The weeks are slipping by, sometimes unnoticed and sometimes violently. I’ve developed a very active journaling practice in the last month and feel ready to start with the public weeknotes again. It is a pleasure to write here.

I’ve been thinking a lot about collective memory and totem poles and stories. I believe there is a deep need for facilitated sensemaking of our collective experience [whatever unit that may be] and to be intentional about abstracting and recognizing its value, collecting artifacts for future re-visiting, and deciding what to carry on into the future. During my last few thorny projects, I yearned for a documentarian or archivist to have accompanied the journey to help us make sense and document the struggles and breakthroughs. We cannot do that and run the project at the same time.

It’s been hard to focus. After more than a decade of client work, I can make myself do it for the sake of delivering at the speed and quality that I aspire to, but for everything else, it’s really, really hard. Getting out on my bike and writing helps, and I’m resolved to do more of those activities.