I love the way you phrased this question—in fact, one of the reasons why I’m such a big believer in theories of change (so much so that I wrote an introductory explainer about them) is that they are excellent for revealing strategic mistakes in a client’s thinking.
A frequent pitfall I come across is that the originators of an organization or program often fall in love with the solution rather than the problem. By that I mean they see a problem, think immediately of a very detailed solution for that problem—whether it’s a software platform, some other kind of technology or innovation, an adaptation of an existing idea to a new audience or environment, etc. -- and get so invested in executing on that solution that it doesn’t even occur to them to think about modifications or alternatives that might have higher potential. Alternatively, the solution can become so embedded in the organization’s identity that people who join or lead it later on see the specific manifestation of the solution as the organization’s reason to exist rather than the problem it was trying to solve or opportunity it was trying to take advantage of.
This often shows up when doing a theory of change for a program or organization years down the line after reality has caught up to the original vision—day-to-day activities, carried out by employees or successors and shaped through repeated concessions to convenience or other stakeholders, often imply a very different set of goals than are stated in the mission or vision statement! For that reason, when doing a theory of change, I try to encourage clients to map backwards from their goals or the impact they want to create and forget for a moment about the programs that currently exist, to encourage them to see a whole universe of potential solutions and think critically about why they are anchored on one in particular.
I love the way you phrased this question—in fact, one of the reasons why I’m such a big believer in theories of change (so much so that I wrote an introductory explainer about them) is that they are excellent for revealing strategic mistakes in a client’s thinking.
A frequent pitfall I come across is that the originators of an organization or program often fall in love with the solution rather than the problem. By that I mean they see a problem, think immediately of a very detailed solution for that problem—whether it’s a software platform, some other kind of technology or innovation, an adaptation of an existing idea to a new audience or environment, etc. -- and get so invested in executing on that solution that it doesn’t even occur to them to think about modifications or alternatives that might have higher potential. Alternatively, the solution can become so embedded in the organization’s identity that people who join or lead it later on see the specific manifestation of the solution as the organization’s reason to exist rather than the problem it was trying to solve or opportunity it was trying to take advantage of.
This often shows up when doing a theory of change for a program or organization years down the line after reality has caught up to the original vision—day-to-day activities, carried out by employees or successors and shaped through repeated concessions to convenience or other stakeholders, often imply a very different set of goals than are stated in the mission or vision statement! For that reason, when doing a theory of change, I try to encourage clients to map backwards from their goals or the impact they want to create and forget for a moment about the programs that currently exist, to encourage them to see a whole universe of potential solutions and think critically about why they are anchored on one in particular.