What is your 'impact personality'?
What is your ‘Impact Personality’? Not all motivation is the same…
Not all motivation is the same
Across the social sector – secular charities, faith-based organisations, and socially-minded businesses – the importance of measuring and communicating your positive impact is either already non-negotiable or is quickly becoming so.
And yet successfully doing this on the ground – whether in one-off commissioned impact evaluation work or internal on-going evidence gathering – is still elusive to so many.
There are many reasons for this, but one that is perhaps less understood is that the rising tide of cultural change around the importance of impact evidence appears a lot more unified than it is.
If you look below the surface, instead of there being one driving motivation to measure impact there are actually many distinct motivations. The problem is that as well as being distinct, some actually drive in mutually exclusive directions.
Like human personalities in the workplace, when gone unnoticed these differences cause delays, disagreements, and an inability to make change within an organisation even if it appears that everyone wants the same thing.
Through our Impact Strategy Workshops, we’ve identified a clear pattern of six different motivations around measuring impact. To bring these to life we’ve turned these into six ‘personalities’ that you might find present within your organisation.
We’ve also identified two specific dynamics in which they compliment or clash: their focus on accuracy versus practicality, and their focus on learning versus confirming.
As you read these personalities through, ask yourself two questions. Which ‘impact personality’ (or personalities) are you? And which can you recognise in colleagues within your organisation?
The Scientist
If you fit the “scientist” personality, impact measurement is about truth, and reliable truth at that. There’s no desire to prove a point you already believe and you’re open to what your organisation does being ineffective and needing to change. The ‘scientist’ wants a high level of measurement accuracy and is focussed on learning what is true and what is unknown.
If this is you, your strength you will bring is a focus on quality measurement that stands up to scrutiny. Your weakness may be that the methods you wish to use may not work in the realities of organisational life.
The Practitioner
If you fit the “practitioner” personality, you want impact evidence to help you do what you do on the ground in a more impactful way. You do your roles to make a difference and you want information that will help you support other people more effectively. You usually want a very practical and simple method of measurement, and one that is focussed on learning new helpful things you didn’t already know.
If this is you, the strength you will bring is knowing what insight is actually useful internally, not just externally. Your weakness may be that you experience more formal evaluation methods as burdensome and limit your ability to do your role.
The Strategist
As a “strategist” personality, you need impact evidence to plan for a better and more impactful organisational future. You are less interested in data itself and more interested in insight that is actionable at a decision-making level. You probably lean towards accuracy over practicality, but are especially focussed on learning answers to key strategic questions.
If this is you, your strength you will bring is a focus on ensuring data turns into organisational trends that are useful for critical decision making. Your weakness may be that you find the pace at which reliable trends can be found too slow.
The Accountant
If you are the “accountant” personality, then you know that current funders and supporters are often tomorrow’s funders and supporters, and you want impact information to tell them how you’ve used their money well. You probably have no view on measurement quality but are inclined to focus on confirming to funders that the impact you said you had has happened.
If this is you, your strength you will bring is a focus on ensuring data is collected that respects and is oriented to those who currently fund you. Your weakness may be that you don’t see the immediate value of learning what isn’t working or being open-minded to evaluation asking difficult questions.
The Campaigner
As a “campaigner” you are fully sold on your organisation. Fundamentally you believe it has and will continue to have an impact based on what you know. You want impact measurement to get content that persuades others to get on board and support you. you probably don’t have a view on measurement quality as long as it produces content that mostly confirms what you know to be true anecdotally.
If this is you, your strength you will bring is a focus on ensuring evidence is presented in a form that can actually be made compelling to the outside world. Your weakness may be that you assume the data will be easy to find and collect, and may be closed off to data that shows things aren’t working as you thought they were.
The Fundraiser
As the “fundraiser”, you know without a shadow of a doubt that the funding world is changing and impact evidence is required to secure money. Therefore you need impact measurement to give you answers to the specific questions that funders are asking. You are focussed on the level of accuracy the funder asks for, and are highly oriented to confirming the narrative case for support of the organisation.
If this is you, your strength you will bring is a focus on ensuring impact evidence is aligned to and accessible for fundraising bids and appeals. Your weakness may be that your wishlist of evidence may be impractical to collect on the ground.
Knowing where each other is coming from
Organisations wanting to grow and expand their impact measurement work need to know which motivations and personalities are present, and where the power lies among them. Without this awareness and the result will be a hidden power struggle, often resulting in a lack of progress and satisfaction with your impact work.
To make progress, all personalities present need to have a seat at the table in working out how and why the organisation does impact measurement. Each needs to be acknowledged and respected, and then decisions made as to which motivation will be given priority.
Eido Research exists to help faith-based organisations measure and improve their impact. We do this through impact strategy workshops, and impact evaluation services.
