Before You Build a Program, Answer These Three Questions
Sunday Morning Coffee | Past the Edges Consulting
There’s a moment I’ve seen more times than I can count.
A team is energized. Funding is on the table. The need is real. Someone says, “We should build a program for this.” Heads nod. Ideas start flying. Timelines tighten. Deliverables get drafted. And before anyone has fully slowed down to think it through…the program is already in motion.
I understand the instinct. In our field (education, corrections, reentry) the urgency is real. People need support now. Systems need solutions now. But here’s what forty years in this work has taught me: The success of a program is determined long before it launches. It’s determined in the questions you ask at the beginning, and there are three that matter more than most.
Question One: What Problem Are We Actually Solving?
This sounds obvious. It isn’t.
Too many programs are built around a perceived problem instead of a clearly defined one. Or worse, they’re built around a funding opportunity, a trend, or something another jurisdiction is doing.
A real problem statement goes deeper than:
“People need jobs.”
“Students need education.”
“Recidivism is too high.”
Those are outcomes. Not problems. The real work is asking: What’s happening underneath that outcome? Is it:
lack of executive function skills?
limited access to employers willing to hire?
inconsistent program participation due to facility operations?
low literacy levels that make training inaccessible?
Until you name the actual barrier, you risk building a program that looks good on paper but doesn’t move the needle. I’ve seen beautifully designed programs fail because they solved the wrong problem, even though they did it elegantly.
Question Two: What Does Success Look Like—Specifically?
“Success” is one of the most overused and underdefined words in our field. If success is “participants do better,” you don’t have a goal. You have a hope. Effective programs define success in ways that are:
observable
measurable
meaningful
Not just:
how many people enrolled
how many completed
But:
what changed as a result
what skills were gained
what behaviors shifted
what outcomes improved over time
And just as important:
What does success look like for the participant?
Because systems often define success differently than the people they serve. When those definitions are misaligned, engagement drops, and programs struggle to sustain impact.
Question Three: What Conditions Have to Be True for This to Work?
This is the question that most often gets skipped, and the one that determines whether a program survives contact with reality. Every program depends on conditions. In correctional and reentry settings, those might include:
consistent scheduling
staff buy-in
access to space and materials
alignment with facility operations
participant readiness
leadership support
If those conditions aren’t present, or if they’re fragile, the program will constantly be fighting upstream.
And here’s the key: You can’t design a strong program on top of weak conditions. You either have to strengthen the conditions or redesign the program to fit the reality. Ignoring this step is how good ideas turn into frustrating implementations.
Why These Questions Matter More Than the Curriculum
Notice what’s missing so far.
We haven’t talked about lesson plans.
We haven’t talked about platforms or materials.
We haven’t talked about branding or naming.
Because those things come later.
Program design is not about what you deliver; it’s about how well what you deliver aligns with:
the real problem
a clear definition of success
the conditions on the ground
When those three are aligned, the program has a chance. When they aren’t, no amount of curriculum can fix it.
What I’ve Learned the Hard Way
I’ve been part of programs that worked and programs that didn’t. The ones that worked weren’t always the most innovative. They weren’t always the most funded. They weren’t always the most complex. They were the ones that:
understood the problem deeply
defined success clearly
designed around real conditions
The ones that struggled? they almost always skipped one of those steps. Sometimes all three.
A Quiet Invitation
If you’re building, or are about to build, a program, pause here. Ask the questions. Push a little deeper than is comfortable. Challenge your assumptions. Invite voices from the ground into the design process.
It might slow you down at the beginning, but it will save you time and frustration later.
☕ Final Sip
In our field, we don’t have the luxury of building programs that look good but don’t work. The stakes are too high. The people we serve deserve better than that. Before you build, ask better questions, because the strength of your program will always reflect the clarity of your thinking at the start.
And if you get that part right, everything else gets a little easier.
Cheers to another inspiring week! Keep designing, serving, and hoping!
