The Serviceberry Mindset: How Nature’s Gift Economy Can Reshape Data Governance

For years, we’ve heard that breaking down data silos is the holy grail of business transformation. We’ve been told that better pipelines, integrated analytics, and AI-driven decision-making will finally unlock the full potential of enterprise data. But here’s the question no one seems to ask: What if we’re still thinking too small?

The real challenge isn’t just technological—it’s conceptual. We don’t just need better data governance or cleaner metadata. We need a way of thinking that moves beyond technical optimization and into deeper creative problem-solving. That’s where multidisciplinary thinking comes in.

Determining what's next: Finding the beauty in reluctance

Transformation and learning occur when our need to move forward overcomes our reluctance. These moments bring us from one state to another rather. In birth and death we have little choice or control over our circumstances and the change is abrupt. Then, there are those transitions and challenges where we have a great deal of choice and control. It might not seem like it at the time. Becoming a first-time manager, starting a pilgrimage, embarking on a new career, working our way through the ranks—these are all examples of change we invite into our lives, where we can manage our reactivity. Yet, when navigating our lives with uncertainty, our next step feels unbelievably foreign.

Modern Craft SkillsChristine HaskellJanuary 18, 2021learning, reluctance, vulnerability, humility, awarenessComment

Modern Craft Skills: Transdisciplinarity

Problems today are too complex to be solved by one specialized discipline. It takes multiple perspectives and skills from every discipline to solve crises like homelessness, global warming, and overpopulation. Throughout the 20th century, ever-greater specialization was encouraged, but now? There is an increase in transdisciplinary solutions such as nanotechnology, which blends molecular biology, biochemistry, protein chemistry, and other specialties.