Evidence-Based Management Evolution

Now that you have implemented Evidence-Based Management in your organisation and are starting to see what has gone well and what has not, where should you head next?

Before we start, it is worth saying that there is no silver bullet, and most likely, some actions and ideas can’t be implemented using a blanket approach and would require some adjustments. If you believe it would be helpful for you to chat about your case, don’t hesitate to drop me a message on LinkedIn. I would gladly discuss this and see if we can solve that problem together.

Start with Retrospective

To be honest, this is a common approach that I use and would prefer everyone to use for any situation that has happened and didn’t go as planned, go as planned, or, frankly, any situation. As retrospective is a crucial part of empiricism, collecting evidence that will be considered for future decision-making can’t be very helpful.

Look back at the data you have collected and decisions made, analyse it, and ensure you are getting the most out of it. If you still need to, adjust what you collect and try again. Simple as it is, people and organisations are known for wasting time with an initial idea that might not be valid anymore or provide little to no value in a specific setting.

Once you are done with Retrospective, you will have actions that are specific to your case and context, and we propose to reinforce them with four additional topics that are worth looking at:

• Integration of Multiple Sources of Evidence
• Critical Thinking and Decision-Making
• Systematic Approach
• Organisational Culture and Skills Development

Integration of Multiple Sources of Evidence

Way before an organisation starts its journey towards Evidence-Based management, they have some data collected. Whether it is customer research, financial data, professional expertise or stakeholder involvement of any kind - it is present. The added value introduced by four key value areas (if you are unfamiliar with this concept - we recommend reading the guide to the management technique before reading further) usually provides additional input that creates the challenge itself. To ensure all data is consumed and used to the full extent, ensure you integrate all sources of your evidence.

Integration will differ depending on the organisational context. However, we can definitely say that prioritisation techniques should be used. It is worth remembering that there is such a thing as “too much data,” so make sure you assess if a specific piece of evidence is valuable for a specific situation to prevent looking in the wrong direction.

Critical Thinking and Decision-Making

As a leader, you are responsible for thinking critically and seeing the helicopter-view picture. You cannot be involved in all organisation or team activities, but you are absolutely accountable for being aware of what’s going on.

When the data collected thanks to Evidence-Based management lands in your inbox, this is an opportunity to look at it and ask questions about its quality and relevance to the problem you are trying to solve, whether it is the launch of a new product or a routine operation process. As you get more information, you should start categorising the data and be able to pull specific evidence required for decision-making in certain situations.

While both of these skills are common sense and are expected from leadership on any level, it is hard to implement them in real life and ensure that you live by these values. Always question assumptions, identify biases, and use decision aids to enhance your judgement to achieve the best result.

Systematic Approach

While data can provide valuable insights, it is worth nothing without the actions you will take after consuming it. Therefore, it is a good idea to implement a systematic approach to the decision-making process.

If any monitored parameter requires a repeatable task to be adjusted, it has to be standardised. There is no reason to have knowledge hidden in the heads of anyone in your team. If you can fix the actions on paper and create a stable way of repeating them, do it.

The same goes for an unpredictable event—a good motto is to be prepared for worth. If you believe there might be a bug, create a backup, a plan for building a backup, a plan for reverting to a backup, a plan for creating, and a standardised way of capturing the reasons for a failure.

However, while creating a system, it is necessary to avoid making a local optimisation. If you need to become more familiar with the concept - check our previous article that covers this topic - The Rabbit Hole: Local Optimizations That Harm.

Organisational Culture and Skills Development

Organisational Culture and Skills Development are somehow similar to retrospective - you better consider them at any point in your job (there are cases when you don’t need any of these, but those are not a complex software development process).

Evidence-Based management is going to evolve, and it is going to sustain only if, through the times, you and the tour team can adapt to get the best result out of it. So, a culture of curiosity, feedback, and powerful questions is required. As the system and the world evolve, new skills will be needed. AI is a hot topic right now, and most organisations have to implement it to some extent - the same is true for any new technology or concept that must be adapted. We don’t know what is coming next, but we must build a proper learning muscle to help people develop their skills when needed.

What’s next?

It is always worth sticking to the pillars of empiricism of Transparency, Inspection, and Adaptation to adapt almost any existing framework or process. So, whether you take your actions or try to look at some ideas in this article, make sure you act based on what’s true and revisit your decision frequently to check if they still offer value.