A systemic orientation is like a critical exercise. It means naming and questioning boundaries and saying, are those right for our work moving forward?
Emily Gates
Associate Professor of Evaluation, Boston College
About This Episode
In this episode, Matt and Tenille sit down with Associate Professor Emily Gates from Boston College to explore the limits of outcomes-focused evaluation and what it truly means to evaluate systemic change. Together, they unpack the importance of boundaries, perspectives, and stewardship in systems practice, and why evaluators may need to act less like neutral judges and more like facilitators of critical deliberation. Emily invites us to pause, self-critique, and think differently about how evaluation can contribute to meaningful, lasting change.
Key Takeaways
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1
Boundaries are the starting point
A systemic orientation to evaluation begins with questioning the given boundaries around problems, interventions, and what counts as success, rather than simply accepting them.
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2
Systemic change isn't automatic
Running multiple interventions doesn't equal systems change. It requires deliberate, collaborative engagement with complexity throughout the entire process.
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3
Evaluators as facilitators of deliberation
Rather than simply answering questions with methods, evaluators should support ongoing critical dialogue about what success means, whose values are centred, and who is left out.
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4
Stewardship matters
Systems practice requires individuals and organisations to interrogate their professional roles and siloed ways of working, recognising that we all co-create systems every day.
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5
Pause and self-critique
Before rushing to do evaluation differently, the field needs more critical reflection on what it really means to change practice and what our responsibilities are in transformation.
Topics Covered
Resources Mentioned
- Evaluative Inquiry for Systemic Change — Emily Gates and Pablo Vidueira's new book on moving beyond fixes to lasting value
- Evaluation Foundations: Cultivating a Life of Mind for Practice — Thomas Schwandt's foundational text on the big debates in evaluation
- Systems Practice Workbook — The Omidyar Group's practical guide to systems practice
- Open University Systems Thinking and Practice — Courses and resources on systems theory and methods
- Small Arcs of Larger Circles by Nora Bateson — A book Emily returns to regularly for inspiration and new layers of insight
About Emily
Emily Gates
Associate Professor of Evaluation, Boston College
Emily Gates is an Associate Professor of Evaluation at Boston College in the United States. Her work bridges evaluation theory and practice, with a focus on systems thinking, equity, and how evaluation can better support large-scale, lasting change. She is the co-author of Evaluative Inquiry for Systemic Change and brings experience from the CDC and extensive research on the intersection of complexity and evaluation.
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