Management Lessons on Adaptation and Commitment - Richard Moross

In Chapter 16 of 17 in his 2012 interview, London entrepreneur and Moo.com CEO Richard Moross answers "How Have You Learned to Adapt When Things Have Not Worked Out as Planned?"  Moross walks through specific instances where his company has adapted in the face of a mistake and turn lemons into lemonade.  He talks about the need to experiment and work through cycles of broadening and focusing strategy and why commitment and focus are critical to building the business.  Moross is founder and CEO of Moo.com and a leader in the London startup scene.  Before starting Moo.com, an award-winning online print business, Moross was a strategist at Imagination, the world's largest independent design company.  He graduated from the University of Sussex, where he majored in philosophy and politics.

Jon Kolko on How Reflecting Benefits a Creative Career

In Chapter 6 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, design educator Jon Kolko answers "How Has Reflection Contributed to Your Leadership Development?"  Kolko begins by discussing how he has incorporated reflection into the curriculum experience for his design students.  He continues detailing is own reflective process and why it is important to have the inner dialogue before making bold, provocative statements. 

Jon Kolko the founder and director of the Austin Center for Design.  He has authored multiple books on design, including "Wicked Problems: Problems Worth Solving."  Previously he has held senior roles at venture accelerator Thinktiv and frog design and was a professor of Interactive and Industrial Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).  Kolko earned his Masters in Human Computer Interaction (MHI) and BFA in Design from Carnegie Mellon University.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How has reflection contributed to you leadership development?

Jon Kolko: It plays a huge role in the process of design sort of outside of my own personal experiences. We bake into the curriculum constant reflection from the students at Austin Center for Design. So a typical agile MVP or always in beta process is one where you do stuff and then you test it and then there has to be a moment where you stop and you go like, “What just happened?” And that is reflection and it’s incredibly easy to skip that and to simply impulsively respond to data rather than interpreting it. 

Reflection is a form of interpretation and so it's an assignment of meaning and it's going to be wrong sometimes. And so, it's easy to skip and simply use the data at face value which will also be wrong sometimes but it feels safer. I have found that the more interpretation and reflection that occurs, the more risky it is to build on that reflection but when you do build on it, the more likely it is to lead to large and magical, and powerful changes. 

And so we do a couple of things formally in our curriculum that drive toward reflection, like I have the students do a, it was called something much more academic and they changed to a peak of the week, so a p.o.w. every week. So they film themselves and they say, “What did you this week about entrepreneurship?” And, “What did you learn this week about entrepreneurship?” And simply saying it is often just enough to provoke that reflection. Actually, watching it is huge. For me, I think I'm overly contemplative because one, I have that constant just self-doubt that I'm not doing enough and I'm not doing as good as I could and I could always be doing more and then second, there's this idea that if I'm going to go out there and say large, provocative statements, damn it, I better be right. 

And I feel like I owe it at least to myself to have that sort of inner dialogue about saying things like problems worth solving and abandon your day job at a big corporation or consultancy and go work on poverty and nutrition. Those are aggressive statements even to me. And so I should really have thought deeply about what it is that I'm talking about. I do like to think of active reflection versus passive. Many designers that I know struggle with internal mood disorders and that’s a path and form of reflection. It's self-destructive and it doesn’t go anywhere. There's a form of active reflection through making where you can -- as simple as writing down your thoughts is a form of it but you can also diagram your thoughts and you can draw them, and you can create art and things like that. It's a much healthier form of reflection. And so, I try to personally lead to the second.

What Makes a Strong Project Manager - Hammans Stallings

In Chapter 17 of 22 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, innovation strategist Hammans Stallings answers "What Makes a Good Project Manager?"  Stallings looks for the ability to create space between the client or organizational setting and the project team.  This separation helps the team work through the problems.  Secondly, Stallings notes the importance of applying tension using time and deadlines to make sure the team stays on track and engaged throughout the project.  This is Hammans Stallings' Year 2 CYF interview.  Stallings is currently a Senior Strategist at frog design.  Previously he worked in business strategy at Dell and investment banking at Stephens.  He earned an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, a MS in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business and a BA in Economics and Psychology from the University of Virginia. 

