What have you learned lately?

It's hard to carve out time to go to conferences.  I know the value of listening to and learning from others, but, like many others in non-profits, the days feel so full of "must do right now" work, that it feels indulgent to spend a day at a conferece.  On September 30, I'm glad I made the time.  I spent the day with others from across CT who are applying Results Based Accountability (RBA) to their work. The highlight was hearing from folks from the Cincinnati area share their experiences in creating a community-wide, collaborative cradle to career pipeline called STRIVE (check them out -- they are doing some really cool stuff).  A couple of my favorite quotes:  "Data is not used to prove things, it's used to improve things."   Collecting data in the non-profit world can be a hard first step, but it's not enough -- we have to use the data -- see what they are telling us, and be willing to admit when things are not working and try something different.  It sounds easy, but you'd be amazed at how often folks don't allow time for analysis and reflection. The other line I appreciated: "Shared accountability, differential responsibility."  Let's agree on what we want for our community, and then agree that we may all have a different role/responsibility in getting to that desired result.  

Those two statements were good ones for me to hear that day -- they helped me crystallize my thoughts and will be useful in my own thinking and planning in the weeks ahead.  What are some good quotes/lessons you've learned from a recent conference or training?  I'd love to hear from you.