Step 2: Working with Friends

Today I had lunch with Trevin and Blair, two of my friends whom I worked with a number of years ago. During our lunch, I was reminded of how good it feels to work with friends, to be such an integral part of their lives. I've heard some people say that it's best to keep our personal and professional lives separate. I disagree. I'd always prefer to work with friends - it makes work feel like play.

Last year I wrote a blog post that referenced an article in Fast Company about David Kelley, the Founder of IDEO. He left a mediocre management job at an engineering firm to get his MBA at Stanford. Though he had job offers after graduation, he declined them to start his own company with his friends. That company became IDEO. In the article he describes that his one strong inclination for employment was to work with friends. Had he not taken the leap and followed his instinct, he probably would be toiling away in a grey cubicle doing less-than-inspiring work. Instead, he founded a company that is arguably the finest product design firm in the world. And he has fun everyday. Bet well-played, David.

What if we could all follow our gut with David Kelley's creative confidence? What if we could turn down opportunities, as great as they seem, because they just don't jive with how we'd like to live our lives? Perhaps there's an IDEO for each of us, or at the very least a bit more happiness to be had in our careers. In 2010, I'd like to get back to a career of working with friends.

The photo above is not my own. It appears courtesy of IDEO.

My Year of Hopefulness - Embracing the Future is Our Only Choice

In Robert Safian's letter to the editor in Fast Company this month, he closed with a very poignant, short paragraph that was hopeful and also a mark of tough love delivered in an empathic way. We have been spending the past 18 months with a "whoa is me" attitude. The economy is awful. We're afraid. We're in a death spiral downward. What are we going to do???

It's okay to hide under the bed for some amount of time after the dark days arrive. No matter how scared or uncertain or confused we are, we have to eventually come back into the light. We have to start living again, even if the kind of life we live going forward is dramatically different than the way we lived before. 

Robert's assessment is very clear and strong:

"These are dark days, no question. And unpredictable events, from natural disasters to fiscal meltdown to 9/11, can often make things look darker. But the unexpected can also be our friend, our ally, as long as we maintain hope and embrace our uncertain future. After all, we have no choice."

He's right. We don't have the option to stay hidden away, hoping and praying for better days. We are going to have work hard, very hard, for them. And better days doesn't mean the days we used to have. All we can do is embrace what we've got to look forward to, whatever that is.   

My Year of Hopefulness - Happiness is Forward

This month Fast Company ran an incredible article about Rwanda and the economic revolution that is happening in that country 15 years after the genocide that robbed it of 1 million people (1/8 of the entire population) in 100 days. 

President Paul Kagame has set audacious goals for Rwanda: increase GDP by 7X, move half of Rwanda's subsistence farmers into paying jobs, quadruple individual income, and make Rwanda a tech center for Africa. All by 2020. In 11 years, he believes he can transform his country and he is dedicated heart and soul to the effort. His charisma and ambition is so powerful, you'll want to ask where you can sign up after reading the article. 

The connection I felt to Rwanda after reading the article is very much a testament to Jeff Chu's talent as a journalist. He captured small details as well as the big picture so that a reader can imagine lumbering down the roads of Rwanda with President Kagame, Jeff Chu, and Marcus Bleasdale, the talented photographer who captured iconic images of Rwandan life for the article. The one small detail that has played over and over in my head since reading the article is a short phrase that Jeff Chu saw painted onto the back of a truck. "Happiness is forward."

Despite the vast separation, geographically and historically, between Rwanda and the U.S. there are universal themes that bind us together. I imagine that in 1994, hope was a scarcity in Rwanda. After the genocide, many Rwandan must have doubted that their country would ever heal, forgive, and flourish. And somehow they were able to keep moving forward. Our nation's hope has waned considerably in the last 18 months, and though for different reasons, that sense of hopelessness and helplessness is the same. After all, the loss of hope is the same for everyone who experiences it, regardless of the cause. 

