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"That" time of the year is back. When "that" survey arrives in our inboxes asking us to vote for our favourite think tanks. Other emails arrive as well. These are from think tanks asking us to vote for them. The pressure is on.
This is my advice. 1/
This is my advice. 1/
In my opinion - and that of others, better at this issue than me- is that the methodology is fundamentally flawed. It is not able to assess the quality or relevance or influence of the work of think tanks. This is one of many articles on the issue: https://onthinktanks.org/articles/the-flaws-in-the-ranking/ 2/
The ranking also undermines efforts to invest in making think tanks and their communities better. Getting on it and climbing positions is easy: get friends to vote for you. Transforming an organisation for the better is hard. But it will pay-off in the long term. 3/
Does the ranking matter? Serious funders, national and international, do not care about rankings. They care about an organisation's fundamentals: its governance, leadership, human resources, research outputs, communication competencies, etc. 4/
Policymakers do not care about rankings. No minister of finance will check the ranking before reading a policy brief. They care about the relevance of the research, its quality, how it is communicated, etc. 5/
Journalists won't trust a think tank because they show up in some ranking. They will trust them if the information they share is consistently reliable, if it is current and relevant to the news agenda, if it is accessible. 6/
No serious researcher will join a think tank because it showed in some ranking. 7/
But, still, there is pressure. Some think tank leaders are pressured by their boards! Others feel the pressure because other less influential, less relevant think tanks in their country are on the ranking! 8/
This is when think tank leaders need to push back. Educate their boards. Educate themselves. Focus on what matters. 9/
It doesn't matter if your think tanks is ranked or how high up. What matters - for those who care about your organisation and for its work- is that it is well managed and sustainable, capable of producing robust and relevant research and able to communicate it widely 10/
Joining the "rat race" will only bring problems. Every year you will have to report on how well you are doing in the ranking. You will compete with your peers. You will have to ask for favours -and offer favours- to stay on top. You will waste resources better spend elsewhere 11/
Use the time you and your team would spend asking for votes communicating with policymakers, journalists, funders and peers, instead. Ask them for an honest and nuanced assessment of your work. You will gain more. And it will help your mission. 12/
Join your peers, nationally, and exchange lessons, share challenges and successes, reflect, together, on how to strengthen your community. Compete on ideas - not on popularity 13/
Use "those" emails as an opportunity to challenge how your organisations are evaluated. Push back on these crude forms of evaluation. Think tanks are more than lists. They contribute to their communities in many more ways. Celebrate that! 14/
To the big global think tanks: You do not need the ranking. It does not affect you. But it has negative consequences on smaller think tanks. On think tanks where understanding of their work is limited. Where limited resources need to be cared for dearly. Don't just play along 15/
