Here is my lessons and an invitation: the next time you host a webinar, consider including a poem or another thought provoking reading in the chat while you get logistics ironed out. Trust your audience to be patient while you fix the kinks. Perhaps they can learn as much from each other as from the presenters! It's ok to try again. Last but not least, answer texts from your mom!
smol, medium, large
Not knowing if a given scenario is easy or hard, or if there's an easier work-around to avoid a super-hard thing, feeds the overwhelm/impostor machine. It's so clarifying and liberating to just know what you're getting yourself into. PLUS, baby animal memes!
normalize, normalize
Believe me, I have complete understanding for why you might not want to tackle that data junk drawer. That being said, I believe there are friendly, empowering, efficient ways to move through a data cleaning process. The first step is a mindset shift from thinking "we have already failed at this aahhhhhhh!" to "this is a normal, friendly, empowering way to take good care of our community!" Let's normalize data cleanup so we don't have to normalize data.
breadcrumbs trail / matzo meal
I think it's a best practice to design ALL spreadsheets as if they will be manipulated by other people, which means leaving a strong "breadcrumbs trail" of your assumptions, formulas, variables, data sources, and more. In my case, it's a matzo meal trail until tomorrow evening when Passover ends and I will devour pizza with all my might!
ode to zoom
...if one of the things that I like so much about Zoom is blurred boundaries and shared vulnerability, perhaps I can loosen my own commitment to perfectionism and let more of real life into the frame.
unexpected joy of data entry
A meditation on data entry and lovingkindness as we shelter-in-place for the forseeable future.
lipstick on a pig
What do pigs, horses, donkeys, formulas, and tables have in common? Read more to find out, plus GIFs and best practices for formatting spreadsheets for optimum share-a-bility.
facilitation/difficultation
Introducing two facilitation techniques for helping a group tackle difficult database questions, plus some personal reflection about how I'm showing up as a leader and co-conspirator.
borders / no borders
How do you apply borders and formatting to a spreadsheet, and then copy them somewhere else? When should you use borders? Are geopolitical borders wrong? Yes, we tackle all this and MORE! Plus, .GIFs!
cultivating change-making mindsets
Making New Years' resolutions? Try out our 7 Changemaking Mindsets! This is a collaborative project with Emily Hicks-Rotella and Katie Blanchard. ❤