Rwanda's story is a poignant one of resilience and strength. Their ability to move forward and not only hope for better days but work hard for them, day in and day out, is remarkable. We have much to learn from them that is particularly relevant given our country's current crisis. We must all believe, remember, and recite to ourselves and to one another "Happiness is forward." This sentiment in Rwanda is moving from an ideal to reality. 

The photo above was taken by Marcus Bleasdale for Fast Company. 

My Year of Hopefulness - Women on the Rise

I read an amazing article this week in the New York Times about women who are finding the athlete side of their personality later in life. As recently as 30 years ago, women were discouraged from competitive sports, particularly from running. As a runner, that fact still stuns me and makes me grateful for the times when I was raised. For my mom and for millions of women like her, the road was not easy along any path, particularly when it comes to being fit and active. That is a recent phenomenon. One I am very grateful for.

The article left me thinking about what other areas of life have been off-limits to women that are now seeing the tide turn. Certainly in women being entrepreneurs and controlling their own careers. Great strides have been made in media - there are so many to name in that field. From Oprah to Barbara Walters, Katie Couric, Christiane Amanpour, Arianna Huffington. And the list goes on. I am always proud of how many female business journalists have been featured as our media chronicles this latest economic downturn. I often think that women are running the reporting from Wall Street: Maria Bartiromo and Erin Burnett are terrific examples.

I am now reading a book entitled Another Day in the Frontal Lobe. It's the story of Katrina Firlik, a young neurosurgeon. She was the first woman accepted into the neurosurgery residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Certainly in healthcare, and particularly in fields like neurosurgery, women like Dr. Firlik are paving the way.

Technology is seeing its fair share of women on the scene. Ning co-founder Gina Bianchini, Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz, and Charlene Li who authored the book Groundswell while at Forrester Research, immediately spring to mind. Having made great strides in this industry, women have a long road ahead. Fast Company recently ran a feature on some of the most influential women in tech. It's a good read and I highly recommend it.

In politics we are lucky to have so many women taking the helm. I am very proud that Secretary of State Clinton heeded the calls during this difficult time that America's reputation is facing around the world. I cannot imagine anyone better suited for the job. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Shirley Franklin, and Janet Napolitano are other shining examples of the many that serve in all levels of government.

I consider fields like energy, transportation, and engineering and wonder how women will make their marks in those areas in the coming years. It will be exciting to watch and to take part in that development. With so many incredible female role models to learn from, women are poised for take-off.

The photo above was taken by Filip Kwiatkowski for The New York Times.

My Year of Hopefulness - Creative Confidence

"I really do believe I was put on the planet to help people have creative confidence. I don't have 27 agendas. I'm not the sustainability guy, or the developing-world guy. My contribution is to teach as many people as I can to use both sides of their brain, so that for every problem, every decision in their lives, they consider creative as well as analytical solutions."
~ David Kelley, founder of IDEO

David Kelley is one of my creative idols. He forges ahead so confidently not only with faith in his own creativity; he also has great faith in the creativity of others. There are a lot of people out in the world who think of themselves as "idea people" or "great strategic thinkers". What's so inspiring about David Kelley is that he believes all people are creative, that we are all strategic thinkers. His goal is to help us make the most of the creativity that we have, and integrate our creativity with out others skills and interests.

There was a great profile of him in Fast Company in January. He could have toiled away as a mildly successful corporate cubicle worker. For some people, that's the life they want because it helps them live a good life with plenty of energy left for their families, hobbies, outside interests. Their work isn't their life and they found a way to make that lifestyle work for them. David wasn't happy in that role and he wanted to create a career that was different than the typical path of many people who work in large corporations.

My point is that we must consider what's most important to us in order to figure out how best to construct our lives. Is it our work? Our families, friends, hobbies. Do we just want to have time to take advantage of opportunities that come our way. And all of these answers, any of these answers, are correct. The meaning we imbue on our lives, and the priorities we set are our business, not anyone else's.

