Navigating the Terrain of the Moment

Hello all,

This week’s post is about the fluidity of effort and the value of clear goals.

I’ve been taking some short hikes this past week. Each time the effort has seemed different; alternatively hard, challenging, frustrating, easy, or glorious. Our Adirondack mountain hikes are buggy, muddy, rocky, steep and occasionally gentle with glorious views and lovely little running streams. So the terrain of the moment certainly influences how I am feeling, and whether I can breathe or need to stop and recover.

I’m doing this because I have a goal. Later in July I want to redo one of the 46 official High Peaks, this time along with my youngest grandson who will turn eight at the end of this month. I haven’t hiked an Adirondack High Peak in probably 20 years, so I’m trying to get stronger in preparation for that.

I'll be 20 years older and certainly slower when I do that hike in July, but I'll also be smarter and better equipped (looking at you waterproof hiking boots!). I'll be using hiking poles on the downhills to protect my knees, and I've learned the value of taking snack and drink breaks instead of pushing through till the top of the mountain like I used to do. I'll be a different person really, so it will be a different hike.

My goal, to be able to share that experience with my grandson, and hopefully set him on a lifetime path of loving the mountains, is one that means a lot to me. So I'll keep training.

Why am I telling all of you this?
Because our work lives and careers often take the same meandering paths as my hikes. And one day at work can be very different from the next day. Things that seemed easy two years ago might seem hard right now. Learning something new might seem more effortful this Wednesday than it did last Friday. A project that you could finish in a month years ago might take three months now because there are so many more customer considerations or integrations or approvals or procurement reviews. Things don't stay the same. Your relationships with your coworkers could seem more challenging or more glorious from week to week, and that is our lives, my friends. That is our lives.

It helps to keep focused on the goals. When we don't understand the goals, or don't believe in the goals every effort feels hard. When we know and are aligned with the goals most of us can push through those challenging times and really appreciate the easier times when we are making visible progress. When you are able to set your own goals, or collaboratively help shape the goals, well that's even more powerful.

So when you're the leader, make sure your team really gets the vision and goals. And when you're the team member, make sure you can get behind the goals.
Work can still be hard, but it might not feel as hard.

All the best,
Holly

Being a better Allie: Your Visual Choices Matter

Hello all,

Want to help create the expectation of diversity in technology? One way to do that is to regularly include diverse images in materials that you create. 

This week I'm passing along action #4 from Karen Catlin's 5 Ally Actions - Jun 5, 2026.

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She writes: 

"Did you know that tech company Mapbox created “Queer in Tech,” a free collection of stock photos?

As explained in their announcement:
“We created this photo set to promote the visibility of queer and gender-nonconforming (GNC) people in technology, who are often under-represented as workers powering the creative, technical, and business leadership of groundbreaking tech companies and products.”

There’s also “The Gender Spectrum Collection,” which is free for non-commercial purposes. Their recommended usage guidelines state:
“Images of trans and nonbinary people can be used to illustrate any topic, not just stories related directly to those communities. Consider using these photos for stories on topics like beauty, work, education, relationships, or wellness. Including transgender and non-binary people in stories not explicitly about gender identity paints a more accurate depiction of the world we live in today.”

Representation matters. Join me in bookmarking these sites for future stock photography needs.

p.s. I’ve curated a longer list of sites specializing in stock photos and illustrations featuring people from underrepresented groups. Some are free, and some for a fee. Find the list at betterallies.com."

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Will it really be that easy? Of course not..., but remember that we all think- "If I can see it, I can be it!" 

All the best, 
Holly

Wisdom for Pride Month: The Sacredness of Twoness

Hello all,

This week's wisdom comes from a short video (25 min) lecture by Lyla June Johnston, on the Sacredness of Twoness. Lyla has been inspiring me with her writing and lectures for a while—I previously featured her and posted a lecture she did at MIT Solve in 2019.

In this talk she gives background and context to the modern concepts of gender that include the two-spirit gender (from the linked Wikipedia Two-spirit page "contemporary pan-Indian umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people who fulfill a traditional third-gender (or other gender-variant) social role in their communities.")

Lyla's talk is summarized as follows:

"From ancient times our faith traditions teach us that everything is inextricably united as a sacred whole. This eternal and perennial wisdom is hard to grasp by the human mind, which tends to see the world dualistically: right/wrong, male/female, sacred/profane. The contemplative, non-dual mind, however, can restore our understanding of the interdependence of all things. It holds paradox, and it is unitive. This session will explore how unifying, and balancing the complementary feminine and masculine aspects of Divine Wisdom is essential to our approaching wholeness, and the non-dual mind."

June is Pride month, so this message of the diversity of nature and people is a good one for us to hear again, "together there is nothing that we cannot achieve"

All the best,
Holly

Don't be a Stamp Licker: Use Common Sense

Hello all,

I was once admonished early in my career for doing something that a work colleague thought was a waste of time, and defended it by reminding them that we were told it was a requirement. Their response was something like- "oh you are such a good little bureaucrat, I'm not doing that." And it stung- because following the rules is part of my nature and part of my work practice.

However, over time I've seen enough rule stretching, bending, and breaking to know that not every rule should be followed, and not every person bothers to even try, and that sometimes following every rule means that you never have time to get to the really important things.

I'm not advocating for chaos- just for common sense. Using our own sense of what is important to protect us against following every rule even when it wastes our time or sets us back or obligates us to something that actually harms our wellbeing. Because especially for any underrepresented and under-respected group, following the rules is often still not enough to help us reach our goals. The rules get changed, the hidden rules get applied, or the game itself gets shifted out of reach.

So a recent NYT Opinion piece How to be Old by Roger Rosenblatt caught my eye, and this paragraph below really struck me as important.

He writes:

"6. Don’t compromise, especially a little.
Unless you’re a professional negotiator, don’t compromise. Give in a little, you might as well give up the ship. During the McCarthy era, students were required to submit loyalty oaths to maintain their scholarships. At a meeting of the Harvard faculty, a professor who had escaped Mussolini’s Italy challenged the dean on this matter. The dean responded that signing and sending in the oaths was merely pro forma and had no more meaning than licking the stamps on the letters. The Italian professor stood and said something like, “Mr. Dean, I’m from fascist Italy, and in fascist Italy you learn one thing. First you lick the stamps. Then you lick something else.”

Because I'm not advocating for chaos, I'm suggesting that we surface the problematic aspects of rules that don't serve us well, enlist like minded supporters, and advocate for changes.

As we move into the summer months and maybe get some down time to reflect back on this last academic year, think about the rules you follow and ask yourself these questions: "What, if anything, did I have to compromise in order to follow that rule?" and "What would be better if I didn't have to do that?"

All the best,
Holly

Time for a Work Dance Break! Let's Play it for Change!

Hello all,

This week I'm sharing a resource you may already know about—the Playing for Change organization.

This amazing project brings musicians together from all around the world to play and sing some of our favorite songs.

"Founded in 2007, PFCF was established to create positive change through music and arts education. Our work engages marginalized youth in diverse communities around the world, primarily located in low and lower-middle income countries. These communities are home to great cultural wealth, which we use to create educational and social opportunities."

A few of my recent views include:

• Everyday People
• A Change is Gonna Come
• Guantanamera
• Teach Your Children
• And this one, celebrating the Women of Change Band...

So, watch, listen, feel the emotions, take a dance break at work, and celebrate the beauty and creativity of humanity.

All the best,
Holly