Developmental Evaluation (DE) was first proposed by Michael Quinn Patton with the support of colleagues who have wrestled with the problem of dealing with complexity in human systems and the need to provide structured, useful, actionable information to make decisions to support innovation. DE has been described as being akin to taking a classic ‘road […]
Developmental Evaluation: A Short Introduction Read More »
Innovating in human systems requires more than ideas, resources, clever strategy or even new thinking; it requires a new mindset. A mindset is a concept that psychologist Carol Dweck has explored in-depth and described a thinking orientation to the world. It’s not set in stone, but rather a lens through which we see our situations and
Building a developmental mindset Read More »
One of the tools within the toolkit of a developmental evaluator is mindfulness. Mindfulness is a disciplined, regular, and persistent means of paying attention to what is going on. It is a terrific means of collecting data on regular activities, particularly in complex environments where it may be unclear what is worth paying attention to.
Mindfulness in Developmental Evaluation Read More »
Attractor mapping is a method that we’ve been developing at Cense for the past two years. It is a method that brings together various concepts to assess where energy is spent within an organization and its network. This complexity-oriented method aims to draw our attention to where emergent phenomena are likely to occur and to
This article draws on a piece originally shared as an invited post on the American Evaluation Association’s AEA365 blog. AEA365 is a daily blog that shares tips, tricks and resources for professional evaluators worldwide and is focused on complexity science for evaluators. Our work at Cense brings together complexity science and design together with developmental
Complexity Science for Evaluators Read More »
