Who Do You Serve?

"What you do is the promise you make to the people you serve." I think this is a quote from Seth Godin. It's meaningful because so often we focus on the thing we make--a gadget, an app, a class--rather than the people that the thing aims to serve. What we need to be more clear … Continue reading Who Do You Serve?

Decision-Making and Trade-Offs

Sometimes when we are having trouble making a decision, we will be advised to go with our gut. While this can be a good way to make a decision, it’s often not enough--especially when we are making decisions that affect other people or are unique to specific situations.If we want to be more intentional with … Continue reading Decision-Making and Trade-Offs

Our Lives Are Full – Martin Short’s 9 Categories

Our brains are wired to focus on negative thoughts. This is why we wake up in the middle of the night and ruminate on that awkward conversation that happened months ago. It's why we zoom in on that one bad grade or that one negative comment.While this wiring used to serve us when we were … Continue reading Our Lives Are Full – Martin Short’s 9 Categories

Businesses and Complex Adaptive Systems

trillium in an old-growth forest Can businesses be designed like complex adaptive systems? This is the question that Roger L. Martin explores in his new book When More Isn't Better: Overcoming America's Obsession with Economic Efficiency. The book opens much like Mariana Mazzucato's The Value of Everything--it opens with a long critique of our current … Continue reading Businesses and Complex Adaptive Systems

Solving the Wrong Problem

I once had a figure drawing instructor who would playfully swat my drawing hand if I were working on a detail of a figure without first mapping out the entire body. Zoom in too soon and you might be drawing a perfect hand but in the wrong place. I love it that she did that.

Coda: The TUNING Toolkit

The TUNING Toolkit is a set of tools that helps people turn their ideas into B.Corps, NonProfits, and DIY/Open Source projects that make the world better. It’s designed specifically for projects sparked by a desire to help people. The TUNING Toolkit is kicked off with a Prelude and ends in a Coda. In between the … Continue reading Coda: The TUNING Toolkit

ORGANIZE: The Expansion

This post is part of a series on creativity and project management. REVIEW You started this workbook by articulating a high-level goal of helping a group of people solve a specific problem using a specific set of tools.Then you developed an idea for a project that could help realize that goal. You gathered feedback from … Continue reading ORGANIZE: The Expansion

ORGANIZE: The Launch

This post is part of a series on creativity and project management. REVIEW We’ve made prototypes and have tested them with a small group of customers. We’ve set a deadline for when we will launch our project to the public. Hitting this goal is something to celebrate. But it’s also a point where the work … Continue reading ORGANIZE: The Launch

ORGANIZE: from Prototype to Knowledge

REVIEW The TUNING Toolkit has three sections: BELIEVE, CREATE, and ORGANIZE. In the BELIEVE section, we set goals. In the CREATE section, we collaborated and brainstormed. ORGANIZE is the third and last section of the toolkit. In this section, we will think strategically about what to create and how to launch what you create into … Continue reading ORGANIZE: from Prototype to Knowledge

CREATE: Short Term, Long Term

This post is part of a series that fleshes out The TUNING Toolkit – a toolkit that helps people move their ideas forward. REVIEW The TUNING Toolkit has three sections: BELIEVE, CREATE, and ORGANIZE. In the BELIEVE section, we defined our ultimate goal, convincing ourselves that we have what it takes to achieve it, and … Continue reading CREATE: Short Term, Long Term