Go placidly amid the noise
Go placidly amid the noise and haste and remember what peace there may be in silence. – Max Ehrmann
Noise and haste! Is there a more apt description of the world right now?
The last few weeks have seen radical changes in our way of life, in how we work and operate in our home and family lives, and how we move and spend our time. We are being constantly bombarded with news, theories and pressure to react and to be productive.
We are evaluators here at ARTD, but humans first. At its best, evaluation is human centred and shaped by the needs of its users. Our focus over the last few weeks has been on connecting with our clients and each other as humans – understanding what is happening for us, what is needed and what responses might be useful.
In this hectic and stressful time, we took the Easter break to pause and rest. We found space for silence, which allowed some peace to seep in.
Returning from the long weekend, we will be sharing – through a series of blogs – what we are seeing, what we are making of that and how the adaptations we make are working. We do this not as experts, but to create an opportunity for learning together. This is important in the current context because, while evaluation has many things to offer – including the capacity to make sense of evidence and insights for decision making – there are ways in which evaluation needs to be adjusted for such a complex and rapidly evolving context.
As we reflect on our own practice, we would like to include the broader community of thinkers and change makers in how we might emerge from this season with a sense of hope for what is next.
Through a series of blogs, we are imagining ways to make the series interactive and we want to hear your voice in the conversation.
To begin, here are some questions to reflect on:
- Where are you at with this?
- What is your hope for emerging from this?
Please don’t hesitate to send your responses to us through our online enquiry system.
Wherever you are at right now, our hope is that you can make some space for yourself. Then, let’s go and figure it out, together.