Audrey French on Why to Have Coaches in Your Life

In Chapter 11 of 15 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, entrepreneur Audrey Parker French answers "At This Moment in Your Life Where Are You Seeking Advice and Coaching?"  French notes how she first looks to close relationships - her husband and best friends - for advice.  She then looks outside her inner circle to experts, for example her fitness coach and career coach.  She shares how important it has been to be willing to be coached and allow others to help her hold herself to higher standards. 

Audrey Parker French returns to CYF for her Year 3 interview after a one-year sabbatical from work and getting married.  She co-founded CLEAResult, an energy management consulting firm.  In 2010, CLEAResult ranked #144 in the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing private companies.  In late 2010, CLEAResult was sold to General Catalyst Partners.  She graduated from Wake Forest University. 

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: At this moment in your life, where are you seeking advice and coaching?

Audrey Parker French: Seeking advice and coaching has actually been a predominant theme in my life over the last 5 to 6 years. Right now I would say I’m seeking the most coaching from the people closest to me that I look up to. My husband, my best friends, and then beyond that, if it’s something other than, you know, something in that frame, I’ll go to someone who has a specific area of expertise and ask for some sort of coaching or advice. You know having a fitness coach, you know, if I wanted to change some of my fitness goals, and you know I don’t wanna ask someone who doesn’t really know about fitness about being my coach for something like that.

So you know, I think that having coaches and being willing to be coached and hold yourself to a high standard and have someone else hold you to that same high standard, it has done incredible things in my life, in my career and in my personal life to have coaches in both of those areas of my life, my professional coach has really helped me improve my professionalism and develop in areas that I – I could’ve, yes, of course I would’ve developed but it would’ve taken me a lot longer, and I’ve had personal coaches in my life, for emotional and spiritual guidance and coaching that have really, in those areas, helped me to grow a lot faster. So – and actually I’ve been coaching some women in my life and it’s nice to feel like I’m able to, you know, to return that favor to other women who can look to me for inspiration and guidance and coaching.

What Marriage Teaches About Teamwork - James McCormick

In Chapter 5 of 18 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, legal career advisor James McCormick answers "What Has Marriage Taught You About Teamwork?"  McCormick shares the importance of recognizing your respective role in a marriage, that of your partner, and understanding where you can give and receive help and support.  James McCormick is a Partner at Empire Search Partners in New York City.  Previously, he practiced law as an employee benefits and executive compensation attorney for Proskauer Rose and Jones Day.  He earned a JD at Tulane Law School and a BA in History at the University of Michigan. 

How to Establish Yourself as a Leader - James McCormick

In Chapter 15 of 18 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, legal career advisor James McCormick answers "What Does It Mean to Be a Leader in What You Do?"  McCormick shares how providing advice, delegating responsibility, and managing and meeting client expectations establishes a leadership position as an individual or company.  James McCormick is a Partner at Empire Search Partners in New York City.  Previously, he practiced law as an employee benefits and executive compensation attorney for Proskauer Rose and Jones Day.  He earned a JD at Tulane Law School and a BA in History at the University of Michigan.

Fabian Pfortmüller on What It Means to Be a Leader

In Chapter 5 of 15 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, community builder and entrepreneur Fabian Pfortmüller answers "What Does It Mean to Be a Leader in What You Do?"  Pfortmüller shares his leadership learning journey, including taking responsibility, living values, staying focused on goals.  Pfortmüller is co-founder of the young leader accelerator, Sandbox Network, and HOLSTEE, an apparel and design firm that sells meaningful products to mindful shoppers.  Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University and its school of General Studies. 

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: What does it mean to be a leader in what you do?

Fabian Pfortmüller: The honest answer is, I'm still trying to figure it out myself. I go through waves. Sometimes I believe I totally figured it out and sometimes I wake up and I realize I really don’t know what it means in the first place. There are certain parts of it that I understand more and more as I become older. One of them is for example taking responsibility for things you start.

