Fast Track Impact

This week, Mark talks through a series of good practice principles for engagement and impact, published in his recent blog post: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/post/what-is-good-practice-engagement-and-impact. Add your own feedback and ideas here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1J_QY7HvW89Y08p3ySfEl8zL0XmcQ9cLg2K8rm0r7mYY/edit?usp=sharingThe blog builds on a number of sources, including:Mark's Impact Culture book (see the bottom of this page for his impact culture toolkit): https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactcultureNCCPE engagement guidance: https://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/support-engagementMark's “Re-thinking impact…” paper:https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-022-01216-w

This week, Mark explores what the recent REF2028 guidance means for impact, including a discussion of what we might be expected to write about in the new engagement and impact narrative, and an evidence-based approach to writing a 4* impact case study.NCCPE engagement guidance: https://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/support-engagementMy “Re-thinking impact…” paper:https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-022-01216-wWhat made a 4* impact case study in REF214 paper:https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-020-0394-7My 4* REF2021 impact case study:https://www.dropbox.com/s/mdtbxy72uv1pvbs/Mark Reed impact case study FINAL 17 March 21 redacted (submitted).docx?dl=0Impact templates (in the Google Sheets menu, go to File > Make a copy to save an editable version)3i analysis template:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bL28FUgd7R3nvGYjV5P7qrZkHgaqlYpZM5uJmFls-eA/edit?usp=sharingFast Track Impact Planning Template:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iGX6HM__TPQP4KDbqVytr-1FnQBn00KX7NXEaUR9CIQ/edit?usp=sharing

This week, Mark talks to Michael Parker, Director of Operations at The Conversation, a news outlet that specialises in working with researchers, giving them editorial control on a global platform. Drawing from their work together creating the Media Impact Guide and Toolkit, Mark and Michael discuss how researchers can harness the media to get more impact from their research and provide evidence of both the reach and significance of the impacts that arise.Read the Media Impact Guide and Toolkit: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/media-impact-guide-and-toolkitFind out more about The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/uk/Sign up for next year's Exchange conference: https://theconversation.com/uk/exchange

Eric Jensen is an expert in impact evaluation who has written a textbook on many of the most useful methods you'll need and leading two companies that specialise in impact evaluation consultancy and training alongside his academic research on environmental issues. In this interview, he provides tips to help you design a more effective survey to evaluate your impact, and explains how you can repurpose widely used impact planning tools as evaluation tools, that will help you improve your practice as much as they will give you evidence of impact.Find out more about the Institute for Methods Innovation via his Methods for Change website: https://www.methodsforchange.org/Learn about Qualia Analytics software to help you both collect and analyse impact evaluation data: https://www.qualiaanalytics.org/Watch Eric training with Mark and others on the use of Theory of Change to evaluate impact:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCODib5tDK0Read Eric's book, Doing Real Research: A Practical Guide to Social Research https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/doing-real-research/book241193

This week, Mark interviews Laura Tucker (Vertigo Ventures), Tobias Schoep (GrowImpact), and Sarah Morton (Matter of Focus) about the platforms they have developed to help researchers keep track of their impacts. Find out more about each platform:- GrowImpact: http://www.growimpact.com.au/- OutNav from Matter of Focus: https://www.matter-of-focus.com/track-your-progress-and-impact-in-outnav/- Impact Tracker, part of the impact ecosystem from Vertigo Ventures: https://www.vertigoventures.com/products/impacttracker-impact-software/

This week, Mark interviews Rachel Blanche from Queen Margaret University Edinburgh to find out how arts-based methods can provide depth and rigour to an impact evaluation. They discuss a range of approaches including visual, performative and narrative methods, the types of evidence these methods can generate, how these approaches can empower participants in determining what's meaningful, and how evaluating in this way can itself generate further impacts.Rachel shares two examples of arts-based methods used to evaluate impact in healthcare research – a theatre project capturing data on dementia care (citing this paper) and (a participative creative inquiry on osteoporosisThe paper we mention writing together about evaluating impact with arts-based (among other) methods can be accessed hereWatch the training Rachel and I ran on evaluating impactAnd you can find out more about Rachel's work hereYou can download a written transcript of this episode here

