I’ve spent a lot of time over the last decade thinking about, experimenting with, and refining tools for planning in complex, adaptive settings. As we put together Spark’s Adaptive Planning Toolkit, I’ve had the opportunity to reflect back and think about the genesis of the tools and what we have learned over the years. I …
Category Archives: Complex Systems
Community Engagement: Nine Dos and a Don’t
There is power in voices coming together to protest a broken system or to heal communally after a system has hurt them, whether through hashtags on social media or through US Representatives raising their hands in protest on the floor of the House. But there is greater power in listening to those who stand to …
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Evaluating Complexity: Developmental Evaluation in Collective Impact
With a half dozen Collective Impact evaluations in the last year alone, it’s becoming second nature for me to think about the complexity inherent in evaluating Collective Impact. The model’s emphasis on a shared measurement system has been both a benefit to evaluation and a hindrance. Sometimes I find that recognizing the need for shared …
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Spark’s New Year’s Resolutions to Support Sustainable Change
Don’t you just love thinking up New Year’s resolutions? I know I do – they’re so full of the rich promise of that makes Change, capital C, so alluring. A fresh start – an opportunity to draw a line in the sand and say, “On the other side of this line, things will be different!” …
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Systems Transformation for Underserved Populations – The Colorado Daylight Project
Systems transformation, which we explore further in our Resources for Igniting Systems-Wide Change Blog, can be applied to just about any type of population with a defined need. In this week’s blog, we’ll explore how one project is approaching systems transformation for a particularly underserved population: the deaf and hard of hearing in Colorado. This …
Resources for Igniting Systems-wide Change
Change agents throughout our country are transforming service delivery systems – they are changing how human services, health, and mental health provide care. Some of these transformations go by the name of Medical Home and others call themselves Systems of Care. Regardless of the name, transforming systems is a difficult process. As you undertake transformation …
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Why should we focus on building systems versus programs?
What is Systems Building? Those of us who work in social service related fields, like subsidized housing, early childhood education, and child welfare hear almost constant references to “systems building” from our funders, policymakers, colleagues and evaluators. Is systems building just another “jargony” term with a limited shelf life? The answer is no: while systems …
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Braiding Your Funds: Tips and Tools
Braided funding is when you use multiple funding streams utilized to pay for all of the services needed by a given population, with careful accounting of how every dollar from each funding stream is spent. This blog will introduce you to a “Coordinated Finance Plan” – a tool for designing a braided funding approach that …
Blend or Braid
The terms blending and braiding are used frequently, often together, and generally with little definition. However, they refer to two very different approaches to fiscal coordination. Rather than lump them together, let’s pull them apart and identify the settings where each is most useful. Next week, we’ll explore some tips on how to develop your …
Introducing Spark Policy
At Spark Policy Institute, we are dedicated to helping communities and policymakers solve complex problems. The Spark blog will focus on concrete strategies and actions you can take as you seek to make a meaningful difference on issues that are challenging, complicated, and critically important to you and your community. What are complex problems? …