Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness=Quality of Life

摘要

After 40 years of bouncing around on the Gulf of Mexico as a student, ecological researcher, educator, explorer, and advocate, it is hard not to think that I've heard all of the questions and have a ready answer for each-that is, until someone asks a question that I can't readily answer. Recently, a member of the Gulf of Mexico foundation's Board of Directors asked, "How do we know when we have accomplished the intent of our mission?" My first thought was, "This is explained in our mission statement," which basically says provide leadership to achieve sustainability of environmental health and productivity. But it does not say how we measure and determine success. We can measure outputs, but how do we measure progress toward intended outcomes? I was stumped.