and in some ways, this latter form is more insidious. […]
One tool we use in our strategic planning and evaluation work with clients is called a data visualization dashboard. Dynamic and interactive, a data visualization dashboard, or “viz,” displays an organization’s key performance indicators at a single glance. More than that, a viz allows a user to quickly ask their own questions of the data, making interacting with your data painless (and even fun!). […]
Today, hundreds of Federally-funded drug and alcohol-focused community coalitions operate across the United States, joined by many others that rely primarily upon state or private funding. The watchword these coalitions share is prevention, and the overriding challenge they live for is to offer effective support for our nation’s youth in living a healthy and drug-free lifestyle. At conferences, in online events, and in our work with such coalitions, there is a key question on everyone’s mind: “What preventive strategies work most effectively in our distinctive community, and how do we know whether we are succeeding?” As an evaluator, I think those are great questions. Really, they comprise the bottom line for any strategic effort. I also believe that these coalitions are in an excellent position to answer these questions—not in the abstract, but in terms of their own community, their own neighborhoods, and the youth they know and seek to serve. It is possible to discover what works—and what doesn’t work—to achieve a particular prevention goal in a particular community. I believe this for two reasons. […]
As you can see, there was plenty of fist-pumping excitement for evidence-based decision making and organizational readiness yesterday at the the Nonprofit Practices Institute Summit in Chelan WA! It was great to hear the stories of so many dedicated nonprofit leaders who attended from throughout North Central Washington, and to learn about the good work they are doing. TrueBearing’s Dr. Nathan Brown offered double-header workshops: Moneyball for Nonprofits and Ready = Willing + Able. The presentation decks are available, with plenty of supplementary information and practical resources on EBDM and organizational readiness- take a look and put them to good use! Thanks to the Community Foundation of North Central Washington for sponsoring this event! […]
We’re on the road with Moneyball for Nonprofits at the Washington Nonprofit’s Shaping the Conversation conference in Bellevue WA. Lots of energy among the folks attending our workshop about the use of an evidence-based decision making approach in strategic planning, action, and evaluation. The full presentation deck has plenty of supplementary information and practical resources– take a look here, and start your organization on a path to better decisions! […]
TrueBearing is pleased to announce several exciting workshop opportunities coming up at two statewide conferences next month. May 13, 2015: Join us at the Washington State Nonprofit Conference at Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, Washington. Dr. Nathan Brown of TrueBearing will present Moneyball for Nonprofits: Bringing your Strategic Plan to Life through Evaluation. Moneyball is the story of a ragtag baseball team that found itself unable to compete with big teams in terms of talent or finances–so they used the predictive power of carefully selected data to chart a startling and remarkably successful new path. The “moneyball” approach to strategic planning has come to the world of nonprofits. This workshop offers a practical understanding of how you can revitalize your nonprofit’s strategic planning using the emerging principles of evidence-based decision making (EBDM). Drawing on real-world examples and practical tools such as the free online Decisional Strengths Index (DSI), this workshop will offer insights that you can put to work right away to improve the way your organization plans and makes decisions. Register here! May 18, 2015: We’ll offer two workshops at the Nonprofit Practices Institute Annual Summit in Chelan, Washington: […]
In case you somehow missed it, Moneyball is a 2011 movie based on the book by Michael Lewis. Based on a true story, it depicts a baseball team, the 2002 Oakland Athletics, that found itself unable to compete with teams that had three times their team payroll. Facing the collapse of his club, manager Billy Beane realized that relying on the traditional insights of scouts simply wouldn’t result in a competitive team given the budget the A’s had available. Instead, he turned to the most unlikely of advisors, a statistician who never played baseball but who had a deep understanding of two things: 1) what measurable events best predict wins (primarily runs scored), and 2) what individual performance statistics predict those runs. Using the power of data, Beane could identify low-cost/high impact players that scouts overlooked. The result (spoiler alert!): this radical “Moneyball” approach rocketed the underdog Oakland A’s into the playoffs– at a fraction of the salary of the teams they competed against. It’s an inspiring story, with potential application in many fields (no pun intended!). The Moneyball approach is starting up in several sectors: you may have heard of evidence-based policy (government) or evidence-based practice (medicine and mental health). We prefer “evidence-based decision making,” characterized by a potent strategy to make effective decisions through the use of data. The ideas in Moneyball relate to key decisions that leaders face. […]
We're always on the lookout for data being used in engaging and accessible ways, and this data visualization is a great example. It's not just a pretty image - click to drill down and explore specific outcomes that DFCs are reporting state by state. Kudos to shalini ajayan for this viz!
We’re always on the lookout for great sources of useful data, and particularly sources that visualize information in visually arresting ways. So we are really pleased to be able to share one such resource: the Opportunity Index. The Index is a website sponsored by the national coalition Opportunity Nation. Offering snapshots of the educational, economic and civic opportunities available across the country, the Index is capable of drilling down to the state and county levels to provide a remarkably nuanced picture. Fair warning: Do not click on the link to the Index unless you have some free time, because I promise that you will find it difficult to tear yourself away from this fascinating site! […]
