Sharing Negative Results From Evaluation

It isn't surprising at all when organizations from social sector refuse to share negative results from evaluation, as the stigma attached to failures could be overwhelming. For many, it means the loss of reputation, possibly subsequent loss of support and funding as well. But for those prominent organizations involved in large-scale social programs that could influence public policy and create lasting social impact, they may have no option in avoiding to share. The reality is that we're still a long way from getting all to be open in sharing negative results from evaluation.

Ideally, we hope all organizations will perform evaluation, then take action to improve and also share negative results to inform program effectiveness and for collective learning. But the scenarios below are probably more familiar in reality:

1. Evaluate and act on findings but reluctant to share in order to avoid losing support/ competitiveness 
2. Evaluate but refuse to accept negative results, no major change in strategy or willingness to share 
3. Do none of the three key tasks seriously and simply rely on marketing hype to gain support 

There's a great deal of interest in social sector to move toward the ideal direction, and it's necessary not to be trapped in the belief that organizations that tackle social issues carry the sole burden to do more in evaluation. It's really counterproductive for funders/ the public to react negatively to the first hint of program ineffectiveness, or we simply withdraw support for those organizations that admit falling short on delivering promises without much patience although we acknowledge the complexity of social issues tackled by them. Critics also used to complain about over reliance on feel-good stories without solid data, isn't it partly our faults for demanding quick and positive results only? We are simply given what we're obsessed about.

It's obvious that broader measures are needed if we want more to come forward in sharing results from evaluation. It's really beyond developing evaluation standard and infrastructure, the mindset and perception change of all stakeholders in social sector matter equally. I think what we used to say in enterprise environment is also relevant in tackling social mission – “Experimental failures are simply not fundamental organization failures but necessary for breakthrough.”