Category Archives: Adult learning

Push less dirt, Lift more rocks

Two years ago, my family bought land north of the city. Laboring with hand tools quickly proved futile, so we acquired a tractor. The tractor’s job is to push dirt around to flatten the land for a future orchard. The challenge is that the dirt is filled with large rocks, glacial erratic boulders to beContinue reading “Push less dirt, Lift more rocks”

Five Years Later: Lessons from FUN

Finance Unlocked for Nonprofits (FUN) launched five years ago this week at the Washington State Nonprofit Conference. We shared the five buckets of basic nonprofit knowledge every board members should know: how to read a Balance sheet and Income statement, the IRS Form 990, Giving, and Oversight. The buckets spell BINGO, and yes—we played. FUNContinue reading “Five Years Later: Lessons from FUN”

Lessons from Mary Poppins

We walked out of Mary Poppins Returns singing “Let’s Go Fly a Kite.” Five minutes after hearing “Nowhere to go but up,” the flying-through-the-sky song from Returns, we were remembering the elevation song from this movie’s precursor, the original Mary Poppins from 1964. Why is that? How is it possible that we couldn’t remember a singleContinue reading “Lessons from Mary Poppins”

Grains of Learning in a Mayo Jar of Time

It would be hard to imagine a more ridiculous purchase. Straight out of a trainer tools magazine, a $39.95 mayonnaise jar complete with golf balls, pebbles and sand. The prop was designed to demonstrate time management. I couldn’t toss the catalog into the recycle bin fast enough. And yet a mere two hours later, ourContinue reading “Grains of Learning in a Mayo Jar of Time”

Let’s Play Learning Strategy Mix-and-Match!

The waning days of summer are upon us. The clouds have rolled in, and the smoke has cleared. For those of us in the Pacific Northwest, there’s comfort in donning fleece and staying inside while the rains freshen the air. One of the highlights of my summer was working with two groups developing a learningContinue reading “Let’s Play Learning Strategy Mix-and-Match!”

Project Runway: A Lesson in Adult Learning

Binge watching reality television provides a lot of time between the drama to think about learning. Such was the case when my daughter and I watched a season of Project Runway over the course of two weeks. It was my first deep dive into the world of high fashion design and catty criticisms about whetherContinue reading “Project Runway: A Lesson in Adult Learning”

Thinking Out Loud: How to Make Conferences into Learning Experiences that Lead to Action

We put a lot into conferences. We spend months lining up speakers with ideas intended to shift our thinking. We curate workshops and plan networking time; we publish conference programs and name tags enough to fill a table. And we aren’t the only one with a lot on the line: participants commit registration fees, travel costs,Continue reading “Thinking Out Loud: How to Make Conferences into Learning Experiences that Lead to Action”

Wonder Woman needs her shield.

  It is kind of like Wonder Woman leaving her lasso of truth around a rock on Themyscira. It’s as if she forgot her vibranium shield in that tower before setting off for London. And her bracelets of submission? Back in the Paradise Island bathing grotto. Diana still has her cunning curiosity and empathetic outlook.Continue reading “Wonder Woman needs her shield.”

Upcoming Train the Trainer Series

At Washington Nonprofits, we are really excited to announce our Spring 2018 “Train the Trainer Series,” which starts April 4, 2018. Sessions will be lead by the amazing Guila Muir and Tracy Flynn…. and me, Nancy Bacon. More information is below. Please pass this along to anyone you think would be interested. Nancy    Continue reading “Upcoming Train the Trainer Series”