How to Make Sense of Any Mess by Abby Covert

Chapter 3: Face Reality | Page 52

Reality involves many factors.

No matter what you’re making, you probably need to consider several of these factors:

• Time: “I only have _____________________.”
• Resources: “I have _____________________.”
• Skillset: “I know how to ________________ , but I don’t know how to ______________ yet.”
• Environment: “I’m working in a ___________.”
• Personality: “I want this work to say _________ about me.”
• Politics: “Others want this work to say _________________ about ____________.”
• Ethics: “I want this work to do right by the world by __________________.”
• Integrity: “I want to be proud of the results of my work, which means _____________.”

Chapter 4: Choose a Direction | Page 85

These levels deeply affect one another.

Once you know what level you’re working at, you can zoom in to the appropriate level of detail. Sometimes we need to zoom all the way in on an object. Other times it’s more important to zoom out to look at the ecosystem. Being able to zoom in and out as you work is the key to seeing how these levels affect one another.

When you’re deep in the details, it’s easy to forget your broad effect. When you’re working overhead, it’s easy to forget how your decisions affect things down on the ground. Making changes at one level without considering the affects they have on other levels can lead to friction and dissatisfaction between our users, our stakeholders, and us. One tiny change can spark a thousand disruptions.

For example, if we owned a restaurant and decided to eliminate paper napkins to be environmentally friendly, that would impact the entire restaurant, not just the table service our diners experience.

We’d need to consider other factors like where dirty napkins go, how we collect them, how often they’re picked up and cleaned, how many napkins we need on hand between cleanings, and if we should use paper napkins if something spills in the dining room.

One tiny decision leads to another, and another.

Chapter 5: Measure the Distance | Page 117

Measurements have rhythm.

Some things are best measured moment to moment. Others are best measured over weeks, months, years, or even decades.

The right rhythm depends on your context and your intent. When you’re choosing a rhythm, think about the ways you collect data, how specific it needs to be, and how complex it is.

Consider these factors:

• Timeframe: Is this measurement most useful after one hour, one day, a season, a year, or an entire decade? What’s a better baseline: yesterday, last month, a year ago, or twenty years ago?
• Access: Is the data readily available? Or does it require help from a particular person or system?