Transcription
Often we do things without being clear about the impact we want to have and the assumptions that underpin the activities we're doing. If we're not careful, we can be very busy doing things that don't actually create the change that we want to see. Many organisations and individuals keen to create impact in the world really struggle to make that change happen.
The Theory of Change is a helpful tool to create milestones and targets while showing a logical process of how activities lead to impact.
Meet Danielle, an internationally recognised expert in HIV treatment. Danielle is very active in the HIV/AIDS community. For the past few years, she has been researching the virus in Africa. She was shocked by the number of children who are still infected with HIV every day. Danielle knows there are cheap and effective ways to prevent children from contracting the virus. If only there was a way to help HIV-positive mothers to keep their children healthy.
The problem is that most health centres in this part of Africa are understaffed and don't have the time to teach mothers how to keep themselves and their little ones healthy. Danielle is also aware of the stigma of HIV that causes women to live in fear and keeps them from getting the care they need.
Danielle has an idea to help HIV-positive mothers through a mentoring scheme. Empowered mothers living with HIV would work in understaffed health centres as members of the health care team and provide health education and mental support to other HIV-positive mothers.
Knowing she needs to have a clear idea about what activities are needed and how they will create impact, Danielle has come across a Theory of Change tool and decides to give it a try. She begins by writing down her long-term goal. At the other end of the worksheet, Danielle writes down the current issue that has triggered her to think this way. She finds it useful to take note of the assumptions she made while filling in the worksheet. She then starts working outwards from the defining problem.
Danielle identifies the people that are most affected by the issue and who she hopes would help her with her work. This helps her to identify the stakeholder groups that she needs to influence to achieve her long-term goal. Danielle has identified that women are far more likely to listen to other women in their community and decides to focus her efforts on a mentoring scheme led by HIV-positive mothers.
Thinking about what she wants to achieve, Danielle writes down some practical steps that she can take to make change happen. What would the immediate result be? Danielle thinks of outputs that would help her see if her idea is working and show other people that what she's doing is starting to make a difference. Lastly, Danielle lists the key outcomes that her activity would lead to. These are the preconditions she needs to realise her goal.
The Theory of Change template helped Danielle map out the logical sequence of her initiative, from its inputs to its outcomes, all on one page. Danielle can see all the possible steps she could take to bring her idea to life. She is also aware of all the assumptions that she needs to test along the way, and it can work the same for small projects and for senior executives attempting large organisational change. So if you have an idea for change, why not try to map out your way to impact?