“So what do YOU do?”
Welcome to the shiny new Flux blog!
My name is Katie Hillman and I want to open this blog with an awesome, troubling, odd, fascinating, and all-around doozie of a word:
EVALUATION.
Also, not coincidentally, it’s what we do here at Flux. Evaluate.
THROWING THE BOOK [I.E. DICTIONARY] AT YOU:
“to determine or fix the value of; or to determine the significance, worth, or condition of usually by careful appraisal and study.”
Uhhh... yeah...but what does it mean as a profession? That is a much more elusive question to answer. During my current stint in M&E (Monitoring and Evaluation), fielding the question of “what I do for a living” has been the most common, and difficult, thing to answer. In the definition above, “careful appraisal and study,” most closely rings true to our task. M&E encompasses many things, but focuses on choosing the appropriate methodologies and questions for each project.
In short, Flux’s mission is to MAKE DATA MEANINGFUL.We help social business, non-profit, and government leaders to integrate evidence and evidence-based thinking into decisions. The vision is that data, evidence, and reflection inspire learning, resilience, and dignity in places of need.
STILL NOT ENOUGH?
Never fear. That’s why it’s a blog and, hopefully eventually, a conversation. I am new to the field of evaluation and am also working to get a clear answer to the question of “what do I do?”. But every day I realize that it cannot easily be defined in a sentence and that is part of its beauty. Feel free to check out our first official attempt at defining ourselves on the Flux website.
Over the next few posts, we’ll take you through some example projects to start to give this broad-reaching idea some real, concrete shape.
WE’RE NOT MAKING THIS UP! WE SWEAR!
Finally, we’re not the only people out there doing this. Evaluation is a professional field with its own, complete with practitioners, professional bodies, rules, and a colorful history. Flux is a member of the American Evaluation Association and the European Evaluation Society, and there are a ton more around the world! The United Nations even recognized 2015 as the International Year of Evaluation.
“The only man who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew every time he sees me, while all the rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them.” George Bernard Shaw
Welcome to our blog and thanks for joining us on our journey of Monitoring and Evaluation in New Orleans!