Simon Sinek on Why Organizations Need a Circle of Safety

In Chapter 6 of 23 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, author and public speaker Simon Sinek answers "What is a Circle of Safety and Why Should Organizations Consider Building One?" Acknowledging constant dangers and threats outside an organization, Sinek looks inside an organization to what leaders can provide employees to make the business better. He finds creating a circle of safety helps leaders foster secure environments that promote trust and through it, collaboration, innovation and productivity. Simon Sinek teaches leaders and organizations how to inspire people. Sinek is the author of two books, "Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Come Together and Others Don't" and "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action". He is a public speaker, an adjunct professor at Columbia University and a Brandeis University graduate.

Simon Sinek on Why Diversity Differentiates Team Performance

In Chapter 10 of 23 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, author and public speaker Simon Sinek answers "How Are You Learning to Work More Effectively With Different Personality Types?" Sinek shares why curiosity is so important in working with others who are different than you. He notes diversity is built on different perspectives regardless of race or religion. Curiosity allows you to push beyond what you know and surrounding yourself with people who have different experiences facilitates deeper learning. Simon Sinek teaches leaders and organizations how to inspire people. Sinek is the author of two books, "Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Come Together and Others Don't" and "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action". He is a public speaker, an adjunct professor at Columbia University and a Brandeis University graduate.

Fabian Pfortmüller on Solving Problems to Build Global Brands

In Chapter 10 of 18 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, entrepreneur and community builder Fabian Pfortmüller answers "What Problems Are You Trying to Solve Right Now to Grow Your Business?" In leadership roles at two companies, Sandbox Network and Holstee, Pfortmüller finds each has separate growth issues. At Sandbox Network, he finds creating a consistent community and user experience a challenge. At Holstee, it is more about applying a known mindful living brand and connecting that into a growing product offering, including a shareable art card series. Fabian Pfortmüller is co-founder of Holstee, a socially conscious online marketplace, and Sandbox Network, a global community for young entrepreneurial people. Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University.

Fabian Pfortmüller on Helping Your Community Achieve Dream Goals

In Chapter 16 of 18 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, entrepreneur and community builder Fabian Pfortmüller answers "What Programs Are You Creating as a Business to Give Back to the Community?" Pfortmüller shares how he and his Holstee team are creating programs to give back to the community they serve and support community members on their journey to achieve life goals. After testing a revenue sharing model with Kiva, where Holstee donated 10% of all revenue to micro-loans, Holstee evolved its internal community programs and created a Holstee Fellowship and an online story sharing site, My Life, to support its membership. Fabian Pfortmüller is co-founder of Holstee, a socially conscious online marketplace, and Sandbox Network, a global community for young entrepreneurial people. Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University.

Michael Margolis on How to See Yourself in a Fast Changing World

In Chapter 1 of 17 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, educator and entrepreneur Michael Margolis answers "What Childhood Experiences Have Been Most Fundamental in Shaping Who You Are Today?" When he was nine, Margolis and his family moved from Lucerne, Switzerland to West Los Angeles, California. The cultural shift and resulting identity issues of being a stranger in a strange land inspire Margolis into a career helping others understand and tell their story. This becomes more important as culture change hastens from what Alvin Toffler described as "Future Shock" to what Douglas Rushkoff now calls "Present Shock" across education, government, media, and religion. 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.

Michael Margolis on How Storytelling Became an Essential Business Skill

In Chapter 6 of 17 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, educator and entrepreneur Michael Margolis answers "How is the Practice or Trend of Storytelling Changing?" He shares how storytelling as a business communication skill for innovators, marketers, entrepreneurs and change makers hit an inflection point in 2012. In 2012, storytelling suddenly became a top priority for corporate leaders and marketing executives. Margolis shares how multiple variable inputs contributed to this moment, all playing a role in the increasing humanization of business. 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.

