Principle 8: Time being of the essence

"Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going.” 

- Rita Mae Brown, American feminist writer

At the end of each year the Oxford English Dictionary selects a word of the year. The selection is both retrospective, chosen because of dramatically increased use in both published and social media, but also prospective, for calling attention to the word of the year tends to increase its use.

Join Michael and your fellow Blue Marble Evaluation Network members for a conversation about Chapters 8 & 9 of Blue Marble Evaluation Premises & Principles. This conversation is only open to BME members. Click here to join the online discussion and access the link for this live conversation.

Summary: Michael Quinn Patton’s Blue Marble Evaluation is a forward-looking, path-breaking, and timely contribution to evaluation theory and practice. The title of the book evokes the Blue Marble shot—a photograph of the whole earth taken by the Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972. The preface of the book displays the first image of our lonely planet captured from space in 1968 (Earthrise).

The 2019 Oxford Dictionary word of the year is "climate emergency." The word of the year is both retrospective, chosen because of dramatically increased use in both published and social media, but also prospe