How do you know when something works? How do you know if it’s broken?

One way is to listen for the response. In some instances, we know something is working because it generates a visible reaction — a facial expression, a change in posture, a count of likes or shares. Or, we know it’s working because we hear nothing: no news is good news.

When we’re lucky, we’re connected to generous critics. Those who know where we’re aiming, and who can let us know when we’ve missed the mark. “Did you mean to say this, because I think you might have meant to say this other thing.”

Not a troll. Not an adversary. But a fellow traveler who shines light on what we might be missing.

These connections — when you can find them — are golden.

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H/T: my father, who encouraged me to revisit the phrase, “effect change,” and to Nic, who helped me to see a new coding error in this blog’s email template (which I gladly corrected and would have otherwise missed).