A Theory of Change approach to developing strategy

A t heory of change and creat i ng st rat egy:

Mo Wi l t shi re Chi ef Execut i ve Ki ng’ s Col l ege London St udent s’ Uni on

The next 45mi ns . . .

• Shar i ng our st or y of Theor y of Change

• Show and t el l of wher e i t t ook us

• Aski ng i s t hei r val ue i n j oi ni ng up t heor i es. . . ?

WHERE WE WERE MARCH 2013

16 mont hs ago. . .

• Goi ng i nt o f i nal year of t hr ee year st r at egy - sense t hat not wr ong di r ect i on but how coul d we be sur e i t s r i ght :o Gaps o Di f f er i ng wei ght i ng of pr i or i t i es and

obj ect i ves o Boar d chal l engi ng – ar e we t hi nki ng bi g enough?

• How had we got t her e . . . r ef l ect i ng on l ast exper i ence t hr ee year s bef or e

o Cl ear dr i ver - St at us Quo = unaf f or dabl eo Commi t t ed t o basi ng st r at egy based on what

st udent s t ol d us. . . But . . .

. . . naggi ng f eel i ng - how do we know we asked t hem t he r i ght t hi ng . . . ?

Ah- Ah moment

• And t hen meet Jen Har t , UCLU f or Cof f ee. . .

What i s a t heory of change?

• What : A t ool or f r amewor k f or wor ki ng out what i s most i mpor t ant f or us t o f ocus on.

• How?o Asks; what i s t he pr obl em t hat we, as a char i t y,

exi st t o sol ve?o What does our v i s i on of success/Changed worl d l ook

l i ke?o Maps ‘ what wi l l i t t ake?’ t o get t her e as a whol e

( not j ust what we can do about i t )o Def i nes our ‘ t heor y’ / bel i ef s/ assumpt i ons on what i s

needed t o af f ect t hat changeo Al l ows us t o wor k out what we don’ t do, what we do

wi t h someone el se, what we l obby someone el se t o do and what we f ocus on doi ng our sel ves.

o Then map agai nst what we cur r ent l y do t o l ook at pr i or i t i es of what we st ar t , cont i nue and st op doi ng

o Addr essi ng gap bet ween t he t wo = st r at egy

OUR JOURNEY

The prep: June/Jul y/August1. Pr act i sed t hi nki ng bi gger

o Sect or wi de dr y - r un - Kent , UCL, Ki ng’ s at Casso War m up wi t h Boar d – Ri char d Br anson pi t ch et c –

agr eement on pr ocess and t i mel i ne upf r ont .o War m up St af f pr oj ect t eam – r emi ndi ng our el ves what

we al r ady know about our member s sur veys, anal ysi s et c NSS et c

1. Got t he r i ght peopl e i n a r oomo Boar d and Depar t ment al Leads wor ked t oget her f or

k i ck of f i n Sept ember and Away Day i n Febr uar yo Recr ui t ed st af f vol unt eer s t o j oi n Depar t ment al

Leads and of f i cer s as ‘ Bi g Pl an wor ki ng gr oup’ t o devel op i n bet ween

1. Booked hel p – Car ol i ne Copeman – cr edi bi l i t y and f aci l i t at i on. NUS Resear ch.

The t hi nki ng bi t : Sept ember

• One ( l ong) day – gr oup sessi on Boar d and Depar t ment al Leads f aci l i t at ed by Car ol i ne Copeman of Cent r e f or Char i t y Ef f ect i veness, Cass Busi ness School o NUS Sect or wi de r esear ch, o I nt r oduced Theor y of Change concept ,o Test ed dr af t SU wi de one o Then gr oup wor k:

• What pr obl em do we exi st t o sol ve?• What woul d i t t ake t o sol ve i t ?

