I was facilitating a workshop with a new partner recently and had several ideas for some new articles for the insights section of our website, “Constructive Thinking.” I had to stay present during the workshop, so I made mental notes of each idea with the intention of jotting them down later so that I could bring them to life when the time came to write.
Despite helping nonprofits and social impact organizations develop their brands and design brand experiences for the last twenty years, I’m still learning new things, connecting the dots, and having “aha” moments on a regular basis. This is especially true when we’re engaging directly with partners in the field—whether that’s during a workshop, a site visit, or even on a weekly check-in call—in-the-moment insights that feel as profound as they are fleeting. We learn so much by doing. But we don’t always have the time or bandwidth to articulate the meaningful lessons and experiences that come out of the work we’re so lucky to do. We also realize that we’re not the only ones with less spare time than we’d like—audiences are swamped with content options and may not be able to read a long article, no matter how interesting it looks.
So that’s why we’ve decided to start a new Constructive series, “Field Notes.” Field Notes is our hack to an information-saturated, time-starved world. A way for our team to capture and quickly share important learnings, ideas, and stories that accumulate throughout the day as we work with our partners and each-other to create social impact brands that help make the world a better place. We’ll shine a light on process. We’ll share behind-the-scenes vignettes. We’ll capture and reflect on important moments when they happen. And we’ll do this with the mission of providing something meaningful and valuable for those who work in social impact strategy, design, and communications, in 500 words or less.
We’re excited to see what we generate—and hope you enjoy what we do!
