Member since November 2023
I am a business psychologist with a background in user experience research and online community development. I have worked in a variety of industries, primarily software, healthcare, and manufacturing. I also run Parents for the Planet, a group helping people cope with the emotional overwhelm of climate change and its implications.
Helping people have their own AHA moments. I am not as interested in imparting knowledge from on high as I am in giving people tools to awaken the knowledge they already possess and make connections with their own experiences.
I was brought in to a class of environmental education students who were getting really depressed about the state of the world. We we through my "8 ways to work through your eco-grief" and then went outside on a beautiful spring day. Before, they said, that day would have made them feel guilty. It would have felt too beautiful. But now they could be present and enjoy it, despite the context they had. That balance between knowledge and presence was what they needed.
I started my career as an urban geographer, interested in how people connected to their places. As virtual places took hold, I applied those same connection points to virtual communities, but the usability of the internet often interfered with people's ability to connect. I wanted the tools out of the way of the connections. So I focused on user experience for many years, simplifying and optimizing the tools so that nurses could connect with patients, firefighters could assess toxic situations, machinists could get their products made, etc. But even when the tools were optimal, the teams could be better. So I dove into the psychology of teams, and that Is where I am today, focused on how to optimize teams both in person and virtually.
Serotonin? Check. Dopamine? Check. Endorphins? Check. Awe has them all! It can feel a little silly to admit you are seeking out this most ancient and humble of emotions, but the payoff is pretty huge. Toddlers are great at it. So are astronauts. You can be too. We will practice and find your inner astronaut caveperson toddler.
You know your corporate culture, its rules, expectations, and patterns. But it's a whole other thing to learn the culture of your new acquisition, vendor, or client. Recognizing corporate culture translation problems and learning how to code switch can prevent many communication problems. From when to escalate to the boss to how to phrase a question, every communication moment is affected by the culture around it. A quick assessment and adaptation can result in higher sales, better processes, and lower stress for everyone.
Wow, the headlines. And the heat. And the disasters. And the predictions. And the extinctions. And the lists of things you should be doing and shouldn't be doing and should be recycling and shouldn't be recycling and . . . . it all gets to be a lot. Too much, in fact. Our response is to freeze, to ignore it all, to decide it's all hopeless and just move on.
In this talk we'll go over the 8 things we do at Parents for the Planet to keep us active, hopeful, and connected when all the news gets to be too much. They aren't big sacrifices or exhausting activism. They are healing things you can do mostly from home, with your family, to restore your connection to your world and the future.
I was brought in to a class of environmental education students who were getting really depressed about the state of the world. We we through my "8 ways to work through your eco-grief" and then went outside on a beautiful spring day. Before, they said, that day would have made them feel guilty. It would have felt too beautiful. But now they could be present and enjoy it, despite the context they had. That balance between knowledge and presence was what they needed.
I started my career as an urban geographer, interested in how people connected to their places. As virtual places took hold, I applied those same connection points to virtual communities, but the usability of the internet often interfered with people's ability to connect. I wanted the tools out of the way of the connections. So I focused on user experience for many years, simplifying and optimizing the tools so that nurses could connect with patients, firefighters could assess toxic situations, machinists could get their products made, etc. But even when the tools were optimal, the teams could be better. So I dove into the psychology of teams, and that Is where I am today, focused on how to optimize teams both in person and virtually.
Serotonin? Check. Dopamine? Check. Endorphins? Check. Awe has them all! It can feel a little silly to admit you are seeking out this most ancient and humble of emotions, but the payoff is pretty huge. Toddlers are great at it. So are astronauts. You can be too. We will practice and find your inner astronaut caveperson toddler.
You know your corporate culture, its rules, expectations, and patterns. But it's a whole other thing to learn the culture of your new acquisition, vendor, or client. Recognizing corporate culture translation problems and learning how to code switch can prevent many communication problems. From when to escalate to the boss to how to phrase a question, every communication moment is affected by the culture around it. A quick assessment and adaptation can result in higher sales, better processes, and lower stress for everyone.
Wow, the headlines. And the heat. And the disasters. And the predictions. And the extinctions. And the lists of things you should be doing and shouldn't be doing and should be recycling and shouldn't be recycling and . . . . it all gets to be a lot. Too much, in fact. Our response is to freeze, to ignore it all, to decide it's all hopeless and just move on.
In this talk we'll go over the 8 things we do at Parents for the Planet to keep us active, hopeful, and connected when all the news gets to be too much. They aren't big sacrifices or exhausting activism. They are healing things you can do mostly from home, with your family, to restore your connection to your world and the future.