What Can You Control? What Can You Influence?

Written by Danelle Marable

I have often said that logic models are my (professional) love language, and I love working with organizations to create ones that make sense to them. Organizations usually put lofty outcomes in their logic models to impress funders or because they sound like a good idea.  But they rarely think about what has to happen for those outcomes to come to fruition as a direct result of their activities or services.

I recently learned about the concept of “Spheres of Influence” and determining whether the results of one's actions are in one's control, under one's influence, or just of one’s area of concern.  The concept was initially introduced around international relations, in which spheres of influence refer to areas or regions where a particular country or power has significant cultural, economic, military, or political influence, often without direct governance.  It has been repurposed for personal development, networking, marketing, and business strategy. Those in public health and community development will recognize the Socio-ecological model as a type of sphere of influence framework.

I’m always searching for new ways to develop logic models with organizations and how best to explain short-term, intermediate, and long-term outcomes.  Can the spheres of influence help organizations with program planning and connecting activities to outcomes?  A quick Google search returns a 2019 article in the Journal of Strategy and Performance Management that provides an example of using direct control, direct influence, and indirect influence when linking the performance of a business to its desired outcomes. (Kinyuira. D. (2019). Using results chain framework as a Tool for the Improvement of performance evaluation in firms, Journal of Strategy & Performance Management, 7(1), 28-36.)

So, what could this mean for program or system/policy logic models? How can we use this concept to identify outcomes that are firmly within the organization's control? What outcomes does the organization want to be responsible for, and what do they hope to achieve? I propose adopting the concept of spheres of influence and applying it to logic models for enhanced understanding and accountability.