The di gest i ng bi t : Oct ober

• Dar kened r oom t i me – i nescapabl e

• Looki ng f or t hemes f r om gr oup wor k and ext r act i ng assumpt i ons

• Test i ng wi t h seni or t eam and of f i cer s

• The r esul t : a wor ki ng dr af t t o t est wi t h member s and st akehol der s

Our change and our t heory bei ng t est ed v 1

( Oct )

Masl ow’ s Hi erarchy of Needsht t p: //www. si mpl ypsychol ogy. org/masl ow. ht ml

KCLSU’ s St udent s’ Hi erarchy of Needs ?

KCLSU ‘ Theory’ of change: t he Assumpt i ons

• Educat i on i s of val ue t o soci et y as wel l as t o t he i ndi v i dual s t aki ng par t i n i t

• Educat i on i s most f ul f i l l i ng when i t i s a soci al experi ence

• The mor e di verse t he soci al exper i ence t he mor e val uabl e i t wi l l be

• I nvol vement i n shapi ng an exper i ence makes i t mor e f ul f i l l i ng

• Ther e i s a hi er ar chy of needs t o be met• Bei ng accept ed f or who you ar e at Col l ege

i s a basi c need

The t est i ng ( November/December)

• Wor ked wi t h Li zzi e Bone and t he t eam at NUS – ver y hel pf ul i n t est i ng our t hi nki ng bef or e t est i ng st udent s

• Wor ked wi t h James Rober t son t o map val ues of member shi p – ver y hel pf ul on how and pr omi nence of val ues

o Pur pose – check i n wi t h t heor yo Under st and wher e member s’ needs cur r ent l y met

and wher e noto To i nf or m pr i or i t i sed f ocus f or next 5 year s

These are t he st at ement s l ess agreed wi t h, i n part i cul ar, f eel i ng abl e t o shape ot hers experi ence at Ki ng’ s Col l ege London

Agreement with following statements about King’s college London as a place to study

(bottom 6)

Base: 1034 respondents

C2. To what extent, if at all, do you agree with the following statements about King’s College London as a place to study? Please use the scale below to confirm how strongly you agree or disagree with each statement.

Online Survey

I feel engaged in social or developmental opportunities in London

My day to day life impacted by concerns about funding , housing, health, immigration, safety,

family

% Respondents

Strongly agree

Agree

Neither

Strongly disagree

Disagree

I feel connected to the wider academic world

I feel able to shape others experience at King’s College London

I feel prepared for and connected to the outside world

I feel confident I can lead change

Schwart z vi a Robert son: t est i ng val ues

St akehol der Market Research - Who shoul d do what ?

Col l ege

Uni on Bot h Nei t her

Meet i ng basi c needs such as f ood, housi ng and saf et y

42. 9% 0 38. 1% 19%

Suppor t i ng . . . wi t h f aci l i t i es, t eachi ng and st udy mat er i al s

68. 2% 0 31. 8% 0

Engagi ng st udent s i n devel opi ng t hei r academi c exper i ences

36. 4% 0 63. 6% 0

Engagi ng st udent s i n soci al or devel opment al opps i n London

0 36. 4% 63. 6% 0

Suppor t i ng st udent s t o f eel comf or t abl e t o be t hemsel ves at KCL

4. 5% 4. 5% 90. 9% 0

Suppor t i ng st udent s t o bui l d a sense of bel ongi ng at Ki ng’ s Col l ege London

9. 1% 4. 5% 86. 4% 0

Suppor t i ng st udent s t o devel op a connect i on t o t he wi der academi c wor l d

45. 5% 0 54. 5% 0

Ensur i ng st udent s f eel abl e t o shape t hei r exper i ence at KCL

0 9. 5% 90. 5% 0

Ensur i ng st udent s f eel abl e t o shape ot her s exper i ence at KCL

0 19% 71. 4% 9. 5%

Ensur i ng st udent s f eel pr epar ed f or and connect ed t o t he out si de wor l d

