When I founded The SMC Group in 2018, I built a framework with approaches, methodologies, methods, and tools that align with my PMEL values. It also represents the business values and standards of professional conduct that hold my work to account.
RADIQUAL stands for Reflective, Anti-Racist, Decolonial, Intersectional and Inclusive, Queer, United, Adaptive and Anti-Oppression, and Liberatory.
I created The RADIQUAL Methodology and Framework with those values in mind to keep me accountable as a business owner and in my work. It’s pronounced ‘racical’ and you can read more about its name here.
It is my research framework and values guide as an anti-racist and anti-oppression business.
Since years of hard work and dozens of projects went into building it, I can’t share it openly for you to use. However, I wanted to share parts of it to give you a sense of its broad purpose. If you’d like to hear more just get in touch!
I created dozens of tools and methods under RAQIQUAL, inspired by PAR, FPAR, intersectional feminist, and decolonial approaches to our work. Since I also work on JEDI+ with the social impact and private sectors, there is a lot of information on how to engage with each other ethically and safely and to practice respect and equity in our collaborations.
However, RADIQUAL is not fixed or prescriptive. I think of it as a values framework with clear commitments to each of the principles above. It then has a toolkit for me to draw upon – with around 100 ideas! But it is also adaptive and flexible so I also design new tools for projects as I need them.
Conduct and Business Values in RADIQUAL
In direct response to my toxic experiences at Open Society Foundations and in philanthropy as a whole, I wanted to start a company that practised its values, that worked in partnership with its community, and whose actions went far, far beyond the performative allyship that we see everywhere.
I ran an ethical fashion company before this, and its Modern Slavery Policy, Green Policy, and Procurement Policy have also gone into RADIQUAL. For example, my stationery comes from vendors who practice sustainability too – otherwise, I am a hypocrite!
I share it with all my clients and partners through an open feedback survey to help ensure I am meeting these standards. Alongside RADIQUAL, I also share a Code of Conduct and contract annexes with partners and clients to ensure that our business partnership mirrors the values we practice in our research work.
How I use RADIQUAL
It should all flow and build off one another, so as I learn from a focus group discussion, for example, it may inspire how I wish to construct client meetings. A client’s idea of how to share the results of an evaluation may also inspire a new method or tool to be used, for example.
Why limit ourselves to practising values only in our research when we could be building better businesses and organisational cultures? I want to demonstrate how The SMC Group lives up to these standards and why they matter for our work.
I welcome your feedback on how all these resources can best support you and your work, so I would love to stay in touch. If you have any experiences using innovative frameworks and business practices, if you’d like to apply RADIQUAL to your work or organisation, or if you’d just like to learn more about how to bring some creativity to your research work – let’s talk!
