Evidence-based or unresponsive?

There is something inherently counter-intuitive about the use of evidence based work when it is associated with practice in a changing environment. In the sector at the moment, all that is spoken about is how much things are changing and how uncertain so many things are. Yet, we haven’t seen a softening from our desire to make our practice ‘evidence-based’. The nature of this concept is that something shouldn’t be done unless there is evidence to support it. Fair enough, but if you need to adapt and change and there isn’t evidence, what do you do?

The nature of adaptation is that there is a gradual or sometimes more sudden need to shift and this is often associated with doing something new; taking a risk or a chance and then assessing the consequence. Necessity may be the mother of invention, but invention is not the mother of necessity – actually, it is the mother of responsiveness.

Trying new things and assessing how they went but after they have been applied, is so critical in these times. Of course this comes with some risk but that too can be managed as often the risks are far worse doing nothing anyway.

If the evidence doesn’t exist, go and do something new to create it so that it can be applied to your practice.