Mark discusses a range mixed methods evaluation designs that can help you collect data to evidence impacts arising from industry, policy, media, and public engagement. The methods are easy to use without any specialist training or experience, and can generate useful data in some of the trickiest areas of impact evaluation.Find out more about the "postcard to your future self" methodFind out more about the Media Impact Guide and ToolkitRead Mark's REF2021 case study in which he evidenced a range of policy impactsYou can download a written transcript of this episode here

How do you design an impact evaluation? There is no blueprint, but in this episode, Mark gives you the tools you will need to choose an evaluation design with methods that can deliver convincing evidence while giving you win-wins for your research.Evidencing impact paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048733320302225?via%3Dihub Decision tree: https://www.dropbox.com/s/pbupwthhgpj9yzv/Decision%20tree%20EDITED.pdf?dl=0

In this first of a series of episodes on monitoring, evaluating and evidencing impact, Mark discusses one of the biggest mistakes that people make when the evaluate their engagement instead of their impact, and provides simple tools anyone can use to keep track of their impact with minimal time and effort. He concludes by explaining the difference between monitoring and evaluation and introducing impact evaluation concepts and approaches. The episode draws on this paper about evaluating impact: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048733320302225?via%3Dihub

This week, Mark interviews George Hope, Communications Manager at Oxford Net Zero and Greenhouse Gas Removal Hub, based at University of Oxford, about how you can reduce the risks of engaging with social media and achieve more impact online. They discuss challenges of engaging with skeptics and conspiracy theorists, and strategic tools for achieve more impact with less risks to your time, reputation and mental health.Connect with George on LinkedIn or follow his work on Twitter via his personal account, Oxford Net Zero and the CO2RE Hub.

What do you see when you hold the mirror up to your attempts to achieve impact? Are you doing enough? If not, what are your excuses and assumptions, and what could you do to do more? This week, Mark shares what he learned from a book that transformed how he saw the world, and with it his research and impact - Less is More by Jason Hickle. He goes on to discuss how, in response to this, he has started to engage actively in politics - something he had previously avoided to retain his independence and influence. Achieving impact isn't risk-free, and sometimes we realise that it isn't enough to play safe.You can also read a blog post version of this podcast hereImpact Culture is available as a hardback, e-book and audio book: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/books. Find out more about the book and join free training and discussion groups at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

Disillusioned with how academia works, Sarah Wijesinghe left academia to set up Brijjd, a new social platform for researcher to communicate their research simply to the widest possible audience. Mark learns about her personal journal and the platform she has created, and discusses recent controversy over Twitter's new owner. You can join Brijjd for free using your LinkedIn or other existing credentials, so head over and start sharing content and engaging with each other: https://www.brijjd.com/Impact Culture is available as a hardback, e-book and audio book: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/books. Find out more about the book and join free training and discussion groups at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

In this final episode on mental health, Mark questions the assumption that we need to be fixed and find a happy ending, when so many people feel stuck in the middle of a story that has no end in sight. He shares stories from from researchers who are in a messy "middle" and argues that it is better to accept life in the middle of suffering, and find peace and joy there, than to live for a future happy ending that might never happen, and miss the life we have now.Read Peter Rhode's blog: https://voicesofacademia.com/2022/05/27/leading-by-example-living-with-mental-illness-in-academia-by-dr-peter-rohde/.

