Impact – a systems perspective

I’ve done a lot of impact planning work with research teams in particular over the past 5 years. Occasionally, I’ve come across a team or an individual researcher for whom the approach Tractuum adopts for impact planning is particularly confronting. Why? Because it provokes fear – a fear that they, or their team, will be held directly responsible for the delivery of the impact they are seeking, and that negative consequences will flow if that impact is not realised.

Impact defined

I’ve found that the best way to alleviate these fears is to impress upon these participants what we actually mean by impact. The Tractuum definition of impact draws on a broad international perspective in this space. Increasingly, impact is defined globally as an effect on, change or benefit to the economy, society, and environment which occurs at the system level. In other words, an impact is observed beyond the benefit derived to the individual organisation or field of endeavour responsible for it. Impact essentially represents the ultimate value or benefit an organisation/program of work/project aims to deliver to stakeholders.

Influence, not control

If we accept that impact operates at the system level, we must acknowledge that we cannot control the delivery of that impact; we are only part of the system, not its external controller. This understanding highlights the importance of an effective, strategic approach to stakeholder communication and engagement for the delivery of impact, as we need to work with others within that system to deliver our desired impact.

In this context, our key responsibility as individuals, teams, and even organisations is to develop as detailed an understanding as we can of the system in which we are operating, our role in that system, and how we can best work with others within the system to influence the delivery of the impact, rather than control it.

Not all care & no responsibility

Acknowledging this aspect of impact often alleviates the stress of responsibility for impact planners. However, it does not eliminate the need to identify and plan the path towards delivering the targeted impacts. Doing so assists us to recognise both the necessary steps to the delivery of impact, and the key stakeholders involved in bringing it about. Failing to consider and address these aspects severely limits our ability to be impactful in a purposeful way.

Do you understand what system level impact your organisation is trying to achieve? Do our ‘impact health check’ to see.