On Being Brave

In the movies they make it look like strength. But in reality, when you're in it, it feels incredibly tender. Being uncomfortable and doing it anyway—that's brave. It's a beautiful thing, and sadly it's often undervalued.

Systemic Change

Systemic change unfolds over years and decades through the slow rewiring of institutions, cultural norms, and power structures. This long timeline makes it hard to see and harder to explain. Most people focus on what they can control directly - their families, work, and communities. When you talk about changing underlying systems instead of individual … Continue reading Systemic Change

Loving Kindness in Tech

There’s a lot of talk these days about “Rage Entrepreneurs.” Utah Governor Spencer Cox used the term to describe how tech companies profit by amplifying anger. Marketing Professor Scott Galloway calls rage the externality of turning attention into shareholder value. The technology I want—and need—promotes loving kindness and creativity. I’m convinced that if more diverse … Continue reading Loving Kindness in Tech

Resilience vs Power

In nature, power manifests as storms and environmental disasters, while resilience shows up in a system's ability to absorb shocks and changes in climate. Diverse systems hold a greater capacity to adapt than homogenous systems. In human systems, when people are different, they problem-solve better and demonstrate long term stability. Bend not break.

Learning Communities

It sounds corny but it really works. Learning in community nurtures accountability, values, communication, working through challenges, trust building, so many things. The trick is to find the right community. And when you do, handle with care.

Gratitude Practice

Twelve weeks ago, I started doing something small—I began writing down ten things I was grateful for, two or three times a day, in the notes app on my phone. Nothing fancy. Just small, real things. A walk I took. Good food I made. An interesting conversation with a friend. I’m not sharing this because … Continue reading Gratitude Practice

Checking Assumptions

This deserves a longer post, but for now I am posting a link to Roger Martin's article, "What Would Have to be True - the most useful question in strategy. It is the most useful question, he claims, because it helps us: * Distinguish our LOGIC from the DATA we need to support it* Focus … Continue reading Checking Assumptions

Practice Methods in Art

There are multiple ways to practice an art form, and it’s important that we practice in multiple ways. We can engage in formal exercises. Practicing formal exercises enhances our ability to see, hear, and move. In art school, there is a lot of homework that resembles tasks such as taking two colors or two shades … Continue reading Practice Methods in Art

Human-Centered Design

Human-centered design helps us shift our thinking from technology-centered design to designing for and with humans. While technology is cool, innovative, and certainly brandable, at the end of the day, technology should always be understood as a tool that helps us achieve human-centered outcomes. Technology serves as a means to a human-centered end. One such … Continue reading Human-Centered Design

Economic Mobility + Social Connection

“If you grow up in a place where low income and high income people are interacting more, you are much more likely to rise up in the income distribution yourself.”This finding by Raj Chetty's team leads to the question: “What might we do to increase cross-class friendships?” Chetty’s research finds that it’s not enough to … Continue reading Economic Mobility + Social Connection