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Values-Based Data Science & Design
Level 4: Hard Steps Dojo
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Level 4: Hard Steps Dojo

🙂 Hello! 🙂

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✍️ How did it go? ✍️

What does that mean, Hard Step?
What was unclear, confusing, complicated?
Do you have questions?
How was it to try this yourself?
How does this fit into the rest?
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Like this!
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🧂 Adding Salt 🧂

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Check out this checklist
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Check out these cheat sheets.
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Value: "facing people" — meeting a person rather than a task, plan, or desire. Notice the emotional state of the person in front of you, and how you feel about the relationship; use that information to respond to the moment. Honesty, connection, integrity, spontaneity
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Value: "pedestrian talk" — speak about what's up like it's no big deal; it's just how I perceive things; laid back approach to disagreements. Explore the complexity of how you & they view the situation, and how your desires & feelings interact. Honesty, surrender, authenticity, sobriety, curiosity
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Value: "yes... I stole the cookie" — owning your mistakes and shortcomings. Receive critical feedback without becoming defensive. Search for what the person is telling you is important to them, and honor that as sacred. Honesty, openness, vulnerability, integrity
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👣 Stepping Hard 👣

Let's apply this to your project topic — together.

Before you start: Pick a Value

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Find a value with Emotions to Values or use one from the previous class.
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Make sure your value isn't bundled up with non-values and is phrased well for design purposes by running it through the values gauntlet.

Write your 🌳 Personal Value as a phrase here:

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Treat people... Act... Approach things... Keep things...

Step 1: Come up with potential Hard Steps

Come up with many imperfect hard steps. You can filter, make them more specific and refine them later.

Ask yourself:

  • You lived by your value! What actions did you do to get there? Write yourself a recipe.
  • Scan what you wrote down so far. Anything missing in between? Anything that you need to do in preparation of or after the event?
  • Scan what you wrote so far again. Which of those seems hard? What exactly is hard to do? Where do my attempts to live by this value usually break down? Can you zoom into what exactly makes it hard?
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    The Second Cheat Sheet: What's the action that is hard to do?
  • What aspects of your environment do you have to take into account?
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    The First Cheat Sheet: Scanning your context
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Your potential hard steps go in here. Once done, copy and plug into step 2.

Step 2: Screen and Pick

Go through the list of potential hard steps. Maybe kick some out. Improve them one by one.

Ask yourself:

Is it necessary for living by the value? (i.e. if you could never do this, could you not live by the value?) If it is not really necessary to live by this value, tag as 🎉 (not necessary) or kick out. Ask yourself: Is there a related action, that IS necessary?
Is it hard? (at least for some people, some of the time) If it is not really hard (for some people, some of the time), tag as 🚲 (not hard) or kick out. If you are not sure, ask yourself: "What is it that is hard about this?"
Is it general enough to apply across cases? (e.g. a classroom, a hospital, a chatroom; lover, friend, parent) If it is so specific that it doesn't apply across contexts tag as ❄️ (too specific) or kick out. Which action IS hard to take across cases?
Is it an instruction that could be followed? (i.e., an action, that the person living by the value can take themselves?) Often, potential hard steps are states or collection of actions or dependent on others. Could you act this out right away? If not, tag with 🚷 (not an instruction) and refine.
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The Second Cheat Sheet: What's the action that is hard to do?
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Copy and paste your potential hard steps from Step 1 in here. Improve them one by one. Is there any way to live by the value without doing this step? Is it hard to do? Does it apply across cases? Is it an instruction you could turn into action right away?
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🌤 Reflection 🌤

Prepare

A value of yours that you recently failed to live by

Bonus: The value of a friend of yours

On your own

One value of yours

Was there a Hard Step that explains why you failed to live by this value recently? If so, which?

How can you make living by this value easier knowing this Hard Step?

Is there someone else involved in the situation who doesn't understand one of the Hard Steps you want to take? What is the Hard Step they don't understand?

Can you identify Hard Steps relevant for this value, which also come up for other values you want to live by as well? Can you think of a way to practice these Hard Steps in isolation?

For your friend's value

Can you also speculate what might be a Hard Step for them?

With this idea of what might be a Hard Step for them, could you make living by this value easier for them?

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🍍 Nice! 🍍

Want to learn this is a social environment?