Defining what matters

Ever better

The best is yet to come. Seriously. There’s always a new bit of inspiration that can reinvigorate an old idea, or a way to do it better than it’s ever been done before. Human ingenuity is a beautiful thing, and I’m open to the mystery of how we improve the world around us by being open to new ideas and possibilities.

This is the expansive and painful reality of the moment we happen to live in — more people than ever can share their unique point of view, especially those who have often been relegated to the margins. This enriches our worldview by several orders of magnitude, but it’s a lot for many peoples’ psyches and bodies. Our capacities and systems are playing catchup, often not particularly skillfully.

This is less a principle about optimization (although as a recovering perfectionist, that’s a dial I’m always learning how to turn down 😅), but more a commitment to forever being in draft. Things can always and will always change. It’s my job to stay open to new ideas and perspectives that widen my aperture and deepen my awareness.

Good enough

Get it out the damn door! Look, I’m a pretty risk-averse person, and I’ve worked with a lot of risk-averse people, companies and leaders. You have to try, and it’s going to be imperfect. You have to decide at a certain point, “this is done enough,” and move on to the next thing. You can always come back (see principle 1), but sometimes a thing needs to walk around for a while before you know what it needs, and you need to get out of the way and let it do that. No more striving for the Platonic ideal — ship it.

Simple not easy

Often, we know what we need to do. These things, that make us healthy and whole and able to be present, that give us confidence and courage and a deep feeling of self-worth, whether on a personal level or as a team working together, they are (for better or worse) rooted in practices. Practices! Little things we show up to daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly. Moment by moment and season by season.

And us humans, we are so forgetful. We have these big elaborate ideas of how things should work or how we should be, and we build these crazy systems and structures and rationalizations and… no. It’s simple. Show up, and do the thing you know you need to do.

I’m reminded of Sister Corita Kent’s Ten Rules, that “the only rule is work.” Part of me rankles against that, because I’m in the process of redefining my relationship with work (hello!), but there’s a deep truth here. Put your head down, and do the next thing that needs doing. It’s simple, but not easy. This is also why the next principle exists.

Less but better*

For the love of god, you need fewer things. Especially if you’re a brand, with something resembling a brand house. My invitation to you, is how can you take what feels true and resonant and helpful, and trust that thing can influence everything?

I strive to offer people simple reframes + resources that can help you — a person living your life, or a person guiding some part of an organization — come back to what you value and let it influence your day to day decisions. Choose what you value with care, and use all parts of the animal.

*What I mean by “better”

We live in capitalism, which isn’t ideal for most beings living on this planet. Its ideal state is to make the rich richer while making the poor poorer, and is rooted in a sense of scarcity that has left us spiritually sick. And for now, we’re stuck with it! Yikes!

AND YET, I believe beautiful things can happen when people come together to make things. Organizations are where a lot of people find their sense of purpose, contribution and community (especially since those things have been decimated within our non-working worlds).

I believe there are ways to coordinate effort between people that reflects a broader and more deeply aligned definition of value. And companies can be great places to experiment with what “better” looks like in lived practice.

I am particularly interested in working with clients and organizations who:

• Take action to create a fairer and more equitable society

• Take action to reverse climate change

• Protect and improve the mental health of their employees and customers

• Are helmed by LGBTQIA2S+ or racialized people

• Work to embody their purpose, mission and/or values beyond a campaign or slogan

• Define stakeholder value beyond shareholder value.

I am not interested in working with organizations directly involved with:

• Arms and defence

• Fossil fuels

• Gambling, NFTs and crypto

• A history of environmental or human rights abuses.