Reorganizing outcomes sites into Outcomes Central September 18, 2007
Posted by Paul Duignan in : Blog info , add a commentWe’ve just reorganized our outcomes sites to make them more accessible to users. Outcomescentral.org now lists and describes our integrated set of six outcomes sites - a one stop shop setting out just about everything one might want to know about outcomes. Outcomes theory - the concepts behind all outcomes systems; Systematic Outcomes Analysis - a comprehensive applied system for working with outcomes; DoView - outcomes software for working with outcomes and evaluation plans; Easy Outcomes - a user-friendly approach applying Systematic Outcomes Analysis using DoView; Outcomes Models - a collection of outcomes models (program logics, strategic maps, ends-means diagrams) you can download, play with, amend and use for your own projects; this Outcomes Blog you’re reading here - new thinking about outcomes, strategy and evaluation; and finally a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page which is designed to head you in the right direction to get what you want from our set of six integrated outcomes sites. (more…)
Introduction to Outcomes Blog July 30, 2006
Posted by Paul Duignan in : Blog info , add a commentThis blog is about outcomes theory, evaluation, indicator monitoring, performance management, evidence-based practice and related topics. I specialize in these areas. While these topics sound a little dry, getting outcomes systems right has lots of implications for the workplace, politics and life in general. For instance, many of us have to struggle to convince our employers or other stakeholders that we’re delivering the results they want, sometimes its because we’ve not delivered; but on many other occasions it’s because we’re working with a poorly designed outcomes system. Looking wider than just the world of work, we can find areas where aspects of outcomes theory can help us understand what is going on around us. For instance many, if not most, of the disputes we read about in politics are arguments about attribution (who can prove who actually caused what) and accountability (who should actually be praised or blamed for causing it).
A general approach to thinking about outcomes systems of all sorts has now been developed (outcomestheory.org). It’ll appeal to those who’re interested in a comprehensive way of analyzing the concepts behind outcomes or performance management systems of all types. Any feedback from those who are interested in such theory would be appreciated. For those of you who are more hands-on, there’s an applied system based on outcomes theory called Systematic Outcomes Analysis (systematicoutcomesanalysis.org). Elements of this approach are currently being applied in a range of organizations and sectors and I’ll be talking about some examples of how it can be applied on this blog along with many examples of issues in thinking about and decision-making around outcomes.
Paul Duignan (outcomesblog.org)