Building on the success of the “health resilient researcher” course and the launch of health coaching for academics by Fast Track Impact, Dr Joyce Reed discusses some of the most common challenges driving researchers to the brink of burnout, and how she has motivated people to turn things around to get better work-home balance and make changes to their diet and lifestyle that have transformed both their wellbeing and their productivity.This event is part of a series of free training and discussion groups. Find out about other events in this series here: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture-free-training-and-discussion

When Paris Tuohy and Ruby Annand-Jones failed to collect the data they needed for their research, they felt frustrated and guilty - not just about the project, but for the community they were seeking to serve. But as they shared their feelings with more senior researchers in their team, they discovered that they were not alone in this experience, and started to learn lessons that would reframe how they viewed failure, at the same time as getting their project back on track. In this interview, you will get valuable tips on how to be sufficiently brave and flexible to pivot your work, and the importance of having people you can debrief and be vulnerable with, to cope with the inevitable failures that accompany every research project. Read the paper, "Normalising failure: when things go wrong in participatory marine social science fieldwork" https://academic.oup.com/icesjms/article/79/8/2184/6705562?login=false

Mark reports back on the workshop to discuss alternatives to the word stakeholder, where the group discussed whether or not we should in fact be trying to replace the word, or encouraging people to find the right word for their purpose and context. Alternatives were discussed as well though, including the idea of a simple typology where we can refer to people, organisations or nature.Impact Culture is available as a hardback, e-book and audio book: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/books. Find out more about the book and join free training and discussion groups at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

This week, Mark discusses problems with the word "stakeholder" and discusses alternatives that could enable us to decolonise our vocabulary as researchers, ahead of a discussion workshop to discuss the issue further.Join the discussion workshop on Monday 21st November from 09.00-10.30 UK time: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/myevent?eid=233739309567Join the email group to discuss the issue further with workshop participants: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=IMPACTCULTURE

This week Mark talks to Petra Boynton, social psychologist academic, consultant and trainer, about her work on "being well in academia". They discuss how systems in academia perpetuate burnout and health problems, and discuss ideas that could help fix the system, providing colleagues with the necessary support, resources, skills and help to cope better and thrive, despite the growing pressures of academic life.Get your copy of Petra's books, Being well in academia: ways to feel stronger, safer and more connected and The Research CompanionA practical guide for those in the social sciences, health and development.Other useful links:https://voicesofacademia.comhttps://www.studentminds.org.ukhttps://www.educationsupport.org.ukhttps://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/student-wellbeing-and-protection

Do you have a toxic relationship with your line manager or supervisor? This week, Mark discusses three ways you can tackle your relationship so you can stop dreading your meetings and start thriving again at work.Impact Culture is available as a hardback, e-book and audio book: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/books. Find out more about the book and join free training and discussion groups at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

This week, Mark considers how to move beyond simply learning from mistakes, to understand how our mistakes have shaped who we are, transforming regret into an experience of being more authentic. He tells a story of a mistake that was used by his boss to blackmail him, and how this one mistake haunted him until he was able to talk about it and learn to forgive himself. Only then could he see how this mistake had shaped parts of his character for good. Who we are has been shaped and made by our mistakes, including parts of ourselves that we find problematic, as well as parts of ourselves that we really value, that we would not have become were it not for our mistakes. This is not just about being able to live with our mistakes; it is about living our mistakes as part of who we are, and transforming regret into an experience of being more fully alive than ever before as we embrace our whole selves more fully and authentically than ever before.Impact Culture is available now, as a hardback, e-book and audio book: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/books. Find out more about the book and join free training and discussion groups at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

This week, Mark discusses how to transcend the labels we often hide behind as academics, so we can embrace failure and mistakes as a necessary part of who we are, sitting with discomfort and being able to feel the full range of human emotions. By accepting and living with the less comfortable emotions that failures bring up, we unlock the capacity to feel more of every feeling, including joy, peace and inspiration. What is your failure trying to teach you?The episode finishes with an audio chapter of Mark's new book, Impact Culture, which is available, as a hardback, e-book and audio book: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/books. Find out more about the book and join free training and discussion groups at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

