Welcome to Improve Something Today
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you find new, inspiring, or thought-provoking ideas here, and use them to (ahem) improve something today. Be well, -Brian
A few starting points
- Premortem: before starting a new project, learn why it will end in failure—the most popular thing on this site. A simple 15-minute method for uncovering big, ‘undiscussable’ risks.
- A lousy time to be a good idea—the most important thing here. In which “we send our hypotheses ahead, an expendable army, and watch them fall.”
- The world of silence—the most personal. On being a hearing-impaired person whose job is to listen, living in a country where Christian nationalist clowns are busily shredding human rights.
Or browse by topic, including:
- Facilitation methods to learn and practice.
- Approaches to continuous improvement inside organizations.
- Monthly notes as a stream of readings and reflections.
What you’ll find here
In these offerings—blog, podcast, and e-mail newsletter—I share:
- Practical methods for group facilitation and organizational work (e.g. premortems, strategic planning, and liberating structures).
- Consulting byproducts about people, information, and technology inside our organizations (e.g. undiscussables, shifting baseline syndrome, or the curse of knowledge).
- Readings from people I admire and whose work I value.
- Personal reflections on Buddhist practice and Pacific Northwest living.
Freely offered
Everything here is free. There are no ads, solicitations, or paid memberships. That said, there are ways you can support the site.
Your privacy
Your activity on the site is private. No personal information is collected or stored. I don’t use third-party web analytics or other weird trackers.
- If you sign up for the e-mail newsletter: if you sign up, I can see basic information such as your e-mail address, your subscription status, and your sign-up date.
- If you buy books through my links: when you shop my reading list on bookshop.org, I get a small commission and an independent bookseller of your choice gets the sale. It’s awesome.
The site tagline
The site tagline, “simplicity, patience, compassion”, is a nod to the three treasures of Dao De Jing § 67.
Simplicity, patience, compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures.
Simple in actions and in thoughts,
you return to the source of being.
Patient with both friends and enemies,
you accord with the way things are.
Compassionate toward yourself,
you reconcile all beings in the world.
I try to make my actions reflect these principles. When I fall short—which happens often—these mark the spot from which I begin again.
I’ve quoted Stephen Mitchell’s 1991 translation. Currently, I’d recommend reading Ken Liu’s translation and commentary published in 2024. Liu translates these three as “love, thrift, and never daring to elevate myself.”
Three invitations
- Want this stuff in your inbox? Sign up for the twice-monthly newsletter. Each one takes 3 minutes to read and brings you the best of what I publish here.
- Working on something difficult? I consult with organizations on continuous improvement, facilitation, and change management.
- Have a question or suggestion? E-mail me directly at brian@joechip.net. I read and respond to every message.