Do You Read What I Read? by Kylie Hutchinson

My name is Kylie Hutchinson and I’m an independent evaluator with Community Solutions Planning & Evaluation.  Every year I adapt a Christmas carol to share with my colleagues and clients.

Season’s greetings, and enjoy!

Do You Read What I Read?

(sung to the tune of “Do You Hear What I Hear?”)

Said evaluator to the manager,

Do you hear what I hear?

Said in board rooms here and everywhere,

Do you hear what I hear?

Deci-sions made, with-out evidence,

It just doesn’t make any sense,

It just doesn’t make any sense.

 

Said the manager to evaluator,

Do you see what I see?

Sitting in my office everywhere,

Do you see what I see?

Stacks, and stacks, of boring long reports,

Why can’t you give me something that’s short?

Why can’t you give me something that’s short?

 

Said evaluator to the manager,

Listen to what I say,

I can give you just a two-pager,

Listen to what I say,

With lay-ering, it’s really up to you,

You can read as much as you choose,

You can read as much as you choose.

 

Said the manager to evaluator,

Do you know what I need?

Put your key findings in rever-se order,

Do you know what I need?

Recommenda-tions first, then put all the rest,

That would leave me much less stressed,

That would leave me much less stressed.

 

Said evaluator to the manager,

I will do as you say,

To promote use of eval everywhere,

I will do as you say,

Your time, your time, is valuable and short,

I won’t give you a lengthy report,

I won’t give you a lengthy report.

 

Rad Resource:  For tips on more effective reporting and alternatives to the traditional report, check out my new book, A Short Primer on Innovative Evaluation Reporting.

 

Rad Resource:  Liven’ up your office Christmas party with additional Christmas carols for evaluators and nonprofits.

 

Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org . aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.

1 thought on “Do You Read What I Read? by Kylie Hutchinson”

  1. I enjoyed your piece and your strategy of using a Christmas carol to engage others and break the tension. I learned and increased my knowledge by observing the work of those who evaluated my programs. I found it very helpful when it came time to update or change the direction of my program.

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