Data & Reporting | Pensivetastic

21 June, 2023

We all have a story. A journey to share that charts our path from past to present. Sharing our story is vital to crafting and selling our personal brand and building goals for the future. Well, businesses have to tell their story to elevate their company brand. Sharing your company history and future vision helps businesses connect with customers that share their ideals. How does your business craft a story that resonance with customers? It’s not unlike crafting your personal story.

Personally and professionally, our need for storytelling is powerful and built into our history as a species. Storytelling originated with visual cave drawings before shifting into an oral method. Stories continue to be passed down orally by each generation, often in camp stories and songs. In our modern history, stories take many narrative forms, including spoken, written, printed, and typed. These stories transcend blogs, books, the internet, movies, sung, and TV.

One of the keys to storytelling is understanding your essence, the core values that define your brand. A well-known proverbial expression created by William Shakespeare is “To thine own self be true”. It was written in his masterpiece Hamlet. This expression means ‘be true to yourself”. As with your personal story, there is always an evolution to your business story. Spending time understanding your business journey and values is vital to future success.

Why do they exist?
Has your mission or vision changed?
What makes your business unique?
What makes your business stand out from its competitors?
How can your business better the world?
What philanthropy are you putting into the world that can make your brand stand out?

So what’s the story your business wants or needs to tell? Your business story has a motivation or purpose to carry your brand, leadership, and employees forward. It is essential to stop, reflect on your path, and find a new way to tell your updated story. Journalists have a process to address the fundamental questions that define every story. The Five “W”s are the foundation of crafting any story.

Who?
What?
Why?
Where?
When?

In addition to the Five “W”’s, add how. I recommend focusing on the How and Why to start your story.

How did you get here?
How will you move forward?
How is it possible to move forward successfully?
Why are we in business?
Why did we start?
Is why we started the business resonating and essential to our messaging today?
Why and how are we critical to our customers?

These are the most important questions to get to the core or heart of your value. You must understand your business motivations, purpose, and vision to craft an authentic story that will resonate with others. It takes time to get to your story. Keep it simple. Test your message before going public. Make sure it resonates in the way and conveys your intent. Creating or changing messaging is a journey, not a destination.

If you need additional guidance or support in your messaging and branding, contact us at Pensivetastic. Let’s collaborate to define your path forward. We’ll help you get there.

Consulting, Human Resources, Leadership

It’s Time to Make Space

No Comments

14 June, 2023

It's time to make space for something new. That is easier said than done. How and when to make space seems like a mystery. There is a belief that you make your destiny. One should pursue goals and proactively seek the next opportunity. What happens when, despite your openness and networking, nothing new comes? Waiting can be like a prison sentence. Watching others around you achieve success while you remain idle or stuck carves away at your soul. I read an article that said sometimes you need to quit what you’re doing to make space for something new.

Making space for something new means being open to new possibilities. You never know when something new might come. While walking away might be the solution, it can be trauma-inducing. For many, walking away is entangled in fear-based tropes like “waking away is giving up”, “giving up is failure”, “quitting is not an option”, and “I’ve worked too hard to walk away”. These seemingly benign statements are not. It is self-sabotage meant to keep you in your current station. Taking a risk on a major life change without a plan or safety net is not recommended. However, if it affects your physical or mental health, consider changing before it's too late. Also, if those around you express concern, listen to them honestly and consider their concern a warning.

The COVID pandemic changed the world. The events leading up to and during the pandemic affected me. As the pandemic ended, the world returned to the past, but there was a rift. We’re divided politically, about returning to the workplace, and our needs and ideas for supporting each other. We’re all caught in this rift. There are a few solutions, but doing what we used to do is not good enough.

Like many, I have been changed. My perspective shifted both personally and professionally. How I view the world has altered, my priorities redirected, and I’m more intentional about my career. My soul was screaming for change and demanded something new. Therefore, I made a life change with a plan and without having a safety net.

I had been trying to control my destiny for some time, but my attempts to design a path with a safety net never materialized. A friend even took me to a psychic for answers. Nothing materialized in all my grasping for answers, no matter who I talked to or the opportunities I explored. When I took the risk and quit to make space for something new, the universe revealed its plan. Space opened and a path appeared. My phone started ringing with opportunity. It was scary.

I’ve written other blog posts about ego versus intuition before. When you minimize your ego and are self-aware enough, your intuition has the space to be your cardinal north. If your intuition begs for change, follow your gut, and take the risk. There is a life lesson for you around the corner. The change was placed in your path and meant for you to walk into it. Be brave and move on. The risk is not knowing, but that is part of the lesson. You are worth the risk. It is an investment in yourself. Respect the reverence of your past as you walk into your future. Become the authentic you. Find time to make space for something new.

