aes16

Elizabeth Smith (Litmus)

The cry of the policy makers is think fast we need the evidence now!  In Daniel Kahneman's book:  Thinking, Fast and Slow - Fast thinking is described as immediate, automatic and intuitive; slow thinking is deliberate, effortful and controlled.  In the context of evaluation, it seems obvious that slow thinking is required to ensure that the merit, value and worth of the evaluand are accurately and appropriately judged.  But this implied slow and ponderous pace can make evaluation less appealing when policy cycles are increasingly time pressured. 


Over the last four years, evaluation contracting in New Zealand has shifted from longer-term process and outcomes evaluations to more short-term reviews and rapid assessment.  In this paper, drawing from our experience of completing a number of three and four year multi-disciplinary process and outcomes evaluation in 2016 and our ability to undertake rapid reviews, we reflect on the lessons to be drawn from thinking fast and thinking slow in these differing evaluation landscapes.  We highlight how managing complex long-term evaluations has shaped our evaluation practices and the lessons we take forward into a future that is seeking more rapid and immediate evidence.

The presentation links to the theme of evaluation though the exploration of the differing evaluation landscapes.