So, if something bad happens, if we screw up, I think it’s my responsibility to deal with it. I think that’s what it means to be a leader. On the other hand, I also believe that it has a lot to do with example. It’s -- If energy is low, it’s my role to have high energy and like bring good motivation, good energy back into the team. The same goes for values.

I strongly feel that values are something that are very easily lived in good times but they’re tough in hard times and I think it makes a leader to live values and enforce values when it’s maybe not that easy to live by them and for us at HOLSTEE over the last year we were faced with -- We had very strong growth and we were asked, you know, do you wanna like use a printer that is gonna scale up much faster and maybe use this cheaper paper but, you know, in those moments we’re like, actually we should remind ourselves of what we believe in.

You wanna have like, wanna create sustainable products, wanna create products that have a positive impact for the people that make them, we don’t just wanna scale up and so in those moments, I feel like those decisions they’re about leadership, I believe.

Fabian Pfortmüller on How to Run Projects Using Culture and Process

In Chapter 11 of 15 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, community builder and entrepreneur Fabian Pfortmüller answers "How Do You Balance Experimentation and Commitment in the Projects You Pursue?"  Pfortmüller answers the question in the context of process and culture and how both are relevant to project planning, team building and problem solving.  Pfortmüller is co-founder of the young leader accelerator, Sandbox Network, and HOLSTEE, an apparel and design firm that sells meaningful products to mindful shoppers.  Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University and its school of General Studies. 

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: How do you balance experimentation and commitment in the projects that you pursue?

Fabian Pfortmüller: I would answer that question with two buckets. On the one hand, I think it’s about process and on the other hand it’s about culture. I believe it’s all about having very clear processes when you run any project. We’re learning every day about project management, we’re learning about setting goals, we’re learning about, you know, making sure those deadlines are met and finding structures how we feel comfortable that we can really plan out projects in quite a lot detail but at the same time building the culture to be super free and how we wanna solve that problem.

Once we clearly define the problem, there should not be a required way to get there and I think culture is one of the key elements that allows people to think freely and that’s just something that we’re trying to tell ourselves but also the people we work with. No matter how you get there, it doesn’t matter. It’s just about the goal, and the crazier ideas, the better.

We at HOLSTEE for example have a 10% rule, a little bit like Google’s 20% rule but 10% where we just encourage people to work on whatever they want and something that they are passionate about, something where they believe they can have impact and I think that openness and that freedom in, you know, going no matter where as long as they’re creating something valuable is super important for any organization.

The Rewards of Project Collaboration - Michael Margolis

In Chapter 13 of 17 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, educator and entrepreneur Michael Margolis answers "What Do You Find Most Rewarding About Collaborating With Others on Projects?"  He notes how and when magic happens when collaborating with others, citing David Logan's book, "The Power of Triads" as an example.  Margolis details how chemistry, role, and story each contribute to making a collaborative team effort more powerful.  Michael Margolis is founder and president of Get Storied, an education and publishing platform dedicated to teaching the world how to think in narrative.  He earned a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Tufts University. 

How to Set Measures of Success in Life and Work - Michael Margolis

In Chapter 14 of 17 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, educator and entrepreneur Michael Margolis answers "How Do You Define and Measure Success in What You Do?"  Margolis separates success measures by business and life.  He talks about progressively increasing leverage and scale to create more revenue via passive online income streams, including core curriculum to teach storytelling to the world.  Personally, he sets success measures around achieving liberation or freedom from constraints and attention to wellbeing.  Michael Margolis is founder and president of Get Storied, an education and publishing platform dedicated to teaching the world how to think in narrative.  He earned a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Tufts University. 

Brett Goldman on What Gets Easier and What Gets Harder

In Chapter 1 of 14 in his 2012 interview, real estate development executive Brett Goldman answers "What is Getting Easier and What is Getting Harder in Your Life?" Goldman finds few if any things getting easier. Hard things tie back to a continual need to find motivation and embrace challenges. Goldman finds self-motivation helps him overcome mental challenges by defining and pursuing goals, measuring performance against himself and not others.

Brett Goldman is a Real Estate Acquisitions Director at Triangle Equities in New York City. He holds a BA in General Studies from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Real Estate Development from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  What's getting easier and what's getting harder in your life?