Anxiety is baked into many academic cultures, but for some that fear can be debilitating. In this episode Mark talks about his own struggle with anxiety after a failed attempt to return to face-to-face work post-COVID, and brings a message of hope and healing for anyone struggling to give themselves the self-compassion they need to move through difficult times. Trigger warning: this episode includes references to sexual and spiritual abuse.Impact Culture is available now, as a hardback, e-book and audio book: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/books. Find out more about the book and join free training and discussion groups at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

Person who recently told me the most transformational moment in their career was when a famous professor confessed to imposter syndrome because it meant she wasn't alone and her hero was as human as she was - if he could do what he did and feel the same way as her then she could do what he was doing too.What I do in trainings - everyone experiences this, or perfectionism/people-pleasing at some point, many of us regularly, and it affects both early career and senior staff - new profs in particular, as the gulf between our perception of ourselves and the world's perception of us increases. Realising that you are not alone in this is the first step towards self-compassion according to Kristin Neff from University of Austin Texas. We need to talk about these issues and normalise them, and in so doing we can reduce their power in our lives and create a more compassionate culture that is more resilient as we empathise and act to help others struggling in the same way as us.Recent examples from my experience - offering to help Colin and him saying yes and telling me a bunch of stuff I didn't know the meaning of. My response was to simply say my role would be to facilitate, gather questions from his team and analyse the answers - by the time I get there I'll have time to learn what all those acronyms mean. I'm a key expert - if I admit that I don't know what these acronyms mean, will he still trust me? Or in humility can I say we can learn together as we go.If you've ever switched to a new discipline or topic, you are highly likely to experience imposter syndrome, and this is one of the reasons people stay in their lane. Many of the greatest discoveries however have come from people moving into a new unfamiliar lane and having the humility and courage to interact with and learn from others who know more than they do about how to swim in that particular lane. Building self-confidence, and having the humility to tell others you are learning, can contract the space between your perception of yourself and other people's perception of you, helping you overcome imposter syndrome.I did this when I decided the only way to achieve impact from my peatland research was a peatland code, knowing nothing about carbon markets. More recently with the new centre I realised that to scale these markets across other land uses and habitats, we needed more robust policy mechanisms, but nobody knew what was needed. So I started talking to colleagues in SG and Defra about what they thought was needed, and started piecing together their quite different ideas with what I could find in the back of my own mind, based on my wider knowledge of environmental policy and governance, to try and come up with a governance hierarchy showing all the things you might possibly want in a policy framework and how they might fit together. The first version missed out crucial things, but I kept speaking to new people who pointed out the problems until I had something I could use to advise both Governments that fused academic and practitioner knowledge.I've gone from a place three months ago where I felt totally out of my depth, to being blown away by what I was able to say on the Green Finance podcast, and the fact that policy colleagues are now pointing their new staff to me to get briefed on what they need to understand. I still have to remind them that although it might seem that I know more than anyone else about this stuff, I'm far from infallible, and still learning, but because that has been my posture from the outset, their expectations aren't crazy. And I have to keep checking my own self-confidence when people listen to me, to remind me that I am confident in the advice I'm giving, because of its basis in both theory and practice, despite the fact that I didn't know any of this stuff three months ago. Which takes me back to the recent challenge where I didn't even understand the request. I don't know what they're talking about yet, but I've proven that I have the capacity to learn this stuff fast and make a valuable contribution, so I'll do the same thing again in that same posture of wanting to learn.

Why do we say "yes" to things we later regret, or struggle to share early drafts of our work with collaborators? Why we get upset when colleagues ask for help and then don't follow our advice? Are you really driven by a desire to help others, or are you seeking external validation? Why do we need to make sure we've got everything right - can you have a healthy level of perfectionism or are you expressing a deeper need to "be right"? This week, Mark explores some of the common ways in which researchers experience people-pleasing and perfectionism, and how you can harness these challenges to learn more about yourself and the decisions you make. In so doing, Mark argues, it is possible to regain control of your work-life balance and start making decisions that make time for the most important things in your career and life. The episode ends with an excerpt from his new book, Impact Culture, available now, as a hardback, e-book and audio book: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/books. Find out more about the book and join free training and discussion groups at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.Next episodesChapters on imposter syndrome etcAnxiety with Petra BoyntonInterview with Andrew ScottEvaluation episodes:Intro from meRachel BlancheEric JensenTobias, Laura and SarahMichael Parker from The Conversation re: the Media Impact ToolkitIoan

