The Public Sector (or charities) cannot “deliver benefits”. Only people who are willing and able to use the results of the Public Sector’s activities can realise benefits. Don’t dream up, and waste resources on, projects where you can’t be confident the results will be used to achieve benefits
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1. The Public Sector cannotdeliver BenefitsIan J Seath[Version
2]A presentation based onOpenStrategies PRUB-thinking ISC Ltd.
20131
2. InputsPublicSectorOutcomesHow the Public Sector (often)
thinksabout outcomes ISC Ltd. 20132
3. Inputs OutcomesPublicSectorCommunityHow the Public Sector
should think aboutoutcomesOpenStrategies
PRUB-thinking:Organisations run Projects that produceResults, which
citizens or communitiesUse to create Benefits. ISC Ltd. 20133
4. Why the benefits might not be achieved There are inadequate,
or insufficient, Projectsproducing Results linked via Uses to
therequired Benefit The Results of Projects are of no Use, orcannot
be Used There are potentially Useful Results thatarent being Used,
for various reasons ISC Ltd. 20134
5. 4 key questions for service providers What Results
(deliverables) will yourProject/Programme create? Does anyone
intend to use these Resultswhen they get them? What Benefit will
they get from using them? ISC Ltd. 20135
6. A generic Sub-strategy ISC Ltd. 20136
7. Will Projects really lead to Benefits? Each Project must
have cause and effect evidence oflinks through Results and Uses to
at least one Benefit Links from Projects to Results must have
100%confidence Ideally, we should have 100% confidence in the
linksfrom Results to Uses and from Uses to Benefits, but inthe real
world Links from Results to Uses must have at least 80% confidence
Links from Uses to Benefits must have at least 50% confidence The
value of the Benefits must exceed the combinedcost of Projects and
Uses ISC Ltd. 20137
8. Use PRUB to develop a balanced setof measures (&
targets) Example: An organisation that creates (via a Project) a
newlabelling system for foods (a Result) needsconsumers to change
their eating behaviour (Use)before they can hope to see
improvements inhealth, such as reduced levels of obesity(Benefit).
ISC Ltd. 20138
9. Possible Benefits measures % of 5-10 year olds who are
clinically obese Incidence levels of Coronary Heart Disease Wed
want to set targets to reduce both of these byspecified amounts in
a given period Ideally, wed also want to ask end-users howthey
would determine whether or not they wereachieving any benefit; e.g.
% of people who say they have been able to wearsmaller waist-size
clothes, or increase theirparticipation levels in sports ISC Ltd.
20139
10. Possible Use measures % of xyz demographic group who are
aware ofthe new labelling system % of the xyz demographic group who
havechanged their buying and eating habits as aconsequence of using
the system Consumer perceptions of the ease of use of thesystem
(e.g. saying they find it very easy) Note that Use and Benefits
measurements can onlybe made outside the organisation that created
theresults ISC Ltd. 201310
11. Possible Results measures % of foodstuffs covered by the
system % of foodstuffs correctly labelled No. or % of manufacturers
adopting thesystem Manufacturer feedback on the system (e.g.
%saying they are very happy to use it) ISC Ltd. 201311
12. Possible Projects measures Cost of carrying out the project
to producethe results (vs. the budget) Timeliness of achievement of
milestones anddeliverables (e.g. compared with baseline) Number of
person-hours expended on theproject Number, or percentage, of
manufacturersengaged/consulted in the development of thesystem ISC
Ltd. 201312
13. A trail of Lead and Lag Indicators Levels of obesity or
coronary heartdisease will only reduce [Lag] ifconsumers recognise
the need,and then act, to change their eatingbehaviour [Lead]. This
will be more likely to happen ifthe new labelling system is
easilyunderstood [Lag] by consumersand widely adopted
bymanufacturers [Lead]. Achieving that depends on activeengagement
of the rightmanufacturers [Lag] and it needsan adequately resourced
and well-managed project [Lead] to enablethat to be done. ISC Ltd.
201313EatinghabitsObesity
&CHDManufactureradoptionConsumerunderstandingProjectManagementManufacturerengagement
14. Key messages The Public Sector (or charities) cannotdeliver
benefits Only people who are willing and able to usethe results of
the Public Sectors activitiescan realise benefits Dont dream up,
and waste resources on,projects where you cant be confident
theresults will be used to achieve benefits ISC Ltd. 201314
15. [email protected][email protected]/in/ianjseath ISC Ltd. 201315I am
grateful to Dr. Phil Driver of OpenStrategies for his critique of
theseslides and permission to share OpenStrategies PRUB
Thinking.