Mise en place is a French culinary term meaning: "Everything in its place."

Before making a dish, chefs suggest:

1. Read the recipe
2. Collect ingredients
3. Prepare the ingredients (wash, chop, etc.)
4. Gather tools
5. Set up your workstation

Then begin.

Have you ever followed a recipe step by step only to find two thirds of the way through, that you are out of eggs? Or that you don't own a cheese grater?

For a long time, I thought cooking wasn't for me because the process frequently left me frustrated. I don't cook often so I'm not familiar with the tools or the ingredients. My discomfort with not being good at something, leads me to rush which leads to mistakes. When things go wrong, I get angry.

In some ways it's pretty obvious.

Before doing a complicated task, be prepared.

But my lack of familiarity with cooking and my lack of confidence actually created a blind spot. The recipe lulled me into a false sense of security.

If I just follow these steps, I'll make a cake.

Results varied. (A lot.)

When we are not familiar with a task, we tend to underestimate the complexity, particularly if we've been watching professionals who make it look easy.

Software has lulled nonprofit leaders into a false sense of security.

If we just use the tools, we'll have a well-run organization.

Results vary. (Alot.)

It's not hard to imagine:

The frustrated leader who realized 9 months into the grant cycle that they aren't capturing any of the data they outlined in their grant application.

Or the event host at the gala who realized that the printed QR code on every table goes to the wrong URL.

Or the leader who wanted to make it as easy as possible to accept donations but now can't reconcile payments across CashApp, Venmo, Stripe, and Paypal.

I begin my cohorts and every consulting engagement the same way: by defining the tech stack.

Your workspace. Your email marketing tools. Your website. Payment processors. Form builders. CRM, ERP, Accounting, Payroll.

All of it. The whole enchilada.

It's the tech version of mise en place.

What tools are we using? What works well? What is challenging us? What are we missing?

Once we can see the whole picture, then the work begins.

Then we cook.

Until next week,

Ted

P.S. Next week, I'm releasing my mise en place software for nonprofits. It's a tool that helps you figure out your tech stack and share it with your team.

And it's free.

Sometimes my postscripts are actually kind of a big deal.