In this episode, Mark considers the difference between influential versus manipulative impact, and shares insights and practical tips that can help you identify early warning signs that you might be about to cross a line and say or do something you might later regret. He builds on previous episodes about leadership for impact and his chapter on empathic leadership in his new book, Impact Culture.Impact Culture is available now, as a hardback, e-book and audio book: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/books. Find out more about the book and join free training and discussion groups at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

This week, Mark interviews Dr Katerina Cidlinska from the Institute of Psychology at the Czech Academy of Sciences about research she conducted with Early Career Researchers (ECRs) who left academia. Her work identifies four trajectories and impact could be part of the problem as well as part of the solution. There were unique challenges for women and researchers in STEM subjects, and Katerina now runs workshops to help ECRs think about how they can balance the competing demands of their roles, or whether they need to start thinking of an exit strategy.Download her full paper here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fs7jdbzawoyzet4/Cidlinska_et_al-2022-Higher_Education.pdf?dl=0Impact Culture is available now, as a hardback, e-book and audio book: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/books. Find out more about the book and join free training and discussion groups at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

In this episode, Mark is joined by Dr Joyce Reed, health coach and CEO of Fast Track Impact, to talk about the transformative power of coaching for academics, and how it can increase both productivity and resilience. They talk about individual and group coaching, and the benefits of upgrading from a mentoring to a coaching programme in schools and departments, and how coaching can tackle burn-out before it happens, rather than picking up the pieces after everything has gone wrong. Get group coaching from Fast Track Impact: Read Mark's blog for Times Higher Education on "Why every researcher needs a coach" Get your copy of "What works in executive coaching" by Erik de Haan Find out more about health coaching via the NHS (UK only)

Mark interviews Saskia Gent (Insights for Impact) and Jennifer Locket and Dawn Ashby (Plymouth Marine Laboratory) to learn from research that reviewed over 70 impact strategies from around the world. The research suggested there are just two types of impact strategy to choose from - enabling impact and achieving impact strategies. Mark discusses the paper with Saskia before interviewing Jen and Dawn about how they developed their strategy, which features as an example of good practice in the paper. Read the pre-print of the paper: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactstrategiesMark, Saskia, Jen and Dawn are running a free training workshop based on the paper and the PML case study on 27th June - book your place here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-write-an-impact-strategy-tickets-233733472107Impact Culture is available now, as a hardback, e-book and audio book: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/books. Find out more about the book and join free training and discussion groups at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

Mark interviews Professor Gemma Derrick from University of Bristol about her work to understand the characteristics and drivers of negative unintended consequences from research, what she calls "grimpact". Read the paper Gemma led on her work here: https://ressh2019.webs.upv.es/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/ressh_2019_paper_9.pdfYou can get in touch with Gemma to share your grimpact case studies at gemma.derrick@bristol.ac.uk.Impact Culture is available now, as a hardback, e-book and audio book: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/books. Find out more about the book and join free training and discussion groups at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

This week, Mark concludes his series on empathic leadership for impact by considering evidence from studies of expert negotiators that suggests empathic leaders can be significantly more influential. As he revises the empathic leadership model to move beyond service, he suggests that the third and final pillar of empathic leadership is about our ability to both influence and serve others by understanding their positions and needs more deeply.Impact Culture is available now, as a hardback, e-book and audio book: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/books. Find out more about the book and join free training and discussion groups at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

