Hello, and welcome!
Want to stay in the know on my latest writing? Subscribe.
Interested in working together? Drop me a note.
Whether you're facilitating workshops, leading teams, or navigating complex decisions, here you'll find practical tools, frameworks, and lessons drawn from my real-world work with leadership teams and organizations.
I'm Jackie Colburn. Strategist, facilitator, human.
For nearly two decades, I've partnered with teams across industries to navigate complexity, unlock possibilities, and design a better way forward.
Can meetings be more inclusive for all, not just those at the top?
Workshop methods that can be applied to meetings so we can be more intentional about how the diverse voices in the room are heard and represented.
Don’t let stakeholders shut down your creativity
If you lead workshops and Design Sprints, you’ll need to involve key decision makers in the process so that it’s constructive rather than disruptive. Having a formula to handle these situation is especially important when working with big orgs. Check out my approach to the process so that your experience feels constructive and controlled.
Shake up your routine in the name of creativity
At what point do our beloved routines become creativity suckers? Doing the same thing day in and day out is great for managing risk, but it often comes at a cost to innovation, originality, and stimulation. Whether you’re seeking a personal or professional burst of creativity, these three tips offer accessible ways to refresh your outlook and attitude.
Support for kids’ mental health amidst a pandemic
How a Strategic Planning & Roadmapping Session helped an essential program adapt and evolve in a very short amount of time to support the growth of the business.
Why bad design = bad human experience
A lot of software is designed without consideration for the people who use it. (I know, it’s shocking.) Too often, we forget the power and potential impact we have on people’s daily lives when designing tools they’ll use every day. So, try some of these ideas out. Lead with the intention of doing meaningful work. Because a good design can mean a better day for someone at work and a better day can mean… everything.
Win a seat at my next workshop
When each of us thrive, we all thrive, and from this spirit my Sprint For Good program was born. The program is a way to bring deserving organizations and missions a chance to meaningfully move their business, product and/or service forward. That includes the opportunity to participate in full-blown Design Sprints, Strategic Planning Sessions, and more.
Take this quiz to get your business idea off the ground
Struggling to make progress, launch a new idea or hit business objectives? There’s usually a solution, and it often takes a workshop or planning session to lead you and your team to it. To get started, take this quiz to find out which workshop option is right for your business.
Here’s my fall reading list drop
What do purpose, adult friendships, languishing and Barack Obama have in common? My latest reading list, as a matter of fact. This installment explores themes across community and relationship building, as well as examining present-day problem solving.
How to nail the feedback loop
I’ve curated a list of 3 principles that will help you nail the facilitation of customer interviews, manage different personalities, and extract the quality feedback you need to move your product or business idea forward. When we share insights with each other, we all benefit! And it all starts with a proven process.
How to work less this summer
Time for reflection, recharging, and independent play are top of my priority list this summer, along with some offline projects that require hands-on labor. In order to create space for these, I’ve had to practice setting boundaries and saying “no” to some things, which is challenging, but the overall result is that I have more control over my capacity and can focus on the non-work activities that are a priority for me this summer. Here’s a list of the practices that help me navigate this balance.
Can we give our kids more agency while still holding the reins?
I can’t help but draw on my experience as a facilitator to examine how the methods I use when leading Design Sprints and workshops might be helpful in navigating life with a child, and creating more communication pathways for us. I’ve found a handful of things work really well for our family and give our daughter more agency to participate in creating plans, communicate with us, and keep us present with one another.
3 things we can learn from kids to unlock creativity
There’s something adults can learn from kids to allow us to explore and create more freely. These three behaviors are worth taking note of, and might pay dividends personally and professionally.