What the World Cup Taught Me About Return on Expectations

Vanessa Milara Alzate is watching the World Cup a little differently this year — and she wants you to, too. In this solo episode of The Kirkpatrick Podcast, Vanessa uses three very different national teams to make a case she returns to constantly: the scoreboard is not the whole story, and treating it like one will cost you. She starts with Spain, whose decades-long bet on leading indicators — possession, passing accuracy, territorial control — over any single result explains a run of championships that looked, from the outside, like a hot streak. Then the US team, whose best-ever group stage and a puzzling loss to Turkey show why a single data point stripped of context will always mislead you. Finally, Cape Verde, the smallest nation ever to reach the knockout round, becomes the clearest example yet of Return on Expectations: success measured against your own stakeholders' bar, not someone else's. Takeaways: ●      Lagging indicators (goals, completion rates, satisfaction scores) tell you what already happened — leading indicators tell you while there's still time to act. ●      You can't measure the impact of an isolated training event any more than you can judge a program from one match. ●      Success has to be defined by your actual stakeholders, not a borrowed universal benchmark. Before your next report goes out, ask which scorecard you're really being measured against. Head to kirkpatrickpartners.com to keep the conversation going.   ### **Enterprise Performance Intelligence (EPI) Maturity Assessment** Think your organization is measuring impact? Most aren't. The EPI Maturity Assessment helps you quickly identify where you stand—and what's needed to better connect learning to performance and results. 👉 Take the assessment and get clarity on your next step. ### **Building a Culture of Evaluation** Order the book behind the Culture of Evaluation framework and updated Kirkpatrick Model. The book comes with a Companion Guide to help support you on the journey. 👉 Order the book now **Kirkpatrick Learning and Performance Center of Excellence** Certification builds capability. Accreditation builds systems. The Kirkpatrick Certified Organization accreditation recognizes organizations that have embedded the Kirkpatrick Four Levels® into how they actually operate — through governance, SOPs, feedback loops, and cross-functional accountability. If your evaluation capability would disappear when a key person leaves, this is the credential designed to fix that. Founding Organization status is now open — first year of annual maintenance waived for inaugural cohort members. 👉 Learn more and apply **Not ready to apply yet because you need to build the systems? Grab the SOPs.** We're building a library of Kirkpatrick-standard SOPs — governance frameworks, evaluation procedures for all four levels, planning templates, and implementation guides — so you can build your infrastructure before you apply. 👉 Learn more ### **Kirkpatrick Collective** If you're ready to move beyond activity and start driving real performance, the Kirkpatrick Collective brings together leaders focused on applying evaluation in the real world. Get practical tools, shared insight, and the structure to make better, evidence-based decisions. 👉 Join the Collective and start building evaluation as a capability—not just an activity. Learn more about the Kirkpatrick Model Watch the Show on YouTube! Submit your Questions/Stories: Do you have a question you would like us to answer on the Kirkpatrick Podcast? Have a story about how the Kirkpatrick Podcast or other Kirkpatrick events/programs have positively impacted your career? We would love to hear from you! Follow this link to submit your questions and/or stories, and we may just share them on the next episode of the Kirkpatrick Podcast. **#KirkpatrickPodcast #LearningImpact #PerformanceImprovement #TrainingEvaluation #CultureOfEvaluation #KirkpatrickModel**