The Truth and Nothing but the Truth
The Truth and Nothing but the Truth I get self-righteous when it comes to honesty. But do I always tell the truth? Clearly not. I fib multiple times daily. How about the new baby that looks ready for a beauty contest to the new parents but not to me. Do I disagree that this is the most beautiful child ever entering the universe? I was prompted to think about this when...
Trust and change…and how to arrange your bookshelf
Hal’s Blog- Don’t bother to put the two parts of the title together. All they have in common is being the subject of passages I read last week that left me unsettled. The first is from a program report and came in a highlighted box: Change happens at the speed of trust. Trust takes time and discourse to achieve. Meanwhile, don’t push for improvements. I like reversing this...
The Legacy of Black Pioneers
Hal’s Blog- I saw a great exhibit on this subject at the James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art in St. Petersburg Florida recently. It told through contemporary quilts the stories of Black individuals and families who went west. I first learned that while these stories are seldom told they are plentiful. About 25% of cowboys, for example, were Black.
The Report or the Change?
Hal’s Blog- My partner Robyn and I had a great discussion the other day about how nonprofits typically hire consultants to do one of two things. The first is to study an organization and provide observations and recommendations in an area the organization wishes to improve.
Reporting or Commentating?
Hal’s Blog- Social scientists have long called attention on limits of being objective. Everything gets filtered through the eyes of the observer.
Sameness and Specialness
Hal’s Blog- My longtime friend and thought partner, Arthur Webb has just published a book about public policy in the field of intellectual and development disabilities (I/DD).
At rest or in motion?
Hal’s blog- “…products stay at rest because they are internally defined by what they are, not the motion to put them to use. People stay at rest not because they don’t want to do better but that they lack clear steps forward…”
Paying for Results…or the motivation to achieve them
Hal’s blog-I once worked with a Connecticut foundation whose grantee ran an afterschool program for struggling middle school students. We had been provided a list of students who did significantly better in school during the year they attended this program.
Starting Big. Ending Bigger
Hal’s Blog- In Results1st we often speak of trying things at a small scale and building on what works. Some ideas, however, need a significant critical mass even for the first application. My partner Robyn Faucy illustrated that while CEO of Neuro Challenge, a multicounty leader for persons with Parkinson’s disease and their caregivers.