Devaluating Evaluation
When I asked Google Search to define the word ‘evaluation’, it came up with several definitions,
mostly to indicate that it is a systematic positive process to seek value in something. In the original noble purpose, meaning, sense and spirit, Evaluation is the systematic determination of merit, worth, and significance of something or someone. ... (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaluation)
It is also defined as any effort to use assessment evidence or performance measurements to improve organizational effectiveness.(www.balancedscorecard.org/basics/definitions.html )
If we take-off the letter “E” from the word ‘Evaluation,’ then it becomes “valuation”. So clearly, it was meant to seek value and significance and not to seek faults or deficiencies, as it is usually understood these days.
Spiritually speaking what we see in others is a part of ourselves; deep down, what we think of others is the manifest of what we think of ourselves. When we evaluate a person to be evil, it is the evil part of us, which sees evil in others.
Evaluation are used in various ways, purposes and referred to by various terms such as examination, test, research, assessment, employ’s evaluation, project evaluation, monitoring, audit, IQ tests, and journalistic reporting to think of a few.
On the contrary, to the original spirit, evaluation nowadays is being used rather to devaluate as opposed to illuminate successes. It is for this reason that people feel apprehensive and skeptical about the evaluation. When a person is told that she or her organization is going to be evaluated, a sense of fear and humiliation goes through her spine, even if she has been performing to her best. She would not say WOW. She would say Oops.
The quality of any object changes or alters in the eye of observers based on the perception of the observer. Accordingly to what is known as “Boomerang Concept” which came from Greek mythology, if you believe in someone enough, you can make her or him achieve anything; it is true for the other way round. Therefore, an evaluation done with negative intention creates negative results. Evaluators themselves have their own problem too; they are evaluated and rewarded for being able to find negative, not the positive, aspects. This is why people feel apprehensive about any form of evaluation, whether it is a project evaluation, academic examination or even job interviews.
Therefore, the question remains: how we can make evaluation more interesting, participative and rewarding experience. The solution is Appreciative Inquiry, which can be employed to any evaluation to find the best in the people, their organizations and their surroundings.
“Appreciative Inquiry is the cooperative search for the best in people, their organizations, and the world around them. It involves systematic discover of what gives a system ‘life’ when it is most effective and capable in economic, ecological, and human terms. AI involves the art and practice of asking questions that strengthen a system’s capacity to heighten positive potential. It mobilizes inquiry through crafting an “unconditional positive question’ often involving hundreds or sometimes thousands of people.”
Cooperrider, D.L. & Whitney, D., “Appreciative Inquiry: A positive revolution in change.” In P. Holman & T. Devane (eds.), The Change Handbook, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., pages 245-263.
“The traditional approach to change is to look for the problem, do a diagnosis, and find a solution. The primary focus is on what is wrong or broken; since we look for problems, we find them. By paying attention to problems, we emphasize and amplify them. …Appreciative Inquiry suggests that we look for what works in an organization. The tangible result of the inquiry process is a series of statements that describe where the organization wants to be, based on the high moments of where they have been. Because the statements are grounded in real experience and history, people know how to repeat their success.”
(Hammond, Sue. The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry. Thin Book Publishing Company, 1998, pages 6-7.) In essence, it is high time we change the methods, attitude and the practice of evaluation to make it more welcoming, pleasant, and energizing, and not make it look like some ploy to demean others.
