Inspired by a book on how historians explain cause and effect, Akshay reflects on the limits of using a reductionist approach for impact measurement. He explores the need for an ecological way of understanding programs, one that brings together numbers, lived experience, and context as they evolve over time.

We often place a lot of trust in the biggest number on a dashboard. In this piece, Akshay reflects on why standalone metrics can sometimes feel reassuring but often fall short when it comes to real decision-making, and why comparison and context matter more than we think.

The author reflects on how qualitative methods surface forms of impact that conventional evaluations overlook. Through firsthand accounts from disaster reporting platforms in Indonesia and the Philippines, she explores how changes in confidence, agency, and collective action unfold over time. It invites readers to rethink what we measure, why it matters, and how different questions can fundamentally change what we understand as impact.

“Other” sometimes ends up as the largest category in surveys, and often the least examined. In this article, Akshay reflects on what gets hidden inside that option, why edge cases are worth paying attention to, and how they can lead to more responsive programs.