The%20Story%20of%20Washington

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The Story of Washingtons Murder(according to
Bill Sutherland)

• 12th Dec 1799 Inspects plantation in snow
• 13th Sore throat
• 14th Dec 200 AM Breathing difficulties
• Mr Rawlins, Estate overseer, provided mixture
  molasses, vinegar
• Mr Rawlins ordered by Washington to remove 0.75
  pint blood
• 1000 AM Dr James Craik, personal physician,
  arrives
• Preparation dried beetles applied to throat
• 1 pint blood removed
• No improvement so another 1 pint blood removed
• Vinegar in water gargle near suffocation
• 2 more pints blood removed
• 300 PM Dr Elisha Dick, prominent physician
  arrives
• 1.8 pints blood removed
• Pulse low
• 1010pm Died

Total gt 6.5 pints removed
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Pierre Charles Alexandre Louis(1787-1872)

• Introduced numerical methods to examine the
  effectiveness of medical interventions
• Showed blood letting ineffective

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How Practitioners Make Decisions Myth ? Anecdote
? Observation ? Comparison ? Replicated ? RRC
Now
Academic
Practitioners
Academic
Future
Practitioners
Source Sutherland 2007
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Measuring Effectiveness An Overture
Measuring Conservation Effectiveness SummitMay
5-6, Palo Alto, California

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Research On Over 220 MeasuresSystems in
Different Fields
6
Business ManagementFamily Tree
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Q1. What Is Measuring Effectiveness?
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Status QuestionHow are Species and Ecosystems
Doing?
?
9
Effectiveness QuestionAre Our Actions Leading to
Desired Results?
?
10
Certification QuestionDo We Meet External
Standards?
?
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Why We Are Focused on Effectiveness
??
The Focus for This Summit
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Q2. What is the Unit for Measuring Effectiveness?

• The fight in baseball between traditional
  managers who use gut hunches/rules and the quants
  over short and long-term actions
• Bunt on this pitch? (seconds)
• Replace this pitcher? (minutes)
• Sign Player X? (years)
• Build a new stadium? (decades)

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Q2. What is the Unit for Measuring Effectiveness?
Conservation Target Wildlife and Habitat
Impacts
Threats
Direct
Time to see an impact
Level of confidence
Indirect
Outcomes
Actions
Outputs
Costs of measuring change
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Q3. How Do You Measure Effectiveness?
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Need to Integrate Measuring Effectivenessinto an
Iterative Project Cycle
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The Basic Systematic Performance Management (SPM)
Cycle
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Biodiversity ConservationProjects Come In All
Shapes and Sizes

• 1. A community fishing ground in the Pacific
• A TNC preserve or provincial park
• Coordinated efforts to manage state and federal
  funding for Puget Sound or Lake Ontario
• 4. The WWF Markets Initiative
• 5. A funders grantmaking strategy for the
  California Coastal waters, or the Coral Triangle

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Similar Concepts, Different Terms
An Excerpt from the CMPs Rosetta Stone Analysis
CMP AWF CI TNC WCS WWF
Biodiversity Targets Focal Targets Conservation Outcomes Focal Conservation Targets Landscape Species Long-Term Goals
Threats Threats Pressures Threats Threats Threats
Objectives Milestones Objectives Targets Project Targets
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Conservation Measures Partnerships Open
Standards Are One Flavor of SPM

• Developed by leading orgs agencies
• Draws on many fields
• Open source common language
• Used around the world

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Q4. How Much Should We Invest inMeasuring
Effectiveness?
SPM does not specify ME Design !!
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The Burden of Proof Depends on Risks,Costs,
and Timeframe for Decision Making

• Generally Invest More in Measures When
• Stakes are high (high cost of error or inaction)
• Potential to leverage learning
• Costs of measures are low relative to actions

Marisla Foundation
Packard Foundation
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Q5. Should We Mandate Measuring
Effectiveness?The Bell Curve Treating Cystic
Fibrosis
Distribution of Cystic FibrosisTreatment Center
Success Rates

• A Surprise The Best Get Better
• Its the centers in the top quartile that are
  improving fastest.they are at risk of breaking
  away. What the best may have, above all, is a
  capacity to learn and adapt and to do so faster
  than everyone else.
• The Bell Curve Leads to Uncomfortable Questions
• Will being in the bottom half be used against
  doctors in lawsuits? Will we be expected to tell
  our patients how we score? Will our patients
  leave us? Will those at the bottom be paid less
  than those at the top? The answer to all these
  questions is likely yes.

BelowAvg
AboveAvg
Best
Poor
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Ultimately We Are Not Competing Within
Conservation, But Against Other Social Causes
Conservation
Worthy Cause A
Worthy Cause B
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Q7. How Do We Roll Out Measuring Effectiveness
Both Internally.
After a guy gave an air ball Six Sigma
presentationthe standard joke was that the guy
decided to leave before his elevator reached
the ground floor.
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Q7. How Do We Roll Out Measuring Effectiveness
Both Internally.and Externally?
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If We Create a Culture of Data Sharing
?
?
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Q8. How Do We Continue this Conversation Going
Forward?
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Our Fundamental Hypothesis
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Our Fundamental Hypothesis
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Measuring Effectiveness Can Transformthe
Practice of Conservation

• Practitioners in field using measures results to
  plan and implement effective projects
• Managers and donors getting better information to
  improve work
• All stakeholders learning from each other
• Increased public support for conservation
• Ultimately, better conservation outcomes