Brett Goldman: Honestly, I don't think anything's getting easier. Are things getting harder? I think that it's always been pretty hard. I don't know that the necessarily harder you keep having to try harder, and you keep trying to push yourself and challenge yourself, and that's always been a challenge for me. And so it doesn't get harder but it remains hard. Nothing's getting easier, I mean, life is not that easy, you just have to kind of go out there and try your best, and hopefully, you get results from that.  

Erik Michielsen: When you say hard, how would you kind of break that apart?

Brett Goldman: I think that I mean mentally hard. I wouldn't say necessarily laziness, but it's self-motivation and -- as opposed to competing with other people. I'm much more interested in self-motivation but it's easy to be drawn into competing with other people. So I, you know I've been working on trying to be more self-motivated. And getting my -- getting the feeling of success from being more motivated that way.

Cathy Erway on Fixing the Mixed Messages of Food TV Shows

In Chapter 14 of 16 in her 2012 interview, author and food writer Cathy Erway answers "Why Should Food Media Be More About Education Than Entertainment?"  Erway highlights the need for food media television and blogs to be more clear in their intent.  She believes audiences see entertainment as instructional.  Erway takes issue her and aims to clarify the intent or purpose of shows teaching cooking and selling cookbooks that do not promote healthy eating. 

Cathy Erway is an author and food writer living in Brooklyn.  Her first book, "The Art of Eating In" developed from her blog "Not Eating Out in New York".  She earned a BA in creative writing from Emerson College.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  Why should food media be more about education than entertainment?

Cathy Erway:  Well, I mean, not to sound too naive, but I think that, yes, I understand there is a difference in tone for the purpose of a food media thing, television show, for example, and a lot of the times we don't see it, we don't see that line and it gets confused for authenticity or just, you know, plain instructions, something that you should follow, but of course a lot of entertaining stuff is out there that--it wasn't--it didn't have that purpose.

So, the first food media, TV shows started, you know, in the '50s when television -- that truly was--that was like housewives need to know how to flip an omelet, so this is how you do it. That's really where it started, but of course, now we have all sorts of crazy shows, all sorts of funny, entertaining blogs out there too, and we need to, like, just be a little more clear on which, you know--what we should be watching it for, and--I mean, not that there's anything wrong with entertaining food media. I love watching funny shows like Food Party. I love the old British series Posh Nosh but, I mean, if you're going to instruct a food and sell cookbooks, I think that there needs to be more purpose behind that than just to entertain. Because you're going to have a real impact on people's eating habits, and they do, and they really do.

And, you know, I've noticed when I write something on my blog that's a recipe that is kind of hilarious, over-the-top--bacon cream cheese cupcakes--that the readership spikes and sure enough, you know, that's fun and stuff, and I do that once in a while, but it's not something I want to do simply to have a broader audience and, you know, I just -- because I don't want people to eat -- I don't eat that way all the time.

Erik Michielsen:  Right. Yeah, yeah, it's misleading.

Cathy Erway:  Yeah. I think so.

Erik Michielsen:  Only if it's done for entertainment's sake then it -- Okay, the goal is to entertain and then to sell advertising behind that and to make a productive, you know, television show, but when you're--

Cathy Erway:  Then you're like a tobacco company. Right? You're just like selling something that people like even though you know it's not good.

Erik Michielsen:  Yeah, there's a deeper element there that can be probably used a bit more.

Cathy Erway:  I like to write recipes that, if you read the behind the lines I do have a mission, but I'm trying not to hit you over the head with it. I talk about how delicious turnips are. And they are, but I mean, who would've thought that originally? It's not something you'd read and be like, "Oh, yeah, totally!" You know, there's, I feel like there's media that is affirmative like when the watcher--when the viewer is watching it, it's, you know, there's a positive experience which is, "I agree with you, and I already do agree with you." And that's the easiest kind of positive response to get.

But when you challenge by bringing up a totally new thought or new revelation like turnips taste decadent. Right? Or you try to make it sound decadent instead. There this like, "Eh." You know, non-- but you know after a while maybe they'll try and maybe they'll think it's a positive thing afterwards. So it takes a lot more time, it's harder to do, it's harder to get people to have a good experience because they have to actually do it or try it or something. 

