
The importance of documentation
I was reminded recently why documentation is a crucial part of staying safe and sane in any workplace. When I think of a worker documenting things, I think of instances of discrimination based on age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, or religious...

Why your Diversity/Inclusion/Equity workshops aren’t working
If your attempts at Diversity/Equity/Inclusion are failing, not progressing, or causing your workers who are part of oppressed identifiers to still feel disenfranchised, it’s because you have not actually built a skill for moving the conversation forward.

Why aren’t my direct reports more grateful?
A few weeks back a manager posted in a Facebook group about how her staff had an attitude of entitlement that she wanted to address. She cited a lack of appreciation around COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) increases in compensation, an increase in staff benefits, and...

Wtf is a “mission statement” and why do I need one?
I can't tell you how many mission and vision statements I've helped craft in my time as a consultant. The first part of building the foundation of good structure is to know what you're doing with your time. So, when I do structure checks with the companies I work...

What you need to have a good self-care practice for you and your org
During the holidays we hear a lot about "self-care." It's a very stressful time of year not only because we have a lot of external pressure for THE PERFECT HOLIDAYS. But also because we're are constantly dealing with family, lots of events, changing weather, and still...

Verhanika IRL: Realizing I’m racist
How it began A couple of weeks ago I came across a post in one of my Facebook groups about a new show on HBO called Insecure. It's in it's second season and is written by and stars Issa Rae, a millennial black woman. It's about her experience being a black woman in LA...

Theatre Dispatch: Artists and their temperament
So I spend a hefty portion of my time as a consultant helping people understand their behaviors and the behavior of others through the lens of the "artistic temperament." Like, was this person being an asshole because they have an artistic temperament or...are they...

Bad Bosses: When a boss doesn’t recognize subculture
So the whole world is ablaze right now with conversations around culture. When we use this word, we are usually referring to ethnic culture meaning people who are Black, Latinx, Native American, etc. But this word also refers to cultures that can exist in an...

Verhanika IRL: How to use bullshit from white supremacists to learn something about yourself
Social media is not the place where people’s minds are going to be changed if they are that far divided, so let’s not approach these sorts of disagreements with the intention of changing people’s minds. Let’s become more self-aware about how we handle conflict.

Tools and Theories: Talking about how much you work is boring and dumb
I have a buddy who loves to tell me how busy he is every time I see him. "I had this opening and this rehearsal and my day job has this and I'm teaching this class" on and on and on. Every time he tells me his litany of things he's doing I get tired and always think...