If you need additional guidance or support, contact us at Pensivetastic. Let’s collaborate to define your path forward. We’ll help you get there.

Consulting, Human Resources, Leadership

End the Ego Jousting

No Comments

7 June, 2023

It's time to put an end to the ego jousting. Everyone has been challenged and challenged by someone else in their life. Children do it all the time, starting at two years old. They challenge the world around them and push their environment to learn their relationships and boundaries better. It is part of who we are as humans. As you grow older, your ego starts to lead in this area as a way to find and carve your path forward. Being challenged and challenging others is a great learning tool when done healthily. When not in a healthy and safe environment, it can trigger trauma effects and push people away.

Your ego is part of your neuro-physiological system. It helps protect your self-image and self-worth while creating your self-concept. When your ego can get in the way, your concern for yourself overrides the reality of what may be happening. Your ego creates a distorted sense of reality or perception. You may have been part of a conversation where someone believes one thing while the reality or everyone else heard something different. When this happens, it is your ego trying to take control of the situation and protect your self-worth or self-time. That can be good. When this happens more frequently than not, this is not a good or healthy situation. When our ego leads, it erodes work success, relationships, and general happiness.

Being challenged is the harder of these two examples. When done inappropriately, I call this ego jousting. Often, it’s two egos fighting for dominance until someone is finally beaten down. It is done to make one person feel superior to another. It always seems personal even in a professional setting. I usually see this when someone exudes their control and demands to be right. It comes across as a novice leadership skill due to its perception as petulant behavior. In its simplest form, it is a lack of communication and understanding. The goal is to communicate better and arrive at an understanding.

When being challenged, first do your deep breathing and not react negatively, even if that is the other person's behavior. Two people cannot ego joust if only one ego is willing to play. As a leader, your role is to diffuse the situation. Next, ask open-ended questions like “Can you tell me more?” or “Can you provide me more context?” Open-ended questions begin to diffuse the situation.

Keep asking open-ended questions until you feel the temperature lower and a healthy dialogue can continue. If this doesn’t happen, you may be asked or need to ask, “Why?”. Articulating your why and then asking it back may scare the horse of the ego jouster. They may start another attack run. That’s ok - stand your ground. They might say, “Why do you need to know that?” or “Why does that matter?” or “What do you mean by Why?”. You can find common ground in answers to the why.

Calmly let them know you are trying to understand them better. Once they rattle off an answer, probe some more. After several answer attempts, you may hear something that resonates with you or help you better understand the situation. Parrot back what you heard them say. “Thank you. I want to make sure I understand. What I hear you say was…?” You will either get an ah-ha moment or they will say that’s not what they said. If it’s the latter, simply find a moment to interject what they said to you again. “Do you realize you just said the following…? Was that your intent?” These questions start to slow the conversation. If the other person still insists on an ego joust, you may have to agree to disagree and move on. If it doesn't, it sounds like someone needs space away from the table to calm down and reflect on the conversation. End the conversation and agree to pick it up later.

Challenging others has a similar dynamic. It takes patience and care for the giver to establish a healthy conversation. When done in an authentic, curious, judgment-free way, the receiver is a willing participant in the conversation. When the dynamic shifts, the receiver feels judged, unsafe, and may shut down. It stops learning or growth for everyone.

Being challenged and challenging others can be a great learning tool for adults. When challenged appropriately and safely, growth happens, new skill emerges, and experience is gained fondly by the receiver. It opens the eyes of the person on the receiving end to new possibilities. When used inappropriately, growth doesn’t happen. The receiver feels smaller, unsuccessful, and only learns that the giver is not supportive. When an adult is unsupported, growth happens slowly, if at all.

If you are still struggling or need additional guidance with your business, contact us at Pensivetastic. Let’s collaborate to define your path forward. We’ll help you get there.

Consulting, Leadership

Get Off the Hamster Wheel

No Comments

10 May, 2023

How are you doing? Better yet, how are you feeling? If you answered ok or fine to either of the questions, you are not being honest with yourself or lack a true moment of self-awareness. Give yourself a moment to pause. Take this opportunity for some self-care. Stop everything you’re doing. Now close your eyes. Focus on your breath. Inhale a nice deep breath in and exhale out. If you need, take a couple more slow cleansing breaths. Next, settle your mind for a second. Push all thoughts to the side - clear your mind. Keep breathing. When you’re ready, open your eyes. Finally, ask yourself quietly, out loud, or internally, how do I feel today? You should get a clearer response. Are you surprised by the answer? I’d be surprised if you weren’t. So what are you going to do about the stress?

