Wes’s Wednesday Wisdom

When it comes to managing data successfully, process is critical. For example, a client of mine recently discussed how important it is for them to capture notes across their organization. As different departments talk to members and customers, it’s critical for staff to capture these conversations in the database. But the reality is this: if […]

In James Clear’s book Atomic Habits (I recommend it!), he discusses the concept of motion vs. action. In a nutshell, it’s the idea that we spend too much time planning what we’ll do instead of actually implementing. Because we are planning (motion), we trick ourselves into thinking we’re actually doing something (action).  It’s an easy habit to fall into.

I’ve written about this before, but apparently I have to keep repeating it. If you’ve got a “generic” email box (e.g., info@ or contactus@) or a generic voice mail box on your voice mail system, you need to check it EVERY DAY. And you need to RESPOND to inquiries.  The following just occurred: I contacted

Who Do You Trust I was reading an article recently about Warren Buffet’s “rules” for how he chooses companies to invest in. One of these states that, if he doesn’t trust the CEO of the company, he doesn’t invest. No matter how good the numbers, the fundamentals, the market share, if Buffet doesn’t trust the

It’s impossible to measure progress if you don’t know your starting point. This sounds axiomatic, but too often it is overlooked by associations looking to improve their data management. Measuring progress requires setting initial benchmarks. The new year is a perfect time to establish your data management benchmarks. Some ideas: How many data integrity reports do you

A client of mine recently wrote the following to me: “It’s so hard to set up a new database and decide how/where you want to track information when you don’t have a really good understanding of the database and how different fields/screens relate to each other. I think at some point when things slow down

In Dan Gilbert’s book Stumbling on Happiness, he writes: “Experience is unobservable to everyone except the person who it happens to.” I found this incredibly profound as I thought about how often I’ll hear from my clients and other association executives, “The software should function like this, because that’s how we do it, and that’s

This one may seem obvious, but when you’re speaking to anyone, whether it’s one person, a staff meeting, or a speech to a large group, you need to know your audience. Never assume that who you’re speaking with is “just like everyone else.” This means you should know something about them, and you should know

Lewin’s equation says “behavior is a function of the person in their environment.” (He was a psychologist and this was first published in 1936). The idea is simple; environment affects behavior. One example of where this principle is applied is in grocery stores. The products the store wants to promote most (i.e., the products they

Signal-to-noise ratio Signal-to-noise ratio, formally used, applies to electricity and engineering, and refers to how much of a desired signal is being received, versus how much background noise is coming through. The same thing applies to your database. The signal is your good data; the noise is your bad data. I’ve argued for years that the