Trying Hard Is Not Good Enough: How to Produce Measurable Improvements for Customers and Communities

by Mark Friedman

This is the 10th Anniversary Edition of Mark Friedman's acclaimed book about Results-Based Accountability (RBA) also known in parts of the UK as Outcomes-Based Accountability (OBA). This is a "how to" book for governments and for nonprofit agencies and partnerships working at national, regional, state, county, council, city and community levels to improve community quality of life and the performance of program services. RBA is a common sense approach that replaces all the overly-complex and jargon-laden methods foisted on us in the past. The methods can be learned and applied quickly. And all the materials are free for use by government and non-profit organizations. In addition to providing practical methods, the book also makes a contribution to social theory by explaining the contribution relationship between program performance and community quality of life. As such it is a valuable tool for program administrators, evaluators and faculty. The RBA framework has been used in over 40 U.S. states and numerous countries around the world. Additional information about RBA can be found on the FPSI website resultsaccountability.com and in the RBA companion reader Turning Curves. (For those who already have the 2009 edition of Trying Hard Is Not Good Enough, please note that there is no change in the basic message and structure of RBA, and the 2009 and 2015 editions can be used concurrently.) A complete inventory of changes in the 2015 edition can be found on the FPSI website.

Genres: Nonfiction, Business

346 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 6, 2018

About the author

After teaching high school math for one year, Mark Friedman served for 19 years in the Maryland Department of Human Resources, including six years as the department's Chief Financial Officer. In 1991 he joined the Center for the Study of Social Policy in Washington, D.C. where his work focused on helping state and local governments finance innovative child and family services. In 1996, he founded the Fiscal Policy Studies Institute (FPSI) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Since 1996, he has provided training at the federal, state, county, city, school district and community levels.

Friedman's work has involved nearly every kind of government and non-profit organization from social services, health and education to transportation, environment and many more. His widely acclaimed methods have been used in over 40 states and seven countries outside the United States.

Reviews

[Katie Chappelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Needed to read this book for work. It was really useful to help me understand the concept ahead of a large project with a partner who was using outcomes based methodology. However, this really could’ve been an article or TedTalk. It really didn’t warrant a whole book!

[Amber]

1 Copy

[Shane Orr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've now read this again almost 6 years later. Sometimes you get more from a book depending on where you're at when you read it. This time around, it was addressing some of the very challenges that I've been grappling with. For decades, United Ways have been in the world of outcomes and logic models. This gives a different common sense framework to address community issues. This resonated much better with me, not only than before, but also much better than other frameworks that I've read. While there is definitely a "product" that organizations could invest in to help with this work, Friedman has done a great job of providing all of the specific guidelines so that anyone could start using this right away for free. The only negative that I found is that many of the articles and links for more resources are no longer active.

[Jamie Pennington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another book on outcomes! But this one does take a bit more practical and much easier logical approach. My only apprehension is that these things seem to shift and change every 5 or 10 years. It constantly seems as if we are reinventing the wheel. Job security I'm sure for someone. But I hope this one doesn't change. I think we have a keeper here.

[Ben Echevarria]

Good evaluation book. I wish there was more to it