FAQ+-+How+to+shift+from+a+logic+model+to+a+systems+approach?

Underlying the principles for assessing and learning about network impact is a shift from the “logic model” view of the world - which is a common approach to evaluation thinking at many large foundations - to a systems orientation. It is shift from a perspective that assumes linearity, pure objectivity, and controllable comparisons to one that understands networks as complicated webs of relationships embedded in complex, messy systems.

The chart below looks at both approaches in their extreme. The point isn’t to overthrow the first in favor of the latter. Rather, it’s to look for opportunities to artfully blend both approaches depending on what your situation calls for.

Adapted from presentation by Ben Ramalingan, “Evaluation and the Science of Complexity,” NORAD, May 2008.
 * **Logic model approach ** || **Systems approach ** ||
 * Predictable outcomes; can be controlled || Expected and unexpected outcomes; can be cultivated ||
 * Evaluation for funder audience || Evaluation for and by network participants and others working in the system, including funders ||
 * Evaluator and funder control the evaluation and design || Evaluator and funder collaborate with network participants to shape a process that will contribute to network learning and adaptation ||
 * Evaluator and funder control data and information || Network controls and owns data and information ||
 * Evaluation focused on linking cause and effect || Evaluation focused on surfacing patterns that can help the network learn ||
 * Generalizable /replicable insight || Context-specific insight ||