Tricia Regan on Keeping Up With New Technology Working in Film

In Chapter 12 of 15 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, filmmaker Tricia Regan answers "What New Challenges Are You Facing in Your Career?" Regan shares how a consistent challenge in her film and television career has been keeping up with new technology. She notes how filmmaking technology, from cameras to editing software, changes dramatically from film project to film project. She notes how this places into the marketplace for documentary films - films are less expensive to shoot but the market for documentary films is as competitive as ever. Tricia Regan is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker known for writing, directing and producing documentary films, including the Emmy-winning "Autism: The Musical". She also has worked extensively in non-fiction television for A&E, ABC, FOX, Lifetime, MTV Networks and NBC. Regan earned a bachelors from Binghamton University and masters from New York University. 

Tricia Regan on How Television Storytelling Careers are Changing

In Chapter 13 of 15 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, filmmaker and television producer Tricia Regan answers "How is the Practice or Trend of Storytelling Changing?" She notes how traditional storytelling formats - two- or three-act plays, three-act movies, half-hour TV shows, one-hour TV shows short stories, novels, and poems - are evolving into new formats. Regan details how powerful the "TV series" format has become, going from the old Charles Dickens' written formulas into serial TV series on HBO, Showtime, AMC and Netflix. She notes how a format in a serial TV show such as Girls pushes the boundaries of possibilities far behind creative formats of traditional TV such as Seinfeld. Tricia Regan is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker known for writing, directing and producing documentary films, including the Emmy-winning "Autism: The Musical". She also has worked extensively in non-fiction television for A&E, ABC, FOX, Lifetime, MTV Networks and NBC. Regan earned a bachelors from Binghamton University and masters from New York University. 

Richard Moross on Opening a Retail Store for an E-Commerce Brand

In Chapter 7 of 14 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Moo.com CEO Richard Moross answers "What Has Surprised You Most About What You Have Learned by Opening a Retail Store?" Moross shares how he learned about physical space design working at design firm Imagination. After applying this in a trade show context as well as a physical product design process, he and his team take the detail-oriented products he offers from an online retailing experience to a physical one. He notes the resulting customer experience was as much about physically interacting with the products as it was interacting with the brand experience in the store. Richard Moross is founder and CEO of award-winning online print business Moo.com. He is a member of Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and a board member at Ladbrokes PLC. Before Moo.com, Moross was a strategist at design firm Imagination. He graduated from the University of Sussex.

Clara Soh on Creating Social Impact in a Health Economist Career

In Chapter 5 of 20 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, health economist Clara Soh answers "What Makes Your Work Meaningful?" As a health economist working on health care policy issues, Soh finds meaning working to solve problems caused by an aging baby boomer population and rising lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and obesity. Her work focuses on finding innovative ways to pay for health care advances and also ways to change consumer behaviors to live healthier. Her work with Medicare healthcare financing becomes all the more relevant as her parents become members. Clara Soh is a health economist and Senior Director of Policy and Research at a pharmaceutical trade organization in Washington, DC. Previously, Soh held senior roles at Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research (KPCHR) and Health Policy Research Northwest (HPRN). Soh earned her Masters of Public Administration (MPA) in Policy Analysis and Healthcare Public Finance from the NYU Wagner School and a BS in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University.

Chris Hinkle on How Digital Agency and Software Company Creative Roles Compare

In Chapter 2 of 10 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, software engineer Chris Hinkle answers "How Does Working at a Software Company Compare and Contrast With Working at a Digital Agency?" Hinkle finds digital advertising creative work to be more experimental and short-term project focused. Switching into software at Evernote, Hinkle connects with the accountability that comes with building software that helps the company meet financial targets. Chris Hinkle is a senior software engineer working at Evernote in Silicon Valley. Previously, Hinkle worked at New York City digital agencies HUGE and R/GA in creative director and software engineering roles designing products and developing Internet mobile applications and websites.

Jon Kolko on How Student Learning Elevates Student Teaching

In Chapter 14 of 16 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, educator and designer Jon Kolko answers "How Has Your Own College Experience Informed Your Work Innovating Higher Education?" Kolko shares how his student experience at Carnegie Mellon studying industrial design and human computer interaction or HCI has informed his ambition building the Austin Center for Design (AC4D). He embraces the best in class elements of his own education and works with his team to evolve them for modern design student needs. Jon Kolko is VP of Design at MyEdu and the Founder and Director of Austin Center for Design (AC4D). He has authored three books on design and previously has worked in design roles at Austin, Texas venture accelerator Thinktiv and global innovation firm frog design. He was a professor of Interaction and Industrial Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and earned his Masters in Human Computer Interaction (MHI) and BFA in Design from Carnegie Mellon University.

