Breaking through limitations, imagining the possibilities

Imagine, if you will, the feelings you might have were to come home and find a box waiting on your doorstep. The box is in the shape of something you’ve been wishing and waiting for, and the paper it is wrapped in is sparkly and glittery, reflecting rainbow specs in your eyes. You quickly start unwrapping the present, but not too quickly, because even in your excitement you decide that you want to honor this moment and save what you can of the wrapping paper. You slowly peel it back, open the box and find...an old sock.

THAT is how I felt when I first saw the ZDNet article entitled Google Chrome: It's time to ditch the browser, and how disappointed I was when I read the thing. I thought that I was going to read about some revolutionary new idea or digital invention that was going to finally, FINALLY give us some alternative to the browser, this piece of ancient tech we’ve been lugging around all these years. Just like email, the internet browser is SO LAST CENTURY. 

Let me stop for a moment of gratitude for what the browser has meant to us.

Anyone who can remember accessing the interwebs from within the DOS window on our computer boxes back in the 90s may also remember the joy of logging on to AOL and opening the new browser window right next to your instant messenger window. It was glorious - the internet was your playground and you could find all the cat videos and neon-green-text-on-black-background websites that you desired. I’m not even being facetious here, folx. The internet was and still is my favorite thing in the world and I am grateful every day for it. The early content and formatting aside, it was like seeing the big bang and the expansion of our world taking place before our eyes, and we were contributing to it as well!! I’m getting kind of choked up just thinking about it right now.

Though the skin and functionality of the “browser window” has changed a lot, I think we are all at a point where we can see that all the extra fluff around just actually accessing information through the thing is holding us back. Too many tabs open! Too much cache! Too many cookies! Too many bookmarks! Too many extensions! OK I should walk that back, I love extensions. But no! I must plow forward - yes, too many extensions! My friends, we even have whole companies set up to help you manage the work of your browser. That’s nuts. 

So imagine my thrill when I thought I was going to read an article about the NEXT BIG THING.

Whatever was going to replace browsers when we brave ones jump ship? Alas, the article was just repeating the same old, same old. Google Chrome is heavy and it spies on you. What amazing new info. There, now I’m being facetious.

I don’t know what the next big thing will be to replace the browser. I’m pretty sure we are close to replacing email with all the other communications methods we have available to us, now we just need to change our mindsets around that damn inbox. Maybe a new way to access the internet doesn’t have a browser window at all - maybe you open your computer and a message (just floating words, no box around it) says, “Good Morning, Emily - what is your most important task to start on today?” To which I reply either by typing or saying, “Good Morning computer that is meant to accelerate my work and not slow me down - I need to help my client get their survey responses calculated, aggregated, and displayed in an intelligent and beautiful way so that they can gain insights about how their constituents are reacting to their programs and services - take me there!” I’m having a hard time going further in this fantasy - do boxes of browsers and programs show up after that? Does a hologram appear out of my screen to brainstorm with me about my work? What do YOU think your computer and work could look like if it wasn’t constrained in a “browser box”?

For now, the lesson is an old one: Think outside the box.

Think outside of your inbox, outside of your browser box, outside of your computer box actually. Perhaps the lesson is just to THINK. Make space for yourself to think. These boxes we have are amazing and wonderful, but they can also be limiting. We can get caught up in what we have known them to do for so long. I’m committing myself to helping you think outside of these boxes and coming up with the new and innovative ways to use your technologies to make your impact on the world. Here are a few of the ways that we can do that together:

It’s back! The Beginner-To-Advanced in Spreadsheets workshop has been one of the most fun parts of my month, helping people blast through their spreadsheet apprehensions and get control over their data and technology!! This is happening the same week as the NTEN Nonprofit Technology Conference (see more below) - but if you can’t attend the conference come get your spreadsheet game up with me!

Get that sense of calm and zen by breaking out of the boxes that we’ve all been using to manage our digital work. The Shut Down Your Computer at Night Challenge is back again to help us gain control of our digital lives. I would love to have you or someone you could recommend join the next cohort. Sign up is here! 

I’ve got TWO sessions I’m helping present at the Nonprofit Technology Conference at the end of March, both of which are designed to throw away the limitations that we face when working with data & technology for mission-driven work, and to open our minds to new and exciting possibilities. Check them out here, and if you can’t register for the conference, just let me know you are interested in the content because we are going to be bringing these shows on the road in the future!