In this episode, Mark discusses how leaders that want to facilitate impact need to cultivate bridging expertise to bridge ideas and networks, bringing people and solutions together to make a difference. Read the blog version of today's episode at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/post/empathic-leadership-part-4-bridging-expertise-being-an-expert-at-finding-expertiseIn the episode Mark refers to an earlier episode on working with conspiracy theorists, which you can listen to here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-deal-more-effectively-conspiracy-theorists-on/id1095867924?i=1000457169707Impact Culture is available now, as a hardback, e-book and audio book: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/books. Find out more about the book and join free training and discussion groups at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

In this episode, Mark discusses how leaders need to have a deep understanding of their impact, to be authentic and therefore be able to connect empathically with their teams, drawing people to impact. Read the blog version of today's episode at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/post/empathic-leadership-part-3-the-purpose-of-an-empathic-leaderImpact Culture is available now, as a hardback, e-book and audio book: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/books. Find out more about the book and join free training and discussion groups at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

In this episode, Mark looks at a range of leadership models and discusses the sort of leadership needed to drive impact, drawing on his new book, Impact Culture. He presents a new leadership model, empathic leadership, based on purpose, bridging expertise and service, and discusses the tools and approaches of an empathic leader, and how this can inspire impact.Read the first part of Mark's empathic leadership blog here: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/post/empathic-leadership-part-1Impact Culture is available now, as a hardback, e-book and audio book: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/books. Find out more about the book and join free training and discussion groups at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

This week, Mark interviews Dr Ged Hall about an innovative rolling 3 month programme for researchers to build skills and community around impact, giving them permission, accountability and support to achieve impacts that align with their values, whether or not they are valued by funders or governments. The programme arose as a direct response to the perception that the impact culture at University of Leeds had been shaped too much by the Research Excellence Framework. It uses peer to peer support and tutor input to embed an approach to impact that is heavily influenced by Theory of Change tools. This approach is built on, institutionally, as academic Schools are supported to develop ‘bottom-up' impact outcomes and strategies that aim to deliver those outcomes.Join Mark and Ged for a training session on the 25th of April to learn more about what University of Leeds is doing in this space, and find out more from the Impact Culture book about how to motivate researchers to engage with impact on their own terms: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-motivate-researchers-to-engage-with-impact-on-their-own-terms-tickets-233494066037Impact Culture is available now, as a hardback, e-book and audio book: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/books. Find out more about the book and join free training and discussion groups at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

Following his Reading Group appearance earlier this month, I'm interviewing Professor Jonathan Grant about his new book, The New Power University. He argues argues that universities must embrace “new power” values that focus on participation, networked governance and transparency, to put social responsibility at the core of the academic mission. I ask him how he tried to put what he wrote into practice when he was a Vice Principle at Kings College London, and discuss some of his more controversial ideas, including the idea that blue-skies research should be deprioritised, universities should take strong stances on controversial issues and celebrity researchers should give up tenure so early career researchers can get long-term positions.Get your copy of The New Power University now.Follow Mark at @fasttrackimpact and @profmarkreed or on LinkedIn.Impact Culture is available now, as a hardback, e-book and audio book: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/books. Find out more about the book and join free training and discussion groups at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.Next episodesLeadership blogsChapters on imposter syndrome etc

In the fourth and final episode that includes an audio chapter from his new book, Impact Culture, Mark discusses how to build capacity for impact, including the leadership and skills needed, as well as a discussion of the role that impact strategies can play, based on his recent pre-print with accompanying blog and database which you can read here: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactstrategies.Follow Mark at @fasttrackimpact and @profmarkreed or on LinkedIn.Impact Culture is released as a paperback, e-book and audio book on 25th March 2022. Find out more at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

In the third of four episodes that include audio chapters from his new book, Impact Culture, Mark discusses the importance of working strategically to foster relationships with institutional and disciplinary networks as well as stakeholders. In the introduction, he describes a new stakeholder analysis tool. The chapter that follows considers the role of trust, different types of connection, social norms and power in the generation of impact, before considering a number of actions, including building boundary organisations and fostering a more compassionate culture in your workplace.Follow Mark at @fasttrackimpact and @profmarkreed or on LinkedIn.Impact Culture is released as a paperback, e-book and audio book on 25th March 2022. Find out more at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

