So yesterday I had the opportunity to join the AEA graduate student and new evaluators topical interest group for a chat about evaluation cartoons. It was a fun conversation (I always like talking cartoons). We ended the discussion with a little bit of a cartoon together exercise. Today’s cartoon set is the result. Enjoy! Would […]
Is your site suffering from a content deficiency?
Have you ever visited a park that lacked any type of attraction? So no playground, trails, pond, shelter, picnic table, or anything else that make a visit worthwhile? Boring right? Unless it’s right across the street from your house with just enough room to toss a ball back and forth, you’re probably not going back […]
Finish the Cartoon – Engaging Stakeholders
When I lead workshops, one of my favorite types of activities involves using half-finished cartoons. Sometimes I print out the cartoons as handouts, or I put them up on a slide and ask the participants to pull out a pen and paper. Then I ask them to try their hand at finishing the cartoons. After […]
Not Politics
I didn’t want to send a regular email today. If you are feeling anything like I am feeling, you probably have enough on your mind. So I decided to just do something completely and totally random. I created some stream of conscience cartoons and a little cartoon story. Not my usual, but not politics either. […]
Halloween Cartoons 2020 Edition
Happy weirdo 2020 Halloween everyone! Mask Wearing Monster Which one is really the monster? Also, it’s hard to remember to cover the nose when drawing cartoon characters with masks. A boo is an output Not sure how many output/outcome cartoons a single illustrator needs to draw. But here is another seasonal version. Oh no, we […]
Evaluator Inspired Cartoons
The majority of what I would consider to be my best cartoons have always been the products of simple collaboration. Here is how it works. I talk to another evaluator and ask them if there is anything they are struggling with or if there are any complicated things they are having a hard time describing […]
The 2020 Election: A Little Context
I am a little stressed out. In the US, voting in the general election has begun. My wife and I dropped our ballots off at the post office yesterday. It’s not that I don’t think we have good shot of voting Trump out office, I think we do. But after the events of 4 years […]
Evaluation is a dangerous profession.
Evaluation is a dangerous profession. Not dangerous as in it requires hard hats or tethers. But dangerous in that it questions realities most would rather ignore. Traditions that are so deeply entrenched within organizational structures that merely hinting at their instability can lead to alienation and professional isolation. Our frameworks and methods exist not only […]
Independent Consulting in the COVID Era
So I’m launching a new course today: Independent Consulting Jumpstart. It’s a blended course, the first part is a collection of self-paced activities split into 4 modules (business goals, market finding, pricing, and marketing). The second part is a live group coaching sprint (a series of 4 calls), the first call of the series will […]
Unwritten Outcomes
Evaluation as a profession is built around the rational. So what about the things that seemingly defy logic? So this is sort of a cartoon illustrated philosophical brain dump week. I’ve been diving deep into my public library’s audio book collection and thinking a lot about rationality. If you don’t want to think, just skim […]
The Power of Cartoons
This week I decided to take a dive into the world of cartoonists. Aside from my childhood love of the funny pages (especially Peanuts, Garfield, and The Far Side) I wouldn’t say I had ever been that much of a cartoon connoisseur. Cartooning in my past was more a diversion than anything else, and that […]
I have a book now! Introducing Evaluation Illustrated
So yeah, I have a book. I guess, technically, I’ve had a book since August 27. That’s when I put it up on Amazon. It’s just, nobody knew about it and I didn’t share it with anyone until I could have a copy in my hands. It’s 114 of my favorite evaluation cartoons, in paperback. […]