How to launch initiatives that actually work

Put an evaluation plan in place first

I recently attended an education conference in New York where we all had a good chuckle over this meme:¹

I’m not sure if it’s important that it’s a pig but all the teachers in the room got it. We are sick and tired of folks popping up with shiny new stuff for us to do that will revolutionise teaching & learning. We’ve been there before. We’ve worn the T-Shirt til it’s threadbare. We’re pretty cynical about whatever it is you’re selling and whether it really is the next big thing.

The reason for this scepticism is that so many of the initiatives we’ve experienced quickly turn into a dog’s breakfast. This might be because many initiatives are unworkable or unhelpful, but there’s also the issue of great ideas dying a sad death. What can we do to make sure our policies land and our initiatives improve life for all who encounter them?

Frame change as gain

The first thing to tackle is the idea that people hate change. This is obviously untrue. If you told me I have to work less for more pay I’m never going to complain. What people hate is loss. All too often often, we perceive change as loss. This is explained by loss aversion, a well-documented cognitive bias identified by Kahneman and Tversky in Prospect Theory. It shows that we tend to feel the pain of loss about twice as strongly as the pleasure of an equivalent gain. This helps explain why people often resist change, overvalue owned items (endowment effect), and show strong reactions to negative outcomes.² Neuroscience research supports this finding, showing heightened brain activity in subjects in response to potential losses.³

If we can reframe change as a gain, we remove much of the resistance before it even starts. Launching a new initiative successfully depends on recognising that perception shapes response. Rather than presenting change as a remedy for failure - which risks triggering defensiveness - we should frame it as a step forward: a process of refinement, improvement, and professional empowerment. Teachers are more likely to engage when the benefits are clear, tangible, and immediate: less workload, clearer data, more time to teach and so on. Change is easier to accept when it feels like progress rather than correction.

Why evaluation must begin before implementation

New initiatives are always launched with the best of intentions: clear-eyed optimism, a compelling vision, and perhaps even a few eye-catching slides. But, as we all know, good intentions pave the route to hell. Far too many initiatives fall into the trap of being implemented first and evaluated (if at all) as an afterthought. By the time someone asks, “Did it work?” it’s too late to answer with any certainty. This is why having a robust evaluation plan in place before an initiative begins should be mandatory.