A series on avoiding or solving big problems that can happen in evaluation
Some of our readers know that I started my professional life as a case manager in Florida’s foster care system, where I dealt with real emergencies – those that affected the health and safety of children – several times. This experience helped me form a mantra when I began working with organizations evaluating their work: there is no such thing as an evaluation emergency. That mantra helped keep stress levels down for our clients and our staff, and remind us that evaluation is an opportunity to learn, grow and improve.
While problems in evaluation would rarely (ever?) be considered an emergency, problems CAN happen. This series will focus on problems that we’ve encountered over the years – either those we’ve made, or those that we’ve been asked to fix. I hope you’ll enjoy the series, get a few laughs, and find ways you can avoid these problems in your own work.
NEXT: Disaster #1: Maybe you shouldn’t be able to take all your data with you
