Ecosystem Op-Ed blog posts present creative new ideas and visions for the feedback field. They weave together evidence, theory, and lessons learned by the feedback community to discuss current issues in a thoughtful and accessible way. If you would like to suggest a topic for an op-ed or write a guest piece, please reach out to us at [email protected]
“Feedback is great but if you just lived and breathed it – it’s hard to hear.”This insight from one of my clients perfectly captures a major barrier to closing feedback loops. Hearing feedback is hard. Accepting the feedback someone gives you, really considering it and then incorporating it into your actions, is a scary and deceptively difficult thing to do.
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” The iconic pronouncement attributed to Henry Ford is often quoted to support the idea that customers don’t really know what they want.
In today’s complex world strategy needs to be built around questions, not plans. Plans are fine when you already have all the answers and it’s just a matter of organizing resources to execute. But we do not have answers for many of the complex questions we face in aid and philanthropy. Closing feedback loops means accepting we do not have all the answers. And to do that, we need new approaches.
Market development programmes operate in highly complex environments. This isn’t new insight. We spend countless hours and resources analyzing markets. We attempt to create systemic change through behaviour change. We meticulously monitor our progress and (usually, always) prematurely demand results. We acknowledge the need to experiment – to learn better about what is happening ‘on the ground’ and adapt our interventions accordingly.
A few weeks ago, the Olympic swimming heats were playing on the TV in the lunchroom of the OpenGov Hub. I walked past to get something from my desk and on my way back realized, to my mild consternation, that in the seconds it had taken me to walk to and from my desk, a distance of no more than 10 feet, the lead swimmer had swum more than 50.
Maria del Camino Hurtado September 2, 2016 This post was originally published on USAID Learning Lab and is reposted here…
Like spaceflight, truly putting citizens at the heart of development – whether in the US or internationally – can seem impossibly complex. It is one thing to set out to close feedback loops, to want to genuinely adapt based on what citizens tells us they want and need.
By Renee HoJanuary 29, 2016 Patient records. Long considered property of the doctor’s secret trove where facts about you went…
A Response to “What is my role in the story of poverty’s end?”
Renee Ho | March 21, 2016 Recently, a flurry of people pointed me to the most peculiar and amazing website…