Hello friend,

Every Thursday, Theory of Change explains how to use a helpful framework in 4 minutes or less. It’s trusted by hundreds of nonprofit leaders, journalists, and social innovators.

It’s year-end, and (if you’re like me) you're behind on next year’s strategy. January grant deadlines (why do funders hate us so much?), performance reviews, financial reporting (and holiday shopping) have drained your energy. There’s no time to step back and plan.

But what if there was a quick, no-nonsense way to turn your 2024 insights into actionable steps for 2025? Enter Start, Stop, Continue—a proven method I adapted from tech for purpose-driven organisations.

In today’s newsletter, I'll unpack how to use this framework, avoid pitfalls, and apply it to your planning.

But before I do: a quick news flash: Better Leaders Lab and Evenly Distributed are hosting a free year-planning Zoom on January 6th, 2025. Details on how to sign up are at the end of this email.

Let’s get into it.

🚦  START, STOP, CONTINUE 🚦 

What is it?

Start, Stop, Continue is a reflective framework that asks three deceptively simple questions:

1. What should we start doing?

2. What should we stop doing?

3. What should we continue doing?

Why it works.

Originally devised as a way for technology teams to hold product retrospectives, I’ve always found that Start, Stop, Continue is a great way way to reflect on complex issues, encourages team ownership by involving all voices, and scales for everything from team meetings to organisation-wide planning.

But it’s not flawless: marginalised team members may hesitate to share critiques, especially if power dynamics are at play. More on that in a bit.

When to use it.

• During annual reviews, strategic planning, or in preparation for board meetings.

• After major campaigns, strategic initiatives, or organisational milestones.

• When identifying recurring roadblocks or innovation opportunities.

Get started.

Solo

Grab a notebook (or open a Google doc) and create three columns: Start, Stop, and Continue. Use these prompts to guide your thinking:

1. Start: What’s a new approach or habit I could adopt to better align with my goals?

2. Stop: What’s draining my energy or diverting focus from our mission?

3. Continue: What’s working well and deserves more attention?

Examples:

1. Start: Allocating 30 minutes weekly for reengaging funders.

2. Stop: Saying “yes” to every low-priority request.

3. Continue: Regular check-ins with mentors for feedback.

In a team

When working with a team, create a collaborative environment that values input from everyone. Share the three categories beforehand and ask participants to jot down ideas. Use tools like Miro, or a simple shared doc. Dedicate 10–15 minutes to ideating around each category. Use prompts like:

1. What new initiative could help us achieve our mission? (Start)

2. What’s slowing us down or creating unnecessary stress? (Stop)

3. What’s a success we should replicate or expand? (Continue)

Then, simply group similar ideas and decide which ones to focus on, aligning them with your organisation’s goals and capacity.

Take it to the next level

To dig deeper and avoid biases, encourage your team to challenge assumptions and embrace fresh perspectives.

Use prompts like: Why hasn’t this worked? What would we do differently if resources weren’t an issue? Solo ideation before group discussions helps generate diverse ideas, while including data from the entire project timeline prevents recency bias. Push for forward-thinking with questions about long-term success and bold, no-limits goals.

Or start with anonymous surveys to gather honest input, then use inclusive facilitation to actively invite quieter team members into the discussion. Rotate who leads the session to reduce power dynamics, and frame prompts around equity: Who benefits most from what we continue? Who might be negatively impacted by what we stop?

🔮 FUTUREPROOFING 🔮 

As workplaces emphasise psychological safety and trauma-informed leadership, frameworks like Start, Stop, Continue are evolving to include more thoughtful, systemic questions. Instead of asking What should we stop? You might explore unspoken barriers: What fears or assumptions are holding us back? The “continue” category could go beyond identifying successes to ask How do these practices support trust and resilience?

This shift aligns with growing attention to mental health and anti-oppression practices. Leaders can ask versions of: How do power dynamics shape participation in this process? Are any practices unintentionally causing harm? However you phrase the questions, the aim should be to move past surface-level feedback.

🪁 PARALLEL PLAY 🪁

Three valuable distractions (and a bonus), because you’re worth it:

• izzzzi is a “slow social media” experiment with a bunch of interesting constraints (for those of you already bored of Bluesky, perhaps?)

• “Parasocial relationships are the name of the game.” The New Rules of Media

• Fennesz has a beautiful new album of fuzzy noise (on in the background as I write this).

• Impact investment has entered the chat. My Nieman Lab prediction for 2025.

🌊 WAVE GOODBYE 🌊

Evenly Distributed and Better Leaders Lab (founded by Anita Zielina) are teaming up on a free Zoom workshop Your Year in Focus on January 6th. This session will help you review 2024 and define a vision for 2025 with a guiding motto. You’ll gain actionable insights through practical frameworks and dedicated quiet time for personal reflection. Spots are free, but extremely limited - sign up here.

Thanks for reading. It’s wild out there, take care of yourselves.

Adam

p.s. This hand-crafted missive is one of many things I do over at Evenly Distributed, which helps journalists, nonprofit leaders, fundraisers, and social entrepreneurs build organisations of purpose. If that sounds like you, then check out my free Fundraising HQ system, my €99 fundraising course, Funder Match (a fundraising GPT), and my YouTube channel. 

p.p.s. If you were forwarded this email, I’d love for you to subscribe.