How to Be a More Effective Community Leader - Kyung Yoon

In Chapter 12 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, non-profit executive Kyung Yoon answers "What Does It Mean to Be a Leader in What You Do?"  Through experience, Yoon learns to lead by working with stakeholders and bringing different people together by being a good listener, taking charge, and driving decisions in the context of an organization.  She adds the importance of being accountable and responsive on a consistent basis.  Kyung Yoon is the executive director of the Korean American Community Foundation (KACF) in New York City.  An award-winning journalist and documentary film producer, Yoon earned an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in History and Political Science at Wellesley College.

How Executive Defines Non-Profit Success - Kyung Yoon

In Chapter 18 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, non-profit executive Kyung Yoon answers "As a Non-Profit Executive, How Do You Define and Measure Success in What You Do?"  Running a non-profit, Yoon learns it is clearly a business, complete with managing revenues and expenses.  She finds it important to measure outcomes, however these do differ from for-profit metrics of returns to shareholders.  Non-profit returns, such has how many abused women and trafficking victims are provided shelter at the New York Asian Women's Center.  These experiences shape Yoon's perspective on what it means to lead in a community-focused non-profit.  Kyung Yoon is the executive director of the Korean American Community Foundation (KACF) in New York City.  An award-winning journalist and documentary film producer, Yoon earned an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in History and Political Science at Wellesley College.

How Non-Profit Creates Sustainable Growth Framework - Kyung Yoon

In Chapter 19 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, non-profit executive Kyung Yoon answers "What Are You Doing to Make Your Non-Profit More Sustainable?"  Yoon highlights four areas the drive non-profit sustainability.  First, her organization is strengthening its grant making ability to better support the non-profits it serves.  Second, her organization is focusing on diversifying fundraising streams. Third, board development - creating a pipeline of potential board members - ties into more effective strategic visioncasting.  Lastly, financial management  Lastly, financial accounting and management improvements allow both sponsors and partners have visibility into the organization.  Kyung Yoon is the executive director of the Korean American Community Foundation (KACF) in New York City.  An award-winning journalist and documentary film producer, Yoon earned an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in History and Political Science at Wellesley College.

How Experience Shapes Product Design Excellence - Marc Ferrentino

In Chapter 11 of 16 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, cloud computing technology executive Marc Ferrentino answers "What Have Your Experiences Taught You About What Makes a Product Great?"  In addition to solving a problem, Ferrentino underscores the importance of consistently delivering great experiences via product design.  As a result, he notes the importance of having one person responsible for managing that experience choreography.  Ferrentino is Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of cloud computing at BMC Software.  Previously, he was Chief Technology Architect (CTA) at Salesforce.com.  Previous to Salesforce.com, Ferrentino worked in mobile and Internet startups and at Goldman Sachs.  He earned a BSEE in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan.

How Startups Can Better Prepare for Acquisition or Exit - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 7 of 15 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, Ramsey Pryor answers "What Was Most Educational Going Through An Acquisition Process as a Startup Executive?"  Pryor learns to understand how to assess what and what not an acquiring company cares about.  Pryor also shares specifics around what the diligence process taught him about what young startup companies can do to better prepare for an exit.  Pryor is currently a product management executive at IBM focused on cloud-based communication and collaboration software.  Previously he was VP Product Marketing at Outblaze, acquired by IBM.  Pryor earned an MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain and a BA in Economics and Spanish from Northwestern University. 

How to Plan a Product Launch - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 11 of 15 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, Ramsey Pryor answers "How is Launching a Product at IBM Different Than Doing So at a Startup?"  Pryor shares how magnitude affects several dimensions of a global corporate product launch, including analyst relations, sales training, and customer feedback processes.  Pryor details the systems and structural benefits of the IBM 100-year history launching products.  Pryor is currently a product management executive at IBM focused on cloud-based communication and collaboration software.  Previously he was VP Product Marketing at Outblaze, acquired by IBM.  Pryor earned an MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain and a BA in Economics and Spanish from Northwestern University.