In the second of four episodes that include audio chapters from his new book, Impact Culture, Mark discusses some of the literature on purpose, and how researchers derive meaning from their work. In the introduction, he discusses the role of mentors versus coaches in academia, and the chapter that follows focuses on practical ideas that can help researchers prioritise and spend more time on impact.Follow Mark at @fasttrackimpact and @profmarkreed or on LinkedIn.Impact Culture is released as a paperback, e-book and audio book on 25th March 2022. Find out more at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

My new book, Impact Culture, is released on 25th March, and this is your opportunity to join the launch team and get involved in the impact culture community of practice, which launches today!Get involved in the impact culture communityToday I'm launching a new website for anyone who wants to improve their research culture and put impact at the heart of what they do. It includes:A programme of free training events and discussion groups run by members of the impact community. The first event is on impact monitoring and evaluation on 28th February and already has over 300 people booked, so book now to avoid disappointment. Our second event is a more intimate reading group with Jonathan Grant on his new book, The New Power University, on 14th MarchSign up for a new JISCMail impact culture email discussion group to keep the discussion going between eventsFree content from the book - over 90% is available open access via the website, including an impact culture toolkit where I've collected together all the most practical and transformative ideas from the bookGo and have a look around: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactcultureJoin the launch team and get a pre-publication copy of the bookI would also like to invite you to join the launch team for the new book, which includes a signed pre-launch copy of the book with free postage and packing anywhere in the world and a place at the launch event, which will run as an online Reading Group.Your responsibilities as a member of the launch team will be to:Attend the launch event having read as much of the book as possible, so you are ready to discuss it with others;Write a short review of the book on Amazon (whether you love it or hate it), to help others decide if they want to read it too. To do this, you will be asked to buy a free Kindle version of the book the week before launch, so your review is for a verified purchase; andHelp promote the book to your colleagues or networks (if you like it!).In return for this, you get:An exclusive signed copy of the book (this is the only way you will ever be able to get a signed copy)Get your copy up to a month before the book goes on sale to the rest of the worldFree postage and packing anywhere in the world (all other customers will have to pay this)An exclusive place at the launch event (everyone else will have to tune in via YouTube and won't be able to interact with the author or other participants)Free audio, PDF and Kindle version of the bookPlease only buy a ticket if you are able to join the launch event and can commit to writing a review. Places are limited to 100.Download a sample of Part 1 of the book before you commit to joining the launch team.Or listen to my podcast where I previewed the audiobook version of one chapter last week, and will be previewing three more chapters of the following weeks. If you like what you read/hear, then you can join the launch team here.

In the first of four episodes that include audio chapters from his new book, Impact Culture, Mark introduces the first of four components of a healthy impact culture: rigorous, ethical and action-oriented research. In the introduction, he discusses some of the common ethical traps researchers inadvertently fall into when attempting to generate impact from their research. In the chapter that follows, he uses the poet John Keats' creative process to explain how researchers can generate original ideas that can solve real-world problems, and the episode concludes with practical ideas to transform your research so it can underpin impact.Follow Mark at @fasttrackimpact and @profmarkreed or on LinkedIn.Impact Culture is released as a paperback, e-book and audio book on 25th March 2022. Find out more at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

In this episode, Mark is joined by his wife, Dr Joyce Reed, former hospital doctor turned health coach and Managing Director of Fast Track Impact. They talk about some of the hopes and fears of returning to in-person work, and how you can stay resilient in body and mind, whether you are staying at home, going back to work or exploring hybrid ways of working.Find out more about burnout and how to tackle it in this blog by Dr Reed: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/post/how-to-manage-stress-and-recover-from-burnoutRead Dr Reed's new blog on self-compassion: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/post/self-compassion-and-kindnessFind out more about Dr Reed's health coaching practice: https://www.drjoycereedhealthcoach.com/Bring The Health Resilient Researcher course to your institution: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/the-health-resilient-researcherFollow Mark at @fasttrackimpact and @profmarkreed or on LinkedIn.Impact Culture is released as a paperback, e-book and audio book on 25th March 2022. Find out more at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

