This course is exploring a key question of effective peership:

How do we make sense of ourselves?

Whether you are seeking community, taking on unconventional roles, changing careers mid-stream, finding a new role or determining how to move up in the role you currently have – you need a clear, strong sense of self.

Sense of Self: Your perception of the pieces that define you.

Along with cultivating a clear sense of self, you also need to be able to confidently make choices about what paths to pursue given your own values and mission - this is your personal information architecture.

Developing a personal information architecture is hard, but critical sensemaking work. Work that many people de-prioritize in favor of messes they get paid to solve. Yet this critical mess of not having a clear or strong enough sense of self can get in the way of so many of our goals, both personally and professionally.

Meet Your Guides

Abby Covert is an information architect with 20 years experience making sense of messes and teaching others how to do the same. She has written two books, How to Make Sense of Any Mess, a beginner’s guide to information architecture and Stuck? Diagrams Help. a field guide for the trek from diagram novice to diagram nerd.

From advertising to fintech, smart technology to educational innovation, Alfi Oloo has charted his own course as a product designer. His self-taught journey shapes how he guides others—weaving together psychological insight, Socratic dialogue, and hands-on practice with the hope of transforming schooling into education.

"This course was inspired by us forming a peership during a time of radical change for each of us."

Abby and Alfi met in 2022 while preparing for Makesensemess 22. They formed a self-proclaimed peership in early 2023 and have spent this year getting to know themselves, in an effort to get to know one another.

This course is centered on the thesis of their peership: helping you get to know yourself to get more value from peership, mentorship and self-directed education.

What started as a cohort-based program has been reimagined into a community-based program, supporting a rolling start for anyone looking to dive in right away

On February 12, 2025 Abby ad Alfi relaunched the course and hosted a special preview event. They shared the history of the course as well as the inspiration for each of the six growth paths.

Watch the Video Replay

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"I went in with a healthy dose of skepticism around some of the early reflections, but by the end I was really impressed by how everything really did build and come together into a meaningful whole. I will definitely be taking learnings from this course into my personal and professional life!"

- Student in Cohort 1

"MSoYS is like a guided and supported journey through the messiness you've been avoiding, alongside peers who are exploring their own messes that -- surprisingly (but not surprisingly) -- look similar to your mess."

- Student in Cohort 1

"This course was not just beneficial for my life and goals, but just enjoyable."

- Student in Cohort 1

"Making Sense of Yourself provides an incredibly valuable toolkit for personal reflection and development, that you explore within a supportive community of remarkable and courageous people who are on that challenging journey alongside you."

- Student in Cohort 1

"The material was well-thought out and each section built on top of the previous one seamlessly. Abby and Alfi’s facilitation was generous and mindful. They shined the spotlight on each of us in a comforting way and offered space for meaningful one-on-one conversations I never thought I’d have."

- Student in Cohort 1

Ever wonder how life would be different if you had a better sense of yourself?

We did. And we designed a course to share what we learned in making our own personal information architectures.

This 6 month long, self-directed course is a mixture of introspective exercises and peer activities. Each month you will be paired up with a stranger-peer to pursue one of our six growth paths. Each is designed to make you think deeper about yourself, your direction and your decisions.

WHO IS THIS COURSE DESIGNED FOR?

We only recommend this course if you have the time and space in your life at this time to do some deep exploration into yourself. We are looking for a small group of thoughtful, self-aware people who are willing to share and grow alongside a cohort of folks with a similar intention.

You will get the most from this course if you are …

Seeking direction outside your professional goals
Taking on an unconventional role
Pivoting your directional focus
Changing your career mid-stream and looking to connect prior experience with future goals
Specializing or focusing in on parts of your current role
At a crossroads on a decision about your direction