I have been writing professionally for more than 15 years.
Today I write about a variety of topics including social impact, systems change, ethics, leadership, collaboration, communications, creativity, and culture.
You can find my most recent content on Substack.
My very best content is on Patreon. I also have publicly available content on Medium, and here on this website (scroll down or use the search bar).
I’ve written for 20+ publications, including The Design Justice Network and the Field Guide to Climate Design.
Contact me if you’re interested in me writing for your audience or publication!
This 37-page research-backed digital book is about how visuals, and graphic facilitation specifically, can engage individuals and improve group trust and productivity. With more than 30 references, it includes both theoretical and practical information on the importance and many benefits of using visual tools to support collaborative communications and processes.
Earlier this month professionals and leaders from across science, business, energy, finance, and more met to have conversations about creating an "Economy in Service to Life" at the first annual Regenerative Future Summit. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a couple sessions near and dear to my heart: "The Power of a Narrative in Building a Movement" and "Conscious Leadership in Business."
Read MoreAs a designer, I work in ideas. But I also must work with people. If I could distill everything that I’ve learned as a designer down to one thing it would be this: Ideas are excellent; people are essential. People are not only vessels for ideas, they bring them into form. Designers sometimes think they are responsible for both discovering ideas and executing them, but at some point our ideas must live beyond us. They are shared with co-creators, with clients, with stakeholders, with audiences we may never meet.
Read MoreA couple weeks ago, dozens of Denver creatives came together at IdeaLab 2017 to discuss using their talents to create social change. These are the sketchnotes I created for the event.
Read MoreIn recent years, the power and popularity of storytelling has become commonplace. Research shows that stories are a part of all that we do because they help us in many important ways. Any work that involves people always tells a story. When we recognize that, we can ask ourselves whether the story we are telling is the one we should be.
Read MoreDid you know that employee time spent in collaborative activities has increased by more than 50% in the past two decades? Making this time count is important but it can also be challenging. Whenever individuals come together to solve problems they will be faced with competing needs. Groups must keep in mind that communication tools will need to help individuals get their social needs met while also advancing the group’s ability to execute tasks. Visuals can play a key role in maximizing time spent together and ensuring that these needs are not in competition.
Read MoreHave you heard that it takes 80% of the energy that you'll invest in a project to finish the last 20% of the project? (This is known as the Pareto principle.) As surprising as that sounds, it rings true for me and my experience. Here are my hard-won tips for finishing projects you’ve begun.
Read MoreI work with organizations who are constantly asking what it means to work together and who are braving new frontiers when it comes to doing it better. From them I have learned that collaboration may be easy to talk about but it is often difficult to do in practice (and even harder to measure). I've witnessed that one of the most challenging requirements for teamwork is keeping everyone engaged. Interestingly, researchers have unveiled a paradox here: the best collaborative efforts are the result of BOTH creating safe space for everyone to contribute equally AND intentionally supporting those who add the most value. Here I will describe how I think these aims might best be balanced using the process and framework of design thinking.
Read MoreThere's (at least) two attitudes I could approach the process of redesigning my website with. One is resistance, dread, or fear. Feeling ashamed of what I don't like, and regret for not addressing it sooner. Another is with hope, anticipation, excitement. Feeling clear about what I do like, and grateful to be able to make some changes now. Either way, I must accept that change is inevitable. Everything either evolves or collapses. Nature never creates same thing twice. Iteration is a wonderful law, enabling unfathomable diversity and immense beauty.
Read MoreWelcome back to my Show and Tell Tuesday series of fun visuals to know and use! This week's visuals are for making decisions. Since we are often using our imaginations to determine best choices, I think visuals can be a very powerful way to both access information and recognize opportunities.
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