In technology work, two different methods are often pitted against each other - the “waterfall” method and the “agile” method. Waterfall represents releasing a whole bunch of water at once - meaning we put a ton of work into a product or solution or thing before end users get access and start using in the real world. Agile represents ongoing, iterative releases and improvements - meaning we put out something good enough at the beginning and let users play with it, using feedback and new knowledge to release improvements and enhancements on regular cycles called sprints.

Long-time readers of mine have doubtlessly heard me bristle at any kind of binary comparison, and this one is no different. These two methods give-and-take from each other and in reality are often used in conjunction either on purpose or by circumstance. Neither of these methods have a stated goal of making a perfect technological achievement. Even the waterfall method is meant to be repeated as technologies require updates.

An amazing movie that includes waterfalls is Wild Waters, in which you can watch Nouria Newman (the most gifted kayaker of her generation) send a 100-foot waterfall. But like most extreme athletes, Nouria is after near-perfection. The consequences of small mistakes for her and her peers can be very very steep - many extreme athletes who can perform technically “perfect” and artfully astounding feats have died in the environments they love.

In contrast, the artist Rashid Johnson gives us a different view of how we achieve greatness. In the fantastically named article The Confident Anxiety of Rashid Johnson, a quote from Johnson stuck out:

“There is no purity for me, no absolute success or failure, and no room for the masterpiece.”

After many years doing data & tech work for nonprofits, I have learned to talk to my colleagues early and often about my own method of working. It can be done in conjunction with agile, waterfall, or any other approach to releasing new technology and features to users, and it is extremely comfortable with errors, mistakes, missing pieces, and especially in working in collaboration with users to identify and work on these imperfections. I’m excited to when I tell my clients and colleagues that I have no room for masterpieces.

With this in mind, I have 3 opportunities to pass on to you. If there is a person or organization in your life you think could benefit from my writings or these services, please pass them along with my eternal gratitude.

1. ​Fractional Tech Team for Nonprofit Organizations: Something I’ve been working on for years is how to bring quality data & technology support to smaller nonprofits without established data & tech teams or roles in the org chart and without big budgets. A Fractional Tech Team fulfills this need. More than just launching systems or making reports and dashboards, a Fractional Tech Team aims to make a deep and lasting impact on the culture of an organization that will set it up to use data & technology in the most impactful and important ways. We’ve got space for 1 or 2 more organizations ready to embed data & technology into their culture and work - reach out to learn more.
2. ​Defeating Imposter Syndrome Coaching Program: Imposter Syndrome is one of the most played out phenomena of our time. Its most insidious trait is gaslighting - it makes you think there is a problem within you. The effects of Imposter Syndrome are to make a person question themselves. To question their skills, their knowledge, their community, even their very worth. To this I say, FUCK THAT, and I hope you will join me in kicking this shit to the curb. The first cohort is FREE and starting at the end of January. If you or someone you know could be doing so much more with so much less stress about it, come get it out of your system with me! Write back to this email if you want to join!
3. ​Venting About Time and Social Justice: Our missions and the people we serve need the situation to change RIGHT NOW - the urgency in our work could never be greater or more clear. At the same time, systemic and individual change is mostly the result of many years of intense work and relationship building, things that cannot necessarily be “sped up” or made efficient. This apparent contradiction can wear on nonprofit professionals - but talking about it with each other can help release some of that tension and make way for new energy to keep going. In this interactive session, we will use Vent Diagrams (https://www.ventdiagrams.com/vision-and-values) to facilitate a discussion about the role of time and urgency in nonprofit and social justice work. Register for this January 24th event today.