Appreciative-Leadership

Chapter 4
The Evaluation Story: Appreciative Organisation, Appreciative Leadership and Appreciative Inquiry
9. New people who enter the organisation – and many have over the last 12 months – comment on how different
it feels here compared to other organisations
10. Powerful questions are being used to deal with challenging behaviour and to explore thinking and possibilities
11. Additional concepts such as Transactional Analysis have proved highly effective for people in their whole life
In summary, the Appreciative Leadership Development Programme has given leaders within the organisation a
common language and methodology to enable them to engage with challenging economic, structural and delivery
targets, in a way which takes care of people as well as process. It has not yet been implemented everywhere
across our diverse organisation. However, the culture is changing, and we are determined to retain our values and
our vision.
My Story: Evaluation
Fiona MacNeill, Founding Director of Fiona MacNeill Associates
Not everything that counts can be measured. Not everything that can be
measured counts.
Albert Einstein
Evaluation is an important process for business performance management in all organisations. This is especially
the case for a development consultancy like Fiona MacNeill Associates (FMA); a values-driven organisation that
needs to be accountable to its customers. The Einstein quote has provided some level of permission over the
years not to measure as much as we should measure. Furthermore, certain things that can be “felt, experienced
and perceived” also need to be taken into consideration. Stories matter as much as numbers, and numbers matter
as much as stories.
The incredible learning journey that has accompanied this piece of evaluation has allowed a better understanding
of what is possible and the importance of real, robust evaluation at all stages. It has also highlighted gaps in
knowledge, understanding, information gathering and data analysis.
The more you ask about, the more you need to ask about, and the less you really know!
I offer a heartfelt thank you to everyone from LCFT, FMA and beyond, without whom we could not even have had
this conversation, this learning and the opportunity to do it better the next time.
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