The classic example of the difference between a summative assessment and a formative assessment is the case of the diner versus the chef.
If the diner tastes the soup put in front of him and declares it “good, but could use more depth of flavor“, that’s a summative assessment. The soup is finished and the diner can evaluate it only in its final form.
If the chef tastes the soup as she’s making it and thinks “hmm…it could use a little more depth of flavor”, she can add seasoning, or let it reduce down. That’s a formative assessment - one that can change the outcome as it’s happening.
In 2009-2014, as we were engaged in the process of the third U.S. National Climate Assessment, we determined to make it less of a ‘state of the climate’ evaluation - a summative endeavor - and more of a formative one: ‘what can this change even while we are doing the assessment?’
As a result, we included some non-traditional participants in the process - people from industry, indigenous tribes, local government - so that there could be iterative learning around what sources of information mattered most for spurring action rather than simply for documenting impacts.
Our participants were also able to help inform adaptive decision-making in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, and then we could also use the experience of Sandy to further assess the effectiveness of various information or options etc.
The National Climate Assessment process, even 10 years on, is far from perfect - we were to a certain extent just starting to think differently about the role and value of such an endeavor. But it did begin to change the way we viewed our work, and for me at least, created a new level of agency and purpose. I genuinely think it was also more useful.
In our own lives, it also seems as though we are often inclined to rely more on summative evaluations rather than formative ones.
How many of us will get to old age and ‘wish we had done something different’. Or perhaps we’re already 20 years into a career before realizing it just isn’t the real ‘me’.
Even if we have a nagging sense that something isn’t quite right - not quite the right college, not quite the right partner, not quite the right neighborhood - we push on through because….well, we’ve already made the investment, and it will be fine, and it will upset everyone if I change now.
We so often brush off making more frequent formative assessments of what is going well and what isn’t. We’re afraid of the consequences of changing the outcome in the middle.
But overall, it might be a lot easier than getting to the final outcome and realizing you don’t like it.
I think we should more willing to engage in more of these mini and frequent formative assessments. If we did, the chances of even being in the wrong college, or marriage, or neighborhood might be lower to start with. But even if you do find that you’ve made a mistake, you can fix it so much quicker and with so much less heartache in the end.
And most of the time, when we evaluate frequently, the changes are tweaks rather than massive. If we undertake a formative approach of asking what would make my job more fun this week, before it gets several years down the road and we realize our job sucks, you might not ever have to get burned out or need to quit.
I think it’s true in relationships too. If we stop to ask what will make our marriage, or my health better this week, it can reduce the chance that lots of formerly niggly things become one big problem, or it could just avoid lost opportunities for more joy.
I do think it takes courage to engage in more assessment, especially when it is self-assessment (‘how can I show up with more integrity/engage in better habits/be less judgmental’ etc), but on the whole, I think I’d rather be in charge of making my own soup.
How about you?
This reminds me of one of the more surprising discoveries I made when I started my first business, something I’d never expected to do. I found that I liked being the chef, and not from a “control freak” kind of perspective. I liked the fact that whether or not things worked, it was my “fault”. Or, as a former coach of mine used to say, my “response-ability”. And I liked that.
Yeah - I’d much rather be the chef, and adjust the recipe as needed.
Lovely post. Thank you. ❤️