Step 2. Build your Change Pathway
- Nicole Mc Neilly
The Change Pathway is a tool to ideate, document and present the relationship between the things that you do and the impact that you have. It helps you to understand the relationship between the investments you are making (resources) and the impact you contribute to.
Intended Learning outcomes
This page is designed to help you:
Explain key terminology used in the Impact Playbook and in the Change Pathway
Clearly say what you want to achieve through your impact assessment or design process
Use the Change Pathway and its different sections as a tool for Impact Design
How do I use the Change Pathway?
You and your team will now develop several Change Pathways for one or more stakeholders. You will start to identify the changes that you think will occur or have occurred in the short-term for your stakeholders. The Change Pathway will help you set out a logical path between your activities and these changes. You can do this in a workshop or small meeting setting, or by yourself.
Download the Change Pathway canvas as a PDF for brainstorming and workshops
Download an Excel version of the Change Pathway canvas that you can start to use to document the results of your workshops
Step 1. Get to know the terminology
The Impact Playbook introduces a lot of new terms. There are a number of key terms that you really need to get to know. Learn more about the different terminology used in the Impact Playbook.
Test yourself with the Impact terminology quiz!
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Step 2. Clarify what you are using the Change Pathway for and what you want to achieve
What type of impact design process are you doing? This will change how you approach the Change Pathway exercise.
Are you:
1. Designing a impact-centred project from the start?
Use the Change Pathway creatively by identifying the impact that you want to create and the short and long-term outcomes that you need to see to help you get there. When you have agreed these, you can then start to design the activity that will deliver these outcomes, as well as to design the impact assessment to measure how you get on.
You might find it easier to start your Change Pathway working from left to right. You might start thinking about the stakeholder first and based on what you know about what they enjoy, design an activity just for them. Then you could map out the outcomes and impact that you think and hope will happen as a result.
You could also think about the stakeholder and what you want them to experience through your work. You would then start from right to left, and design a project that will deliver these outcomes.
2. Designing an impact assessment for an activity that has already begun or that has finished?
You might already know about the impact that you want to create or you might already have agreed outcomes or objectives from your project. Have a look at your project documentation and see what you have already written down, and where this could already map out onto the different parts of the Change Pathway. This will help you identify any gaps. You can then brainstorm around the information you already have.
You might find that what you discover in the Change Pathway exercise challenges what you thought about your project, or inspires you to make some changes. This is exciting - it shows that the tool is both creative and immediately useful.
Step 3. Learn how to use the Change Pathway
This section presents a concise overview of the steps that you’ll take in the Change Pathway workshop. It takes you from right to left.
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Next steps
Take a look at the overview of the workshops and activities you can complete in Phase one. You don’t have to follow this, but it exists as a guide and a suggestion of how to get the most out of the process.