In our research announcement on theories of change (ToC) for digital government, the Digital Service Network shared our belief that all Digital Service (DS) teams should work to develop a ToC. We also believe that, whether or not they think they do, all DS teams already have a ToC simply by virtue of working toward an end state different from the current one (i.e., from services that may be outdated, inefficient, and/or ineffective, to digitally transformed services that help improve resident outcomes). 

Through studying and working with these teams, we ask: are DS teams’ ToCs doing all they can for them? Are they explicit? Are the assumptions and dependencies inherent in them rigorously interrogated? Are they wielded in the right circumstances?