In this episode, Mark delves into some of the assumptions and world views that can prevent us doing research that is genuinely coproductive. He draws on a realisation that some of his own early work was far from coproductive, and instead could be characterised as "helicopter research" that included elements of white centering and epistemic racism. He also draws inspiration from work with local communities in the UK by University of Staffordshire's Creative Communities Unit, as an example of what is possible when the boundaries between researchers and stakeholders are dissolved.Trigger warning: this episode contains discussion of racism that some listeners may find upsetting.Follow Mark at @fasttrackimpact and @profmarkreed or on LinkedIn.Impact Culture is released as a paperback, e-book and audio book on 25th March 2022. Find out more at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

This week, Mark shares his top 5 lessons for co-producing impact with limited time, based on his forthcoming book, Impact CultureFind out who's interested in your research;Next, start with their needs, not your ideas;Give as much as you get;Base action on bodies of work rather than your latest findings; andBe curious about what works.Follow Mark at @fasttrackimpact and @profmarkreed or on LinkedIn.Impact Culture is released as a paperback, e-book and audio book on 25th March 2022. Find out more at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

In this episode Mark introduces Season 4, discusses why we need to think harder about the culture in which we do our work, and unpacks what a healthy impact culture looks like. To do this, he draws on his new book, Impact Culture, and provides some practical examples of how he is putting the ideas into practice as he builds a new research centre at Scotland's Rural College.Read the peer-reviewed journal publication that summarises the lessons from the book.Follow Mark at @fasttrackimpact and @profmarkreed or on LinkedIn. Impact Culture is released as a paperback, e-book and audio book on 25th March 2022. Find out more at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

Bella Reichard and Mark Reed discuss how their new paper analysing high versus low-scoring impact case studies from REF2014 can be used to write more effective case studies, drawing from their experience advising Universities across the UK on their REF submissions.

Bella Reichard and Mark Reed read from their new paper analysing high versus low-scoring impact case studies from REF2014

Bella Reichard and Mark Reed read from their new paper analysing high versus low-scoring impact case studies from REF2014

This week, Mark asks how you can make room for the most important work of your life. What priorities most authentically express your identity and values, that you need to make time for? The systems that hold you back and demotivate you might not be about to change. But you have the capacity to make small changes that can have a big impact on your motivation, and make your working life easier. Learning from evolutionary organisations and socio-technical systems, Mark shows how you can design experiments that make small changes you can learn from. They are low-risk so you can start now without asking for permission. If it doesn't work, you discontinue or adapt, and if it does, then you build on it and bring others into your experiment. At minimum, you create a work culture that protects you from a toxic organisational culture. Ideally, your new ways of working take off and start changing your organisation from the bottom up.

In a bonus episode this week from the climate conference in Madrid, Mark provides a worked example of how to use a policy seminar to generate build relationships that have the potential to deliver long-term impacts from research. There are lots of methods available to find out who attends a policy seminar and engage with them after the event. To see Mark's approach this week, view this tweet with a link to his video, press release and opportunity to take part in the research https://twitter.com/profmarkreed/status/1202929151923179521

In this second part of his episode on evidencing impact, Mark reads the final sections of his forthcoming co-authored paper, describing five types of impact evaluation and a methodological framework to guide the selection of methods for evidencing impact. See the figures from the paper in this summary presentation: https://www.slideshare.net/MarkReed11/evidencing-research-impact-204551527

This week, Mark reads from his forthcoming co-authored paper on evaluating impact, providing new definitions of research impact, reach and impact evaluation, an overview of national impact evaluations around the world, and a discussion of different ways of demonstrating causality between research and impact. He concludes by introducing the impact evaluation typology and methodological framework, which he will cover in part 2 next week.