Like many people, you probably feel stressed, overworked, and underappreciated. We all feel like that sometimes, and we can usually shake it off. What happens when you can’t? How do you cope with the long-term effects of the constant stress, anxiety, and expectations of work and personal life? In the short term, we usually find ways to cope and navigate the immediacy of our work and personal lives. Our coping ability erodes when the stress continues and becomes a long-term situation. We continue to follow our daily routines with a little focus on self-care to get through the day. When the stress is long-term, things rarely change in our routine, including stress. You have to break the pattern for things actually to change. The reason most people don’t break the pattern is a failure. They believe that changing the pattern is a sign of failure and weakness. Well, that may be true. It’s an issue of comfort, routine, and feeling stuck in a pattern you can’t escape. When the comfort and pattern of continuing to do the same thing are easier than the looming stress of stopping. You, my friend, are on the hamster wheel.

I jokingly call that feeling of feverish exhaustion, unending stress, and caffeine-fueled adrenaline driving need to continue as “being on the hamster wheel”. It’s the feeling of running with no end in sight, feeling like you’re not making any headway, and not knowing how to stop. We all have been there. Some are still there and are constantly in that state of anxious panic. I’m telling you to “get off the hamster wheel”.

We can not avoid stress in our life. We get it from both our personal and professional lives. Managing it is a real challenge. When you can’t balance it or have an imbalance of stress from one side or the other, our natural inclination is to power through. Powering through is a short-term solution. The stress has to end to let your nervous system recover. When you are in this state, your nervous system is in flight or fight mode. When you do, your body doesn’t know how to cope as it thinks you're being attacked. You can not power through long-term. Your body can not stay in this state for long periods. When you do, this triggers long-term issues with your health. If this is you, how will you let your body heal and come down off the stress so it doesn’t think it's being attacked?

There is a healthier way. Finding harmony is hard work. Acknowledging when you will have stress, communicating it to others, announcing it has a deadline, and letting your body get the reparative rest it needs to reset itself is vitally important. How do you do this? It is all one word some people do not like: boundaries. You have to establish boundaries in your personal and professional life. Start small. For example, boundaries on communication methods and times, preferences of work, time commitments, and the need for healthier behaviors. If no one has told you today, you must eat and go to the bathroom many times daily. Work or personal commitments should not interfere. These are necessities of self-care. That is an easy boundary to set. Declare it to others, say no when it is an impediment, and stay firm in your decision. After a while, you will reap the benefits and find your perspective changed.

So what’s next? How are you using your time to foster your self-care? How do you make healthier eating and activity choices? If you are not an avid exerciser, do something - anything. I like to stop, walk in the park during sunset, and people-watch while listening to music. It’s just me and nature. Also, rediscover your hobbies. Find a new one or restart a hobby. Stress robs us of our joy. Find any opportunity to bring joy back into your life. You’ll be glad you did!

If you are still struggling or need additional guidance with your business, contact us at Pensivetastic. Let’s collaborate to define your path forward. We’ll help you get there.

Business Support, Consulting, Data & Reporting, Technology

Software Selection

No Comments

26 April, 2023

Let’s talk about the sometimes difficult process of making a software selection. While Important, the software selection process is time-consuming and not fun for everyone. Companies invest in software tools to fill gaps in their workflow and improve the user experience. I’ve been part of many software selection committees that get bogged down in the decision-making process that they never actually make a decision. Taking your time to make a proper decision is not always your friend. At the rate technology changes, the more time you take creates a large ongoing challenge for your users. The ongoing delay means your company may struggle to keep pace in the market. To help, we have gathered key concepts to consider when selecting software.

We've created a guides section on our website with helpful white papers to support your business. Recently, we posted a software selection guide to help you make an informed software decision. This guide does not help you define your process or help you set one up. This guide considers ten factors when evaluating software regardless of business size or type. This post will highlight three important concepts from the software selection guide.

User Functionality - Besides the business need, your users should be the central focus of your software selection. They are the reason software is created and should be made a priority. If the user does not have a good user interface (UI) experience, they will not use the software, no matter the opportunity it creates for your business. Focus on your users' experience navigating the software and completing their tasks. From the moment they reach the login screen, is the experience inviting? Is the navigation intuitive? Is it easy to understand without any training? Are there more than three steps to complete a simple task or navigate to a widely used tool? If the answers to these questions are no, this is not a great user experience and not the software for your company.

Current Capacity - When deciding on your next software purchase, focus on the software that can meet as many of your business requirements today. A common mistake in choosing software is betting on the future capacity of the reporting tool. Software that can’t meet your business capacity needs today with the hope of meeting them in the future is a marriage heading for divorce. Vet all data and reporting tools. Ask for access and experience it for yourself. If it doesn't meet your current needs, find software that can. Choose your software partner, not your wishlist items, that meets your critical needs. Prioritize your needs to have the correct conversation with the software partner.

