The It Depends Podcast with Matt Healey
Sep 17, 2026 · 28 min · 12 segments
Day 2 of the AES26 Evaluation Conference on beautiful Larrakia Country in Darwin has come to a close - but the festivities are only just beginning. The end of Day 2 formalities means that delegates…
Matt HealeyHost
so it's about 4 50 p.m local time here when i'm recording this kind of final little reflection and let me just say that well hall two or hall one wherever we are is very empty people are probably still just in the last session which i've just kind of ducked out on to to do this it's been a massive day of content probably one of the most reflective experiences I've had at the conference in terms of some of the things that it's kind of made me think about or reflect on.
If I had to try and kind of summarize today for me in a few key messages, I think one of the first ones is the importance of asking good questions.
And I think that there's a lot of value in processes that allow you to ask different types of questions and also being open to questions kind of giving you answers that they themselves maybe are more questions because i think there's you know potentially a desire sometimes to see the answer to a question is the end but you know oftentimes the situations that we're working in aren't ever going to stop there's no kind of end point as such you know there's contracted end dates and and programs finished and things like that but many of the things that we're working on and the the challenges or or issues that we're trying to fix in our communities you know the perennial they'll always be something that we need to be doing and so i think the kind of nature or the benefit of questions is that questions can be framed in a way that's open and generative and allows us to you know think quite critically about our own assumptions as well The other one which I alluded to at the start of the episode is around this idea of the relational elements of our practice and I think I kind of come back to again this sort of generosity with people sharing of their materials and content and making things open and accessible is of real benefit.
to the sector and to organizations that, you know, don't have budgets or resources, or you've got people wearing multiple hats trying to do things simultaneously.
But I think we're also seeing, you know, not just this idea of sharing resources and materials, but as Jeff Yamaguchi was mentioning just before, you know, Gili Banga have their conference in Adelaide next year, which you'll find a link to that in the show notes for you to go have a look at that.
But I think, you know, this idea of a relational practice also means about having relationships that, you know, don't all just have to be housed within a single conference, that, you know, we can build relationships and networks that span, you know, different events, different types.
some of the people from ARTD before about, you know, the rest of the year we're kind of competitors, but this is kind of the three days where we're able to be friends.
And I said it in jest, you know, that's very much not my sort of actual belief, but I think, you know, it's this event each year just constantly reminds me that whilst consultants can compete and organizations might be, you know, competing for funding from funders or whatever, this is a really useful and timely reminder at this stage each year that we are kind of all on the same side and we're all in this together and it's kind of a work together to lift us all up that I think is really important and really of benefit as well.
Yeah, for me, it's very quiet, which, you know, is maybe making me even more reflective than I would normally be.
And so I'm really grateful to all of the hard work that the Evaluation Society team put into putting on the conference, all of the volunteers and time they put into it as well.
You know, it's very giving act to do that and to try to create these experiences for all of us to enjoy and benefit from.
So, you know, it's something that makes I think this sector, I mean, you could say lots of sectors probably do this and maybe a special for it.
And so we often, you know, form relationships through the society, even though we are in very different roles.
within our organizations or potentially competing if you're consultants for instance but there's just something really nice about having this common common space for us to all be brought together within so tomorrow will be another rich day of content i'm sure there's a few people that have kind of fobbed me off and said that they'll talk to me tomorrow when they've got a bit more headspace so i'm gonna try to pin those down but hopefully you found today's episode useful like i said check out the show notes there's lots more things there and we'll see you tomorrow for day three The It Depends podcast is a first-person consulting production.
so it's about 4 50 p.m local time here when i'm recording this kind of final little reflection and let me just say that well hall two or hall one wherever we are is very empty people are probably still just in the last session which i've just kind of ducked out on to to do this it's been a massive day of content probably one of the most reflective experiences I've had at the conference in terms of some of the things that it's kind of made me think about or reflect on.
If I had to try and kind of summarize today for me in a few key messages, I think one of the first ones is the importance of asking good questions.
And I think that there's a lot of value in processes that allow you to ask different types of questions and also being open to questions kind of giving you answers that they themselves maybe are more questions because i think there's you know potentially a desire sometimes to see the answer to a question is the end but you know oftentimes the situations that we're working in aren't ever going to stop there's no kind of end point as such you know there's contracted end dates and and programs finished and things like that but many of the things that we're working on and the the challenges or or issues that we're trying to fix in our communities you know the perennial they'll always be something that we need to be doing and so i think the kind of nature or the benefit of questions is that questions can be framed in a way that's open and generative and allows us to you know think quite critically about our own assumptions as well The other one which I alluded to at the start of the episode is around this idea of the relational elements of our practice and I think I kind of come back to again this sort of generosity with people sharing of their materials and content and making things open and accessible is of real benefit.
to the sector and to organizations that, you know, don't have budgets or resources, or you've got people wearing multiple hats trying to do things simultaneously.
But I think we're also seeing, you know, not just this idea of sharing resources and materials, but as Jeff Yamaguchi was mentioning just before, you know, Gili Banga have their conference in Adelaide next year, which you'll find a link to that in the show notes for you to go have a look at that.
But I think, you know, this idea of a relational practice also means about having relationships that, you know, don't all just have to be housed within a single conference, that, you know, we can build relationships and networks that span, you know, different events, different types.
some of the people from ARTD before about, you know, the rest of the year we're kind of competitors, but this is kind of the three days where we're able to be friends.
And I said it in jest, you know, that's very much not my sort of actual belief, but I think, you know, it's this event each year just constantly reminds me that whilst consultants can compete and organizations might be, you know, competing for funding from funders or whatever, this is a really useful and timely reminder at this stage each year that we are kind of all on the same side and we're all in this together and it's kind of a work together to lift us all up that I think is really important and really of benefit as well.
Yeah, for me, it's very quiet, which, you know, is maybe making me even more reflective than I would normally be.
And so I'm really grateful to all of the hard work that the Evaluation Society team put into putting on the conference, all of the volunteers and time they put into it as well.
You know, it's very giving act to do that and to try to create these experiences for all of us to enjoy and benefit from.
So, you know, it's something that makes I think this sector, I mean, you could say lots of sectors probably do this and maybe a special for it.
And so we often, you know, form relationships through the society, even though we are in very different roles.
within our organizations or potentially competing if you're consultants for instance but there's just something really nice about having this common common space for us to all be brought together within so tomorrow will be another rich day of content i'm sure there's a few people that have kind of fobbed me off and said that they'll talk to me tomorrow when they've got a bit more headspace so i'm gonna try to pin those down but hopefully you found today's episode useful like i said check out the show notes there's lots more things there and we'll see you tomorrow for day three The It Depends podcast is a first-person consulting production.
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