13. 6% 0 86. 4% 0

Suppor t i ng st udent s t o f eel conf i dent t hat t hey can l ead change

0 22. 7% 77. 3 0

Fi ni shi ng t he t heory and st art i ng st rat egy ( Nov/Dec)

• Bi g Pl an Wor ki ng gr oup end of November t o agr ee pr i or i t i es t o expl or e i n f ocus gr oups and st akehol der r esear ch

• St r at egy and mi nce pi es: o Theor y conf i r med o Bi g Pl an Wor kshop on:• What do we do al r eady ( mappi ng)• What Coul d we do ( i deas gat her i ng)• What wi l l be our deci s i on maki ng

cr i t er i a f or what we Shoul d do

Workshop out comes 1.mappi ng of current

f unct i ons

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Fi ni sh t he t heory and st art i ng st rat egy ( Jan)

• Shar ed mar ket r esear ch but not Theor y of Change o wi t h whol e st af f t eam – st ar t ed i deas gat her i ng

pr ocesso wi t h member shi p – comms and AGM

Meanwhi l e i n a dar kened r oom• Devel opi ng st r at egi c t hemes:

o Mapped exi st i ng f unct i ons agai nst Theor y of change

o I dent i f y do, l obby, s i gnpost , l eaveo St ar t ed t o dr af t st r at egi c pr i or i t i es based on

st r ands of t heor y of change • Col l at ed t he ‘ Bi g Pl an Bi g Packs’ –

f i nance, usage, Col l ege st r at egy, PESTLE anal ysi s f r om Gr aeme Wi se

Exampl e Workshop out put s: who does what ; St rand 2?

• What shoul d we:

o Do

o Lobby

o Si gnpost

o Leave t o Ot her s?

Checki ng i n on t he draf t ( Feb)

• Boar d and DLG• Spl i t t wo hal ves – ‘ no br ai ner s’ i . e.

St uf f t hat l ogi cal l y f l owed f r om Theor y of Change and mappi ng.

• Bi g Quest i ons t hat need t o gi ve di r ect i on on i n or der t o shape st r at egy:1. Why do we r un commer ci al ser vi ces – t o f und

wor k t hat achi eves our change or i s i t par t of achi evi ng change i t sel f ?

2. Engagi ng member s i n uni on deci s i on maki ng - i mpr ove what we’ ve got or i nvest t i me and ener gy i nt o t hi nki ng di f f er ent l y

3. How f ar do we i nvest i n our et hi cs – do we i nvest i n bei ng a London Li v i ng Wage empl oyer f or al l our st af f and i f so when?

WHERE WE ARE IN JULY 2014

TOP TIP

Check your ground work i s i n pl ace

• Desi gn buy i n i nt o your T of C pr ocess – so t hat t he val ue of t he ext r a t hi nki ng t i me i s c l earo Boar do St af f / of f i cer wor ki ng gr oup

• Bal ance t i me/ ener gy of t heor y and st r at egyo Thi s i s not an MBA di sser t at i on exer ci se

• Be cl ear on l anguage/ def i ni t i ons o We f ound gl ossar y wi t h exampl es and exer ci ses

ver y hel pf ul• Bui l d i n t i me t o make i t l ook ni ce

t hr oughout pr ocess ( i f you can)

KCLSU Language: i n a nut shel l

SOMETHING TO PONDER

A secret weapon?

• Thi nk t hr ough who t o i nvol ve i n Theor y of Change pr ocess and who j ust i n st r at egy devel opment st age

• Test : Check googl e i mages f or t heor y of change and see how many make sense

QUESTIONS FOR ME AND FOR YOU?

Quest i ons f or me and f or you?

• Anyone el se used i t and woul d l i ke t o shar e exper i ences?

• Ar e any of you t hi nki ng of usi ng i t – i f so any concer ns?

• I s t her e val ue i n t heor y of change f or t he SU sect or as a whol e . . . I f so what woul d i t t ake t o make i t happen?

Thank you

• Mo. wi l t shi r e@kcl su. or g