Matt Curtis on Innovative Ways Cities Can Create Local Jobs

In Chapter 6 of 18 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, HomeAway government relations director Matt Curtis answers "What Have You Learned About What Cities Can Do to Drive Innovation That Creates Jobs?" Curtis shares ways cities can find innovative ways to grow organically, or from within, and inorganically, or from the outside. Organically, it comes to municipal programming such as job training, small business support services, and strong education systems to grow and retain talent. Attracting talent - both individuals and companies - starts with creating a local city culture and community that attracts job seekers and job creators. Matt Curtis is the director of government relations at HomeAway Inc. Previously he was communications director for Austin mayors Lee Leffingwell and Will Wynn. He earned his bachelor's degree in radio, television and film from the University of North Texas.

How Nonlinear Thinking Facilitates Innovative Problem Solving

In Chapter 13 of 19 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, innovation strategist Hammans Stallings answers "How Are You Developing an Innovation Process to Help How You Solve Problems?" Stallings notes the non-linear and interdisciplinary inquiry or thinking that comes with producing innovation often is at odds with how organizations are structured. These silos block potential cross-fertilization that comes with approaching problems with resources and tools - ethnography studies, case studies, etc. - that may not be readily available in any one business or organizational unit.

Hammans Stallings is a Senior Strategist at frog design. Previously he worked in 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 and a BA in Economics and Psychology from the University of Virginia.

Hammans Stallings on Learning Innovation by Teaching Innovation

In Chapter 14 of 19 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, innovation strategist Hammans Stallings answers "What Do You Expect to Learn by Teaching a Graduate School Class on Innovation?" Stallings finds that teaching a program at CEDIM in Mexico City allows him him to identify what he does not know about innovation and provides him a platform to learn from the classroom teaching experience. Teaching a graduate-level class allows him to learn from the shared experiences of his class and apply it to learning innovative elements of information space and information theory.

Hammans Stallings is a Senior Strategist at frog design. Previously he worked in 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 and a BA in Economics and Psychology from the University of Virginia.

How to Teach Innovation to Graduate School Students

In Chapter 15 of 19 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, innovation strategist Hammans Stallings answers "What Approach are You Taking to Design a Graduate Level Course Teaching Innovation?" Preparing to teach an innovation course to graduate students at CEDIM in Mexico City, Stallings focuses on bringing great innovation thought leaders such as Daniel Kahneman, Alexander Chernev, Clayton Christensen, Michael Porter, Youngme Moon into the curriculum and presenting them in a context tailored to both Mexican business culture and the more senior level of his graduate students.

Hammans Stallings is a Senior Strategist at frog design. Previously he worked in 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 and a BA in Economics and Psychology from the University of Virginia.

Improving Class Syllabus Design by Setting Teaching Goals

In Chapter 16 of 19 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, innovation strategist Hammans Stallings answers "How Has Preparing to Teach an Innovation Class Helped You Clarify Your Teaching Goals?" Stallings finds preparing to teach a Masters of Business Innovation class at CEDIM in Mexico City pushes him to rigorously edit and hone the material in advance of the class. His focus is to distill what he knows into story format that will connect with his students and also be useful reference material for years to come.

Hammans Stallings is a Senior Strategist at frog design. Previously he worked in 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 and a BA in Economics and Psychology from the University of Virginia.

Mike Germano on Why Not to Outsource Software Development

In Chapter 12 of 20 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Carrot Creative social media agency CEO Mike Germano answers "Why Does Your Company Choose to Keep Development In-House and Not Outsource It?"  Germano keeps his software development team in-house to maintain respect for the development process, to integrate the feedback more fully into the creative project process, and to maintain an innovation culture.  It comes at a cost; however, he finds the benefits outweigh the costs. 

Mike Germano is co-founder and CEO of DUMBO Brooklyn-based social media agency Carrot Creative.  Previously, Germano ran for and was elected to public office in Connecticut.  He is a graduate of Quinnipiac University.