Practically Thinking

July 7, 2026 What I’m Thinking About Uncomfortable conversations. Did reading those two words cause you to tense up just a bit? Me too. These are never easy, but they’re critical. Over the past month or two, I found myself engaged in a number of uncomfortable...

June 2, 2026 What I’m Thinking About Mission, vision, and values. Maybe it’s just easier to say mission, vision, and values in this particular order and maybe it doesn’t really matter. However, I often get a sense that if a nonprofit even talks about values it does so...

May 5, 2026 What I’m Thinking About I recently facilitated a couple of staff training sessions and board retreats. As I always do, I started off with helping attendees consider and articulate their “why.”  Why do they serve their organization? Obviously, I’m playing...

April 14, 2026 What I’m Thinking About Have you ever really thought about what it means to be persistent? I’m not talking about the persistence it takes to learn to play an instrument or get your kids to clean their room. I mean persistence when life is unpredictable...

February 3, 2026 What I’m Thinking About No. Why are so many of us averse to the word no? Maybe it’s a Southern thing—I’m a lifelong North Carolinian. We were raised with politeness always in mind; we don’t want to offend. We often don’t want to do something but still...

January 6, 2026 What I’m Thinking About Have you ever chosen a single word for the year - one that serves as your North Star? I learned about this practice a few years ago while working with some incredible colleagues, and the concept has stuck with me ever since. For...

November 4, 2025 What I’m Thinking About The other night we had dinner with friends who have a daughter just beginning to walk. I joyfully watched my eight-year-old follow her around the room encouraging her to explore and applauding her every move. This is why I...

October 7, 2025 What I’m Thinking About Leading up to October 1st, and now that it’s happened, I’ve been thinking about the federal government shutdown. Not from a political perspective, but rather with curiosity about what nonprofits were doing in preparation, and...

September 2, 2025 What I’m Thinking About I’ve been thinking a lot lately about seeking opportunity in uncertain times. We’re unsettled because we’re constantly experiencing uncertainty. Many nonprofit leaders feel at the mercy of continuously shifting information...

August 5, 2025 What I’m Thinking About Welcome to Practically Thinking, your go-to newsletter to help you and your organization thrive. When I started Carson Dean Consulting, I wanted to make sure of two things: first, all nonprofit organizations could access quality...