Integrations - Choose a software system with the most current integrations to help your company and users grow. Your business has a need now, and the existing integrations should help you immediately. Don’t rely on the promise of new integrations that may never come. This delayed strategy will get you stuck with a product that may hinder growth.

Need more help, download the full software selection guide. In your software selection process, find the best fit for your company at this time that provides you with the most flexibility. Cast a wide net. Do your research. Do all the software demos you can in a short amount of time. As you get closer to your decision, choose a vendor and partner that fits your company well. The reality is that software is always changing, like your relationships. If the product does not evolve with your organization or the partnership changes in an unhealthy way, you may need to find a new software product and partner. That can happen anytime in the future. Nothing is forever. I will caution you on one thing. The new shiny toy is not always the best solution. Just because others use it doesn't mean it is right for your business. Do your due diligence.

We’re here to help you get where you want to go. Contact Pensivetastic today to discuss and collaborate on a path forward for your company and data.

Consulting, Data & Reporting

Data Quality Basics

No Comments

19 April, 2023

what-is-data-quality-and-why-is-it-important-300x220

Having and maintaining excellent data quality is a goal for many organizations. Good data will make your decisions more sound, protect, and stabilize your business. Bad data may alert you to the wrong priority, show an inflated crisis, or even point to a problem without one. Understanding the state of your data and developing a plan to improve your data will improve your storytelling and give you more confidence in your decision-making and prediction accuracy. If the data tells you the wrong story, you are inappropriately allocating resources that could hurt your business or clients.

Let’s start by understanding data quality basics. Regardless of the size of your data set or data system, these basic principles should be considered when estimating your data quality. You must understand that committing to improving your data quality, while necessary, is a major commitment. Data improvements are not a one-time project, but an ongoing effort to enhance your business infrastructure. The larger your data set, the harder the challenge is to clean. Many fear data quality because they don’t understand the data quality basics. Let’s give you some basic guidance.

Data quality is broken down into six principles. Each principle is important and should be considered collectively. These principles all start with the letter “C”.

Clean - Cleaning or cleansing is about detecting and correcting corrupt or inaccurate records. It is a column-by-column and row-by-row effort to repair missing data or discrepancies. The best place to start is to pick an area of your most critical data - data you use most frequently. Start with rows of data that are missing or blank. Fill in those empty holes. Next, clear the data in the same categories with spelling errors or old data categories. Update them to your new data standards (see the compliance section). Any data errors must be addressed and resolved consistently and ongoing for data to be clean.

Complete - Completeness refers to the comprehensiveness or wholeness of your data. For example, which data set is the most comprehensive if you have merged an old data set with a new one? You would need to bring the rest of the data set to the same level of completion as the best of your data set. Ensuring every data row has exactly the level of completeness as every data row. Completeness is not achieved until all rows and columns have the correct and appropriate data, including no missing or blank data.

Compliant - Compliance ensures that sensitive data is organized and managed to meet all enterprise business rules, legal, and governmental regulations. Earlier, I mentioned your data standards. Your data standards may come from established industry standards or business rules you create around meeting these data basics principles. Review the various types of sensitive data you collect. How is it being collected, improved, and reported? Who has access to change the data set? You will want policies and procedures around data access, collection, and reporting. To help you begin to design a plan for data cleaning, most importantly, you want to detail by field name, type, and answer the data you collect.

Consistent - Consistency means, regardless of the platform or formats the data lives in, all data reflects the same information across all systems within the organization. As part of your cleaning, redundancies need to be removed as a part of the preparatory step known as data normalization. The format of the data also must be your standardized format.

Credible - Credibility views the reliability of your data. In other words, the data must be perceived as verifiable as coming from a reliable source to be credible. To what extent can your data source be relied upon to ensure the data correctly represents your business status and client profile?

Current - Data is often time-sensitive, so it must be up-to-date across all systems, considering any changes that may render it obsolete or worthless. Integrations and APIs can help move data between systems. Caution - if your data is dirty, you are moving dirty data directly between systems. Try disabling integrations into you clean the data in your primary system before you enable your integrations.

If your organization makes data driven-decisions, you must take the time to understand the current state of and improve your data to be seen as credible and current. While overwhelming, it is important to move your business forward. Start small and expand from there. Understand the state of your existing data and then create a standard. Next, choose a place to start to improve your data.

Contact Pensivetastic today to discuss and collaborate on a path forward for your company and data. Supporting you is what we do. We’re here to help you get where you want to go.

Tag: Data & Reporting

Hey, What’s Your Story?

It’s Time to Make Space

End the Ego Jousting

Get Off the Hamster Wheel

Software Selection

Data Quality Basics

Recent Rants

Contact Us

Our Services

Business Hours