I’ve been a bit pessimistic lately. Or perhaps I’ve just been a bit a realistic, which can be far more depressing. In the past several weeks I’ve written and deleted a few different LinkedIn posts. I know that many of you appreciate the honesty in some of my comics, even the ones that feel a […]
The Report Design Multitask Problem
One of the biggest report design frustrations is something that’s not on most people’s radar. I talk about this in my book The Reporting Revolution (it‘s only $5, you should buy it!), but I’ve also talked about the concept in workshops. Here is a clip from my Everyday Report Design workshop. Most evaluators and researchers […]
The Cassandra Curse
I kick off my latest book with the story about Cassandra. I feel like being an evaluator or researcher or data analyst puts you in this position where you learn things. It then becomes your responsibility to share what you’ve learned with others. But if we fail to share it effectively, what’s the difference between […]
The PDF Must Die
For the last ten years or so I’ve taken a pretty measured stance on PDFs. Saying that they’re okay in moderation, perhaps even useful. That’s the stance I take in The Reporting Revolution. I share three reporting strategies and the first is a modern PDF strategy. I kept it in because the book is really […]
The Reporting Revolution 2nd Edition (NOW AVAILABLE!)
Now Available! The Reporting Revolution (2nd Edition) What’s new? Launch Special! If you buy the book in November, you’ll get access to a free modern reporting jumpstart webinar on December 4 at 11AM Eastern. I’ll even record the thing, so even if you miss it you can still watch. All you have to do is […]
The Reporting Three-Step Method
Summary: In this post I’ll show you a quick way to set up your own continuous reporting system. I’ve been working on my follow-up to The Reporting Revolution. I think I did an okay job of setting up my basic argument, that it’s time to change how we report and move beyond the PDF. I […]
The Future of Reporting
Summary: In this post I’m going to tell you the future. You can think about prediction as looking at the past and then projecting into the future. But there is an easier way. Instead of looking backwards or forwards, look to the side. Whatever you face, chances are, other fields or organizations are going through […]
Evaluation Resources from the CoP
Last week we officially launched the new Eval Central (a.k.a. the FreshSpectrum Community of Practice). For the launch on Thursday, September 18, we had a simple evaluation resource sharing session. It was a really nice gathering with 30-ish evaluators joining from across the globe (from the west coast of the US & Canada to Pakistan). […]
Evaluation Storyfinding
Summary: Evaluation maps really well to storytelling. Would it be easier if we just called ourselves story finders? I remember years ago sharing one of my evaluation cartoons with my mom. Her reaction was annoyance. Not with me, but with evaluation. She was a family literacy teacher for most of her career and the funded […]
Evaluation Resource Open Mic [Sep. 18]
Join me to help kick off the new EvalCentral Community of Practice series. About the session. Do you have a favorite free resource that you think other evaluators should know about? It could be a website, toolkit, journal article, tutorial, blog post, video, or course. It could be something that has helped you in the […]
Understanding AI: Intelligence versus Wisdom
Summary: This new series is a kind of travelogue. It’s a way for me to document my experiences with AI. Today’s question, can an AI tool be wise? Missing point of view. I think it’s important to find ways to differentiate how conversational AI works compared to human beings. Because there are times when it […]
Virtual Community of Practice: Quick Launch Guide
Summary: This guide will walk you through five steps for launching a simple but effective virtual community of practice. Running a successful Community of Practice can take a significant amount of time and effort. That is if you want actual connections to form between community members. But contrary to popular belief, the biggest challenge is […]