The Spotlight Blog

If someone were to ask you where you fit politically, would you be inclined to say something like, “I lean left” or “I’m far right”? If they asked you how you fit in where you live, is it possible you might say, “I’m definitely blue living in a red state”…

This page contains Amazon affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you make a purchase through those links. Okay, there’s an elephant in the room—you’ve been asked to share some data, but you’ve never really been trained how to actually…

A 75-year-old woman walks into an Old Navy and asks a 17-year-old male employee where she can find the thongs. The teenager, laughing on the inside but professional and polite in his response says, “Sorry, ma’am, we don’t sell thongs here.” “But,” the woman protests, “I saw on TV you…

The title of this post isn’t hyperbole. It’s a true story about the actual human impact of a data visualization in advocating for important change. As a person passionate about the power of information design, I also find it to be a fascinating story loaded with lessons about the role…

Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and others have quickly and overwhelmingly infiltrated our jobs, life, and education. As it’s become a part of our everyday work, we’ve faced relentless new questions about its use. Will it kill creativity? Does it take the humanness out of my…

Clout isn’t something we achieve. It’s something we carry with us—into a board room, a salary negotiation, a job interview, a classroom. It’s our presence…as defined by the people around us. And it changes depending on context and purpose. I’ve thought a lot about this, both in personal and professional…

Howdy! That’s me, Curtis, in the giant photo above, sitting on a rustic, paint-chipped deck in the remote wilderness of Montana, doing what I love to do: write. I’m not from Montana and I’m not writing this post in that picture, but it seemed as good a photo of me…