I appreciate that David says he doesn't have 27 agendas - he just has one, clear concise agenda. He might have a number of ways to push it forward, though he really just has one goal: "teach as many people as I can to use both sides of their brain." What if we could all figure out exactly what our lives are about, state it in one clean sentence, and then relate everything we do back to that focus? Would that lead us to greater happiness and fulfillment? It's worth a shot.

My Year of Hopefulness - Pick Your Head Up

I read Fast Company cover to cover every month. By chance, it usually arrives in my mailbox after I've had a particularly rough day. Just seeing the cover restores me. Like a giddy child, I run to my apartment, throw down my bag, and dig in to the info bursting from those pages. It helps me celebrate my inner social geek. 

This month, Robert Safian wrote his Letter from the Editor to introduce the main topics addressed this month: how Barack Obama and Shaun White are tapping and energizing the elusive youth market, influential women in tech (a million thanks for this inspiring story!), and celebrating Darwin and his On the Origin of Species. 

The most powerful part of Robert's letter is captured in the last paragraph. With strong emotional appeal, he elegantly and sincerely describes what he and his team strive for every day and why they do it. "Our goal at Fast Company is to get you to pick your head up, at least periodically, and consider what happens when the sun comes out again." With much thanks and appreciation, I am grateful to Fast Company for doing just that: they give me hope about my career, even if times are tough now, they give me faith with their inspiring stories of entrepreneurs, and they spark my creative thinking. If you aren't a subscriber, you should be no matter what your field or interest. It's the best $10 you'll spend this year.   

Creating your own social network

There's lots of buzz flying around in traditional and new media channels about the proliferation of Facebook. Some people feel it's not personal enough and that there are too many people registered. They want something more akin to a niche social network. But how do you find these niche sites and and more importantly, how do you find one specifically suited to your passion whether it's hashing or Barry Manilow or Netflix? The answer: Ning.

The brainchild of Gina Bianchini and Marc Andreesen, two of those Silicon Valley smarties, Ning allows you to join any one of the many niche social networks registered on their site, or if you have an interest that doesn't yet have a network, you can create one. With the way social networking is going, combined with Ning's niche network feature and great design, there seems to be no end of Ning's value. It's one of those inventions whose value proposition is so simple, you wonder how no one thought of it sooner. But isn't that the way with all good design?

Check out Ning at http://www.ning.com/.

Anatomy of a Leader

My boss and I had a conversation a few months ago about young, bright people who enter large corporations and often feel stifled. They move around in the early part of their career, making a different where they can, and eventually amassing enough experience to get them their own group to manage. In the process, they have accumulated a lot of frustration and an vow that they will never treat their team members as anything less than true partners. And despite their best intentions, they some times fall short and their own young team members begin to see them they way that they once saw their own over-bearing bosses. 

So what's a young leader to do to uphold their promise to treat their new teams the way they always wanted to be treated when they were new to the world of work? Bill Taylor of Fast Company took on that challenge in a recent article in the Harvard Business Review. I don't know how long the link to the article will work and the information in it is so critical for young leaders that I have pasted it below. A word to the wise: take notes on Taylor's comments and when you get that big leadership job, post them up at your desk. Your team will thank you, and they'll stick around.

I spend a lot of time thinking and writing about the challenges of talented young people frustrated with life inside big organizations—game-changers who spend much of their time questioning authority . In this post, I’d like to turn the tables and address talented young people who find themselves exercising authority: leading a project team, running a product-development group, starting a new business unit.

If you’re the new boss, how do you make sure that you don’t repeat the bad habits of the old bosses who drove you crazy? My advice is to develop solid answers to five make-or-break questions for aspiring leaders.

1. Why should great people want to work with you? The best leaders understand that the most talented performers aren’t motivated primarily by money or status. Great people want to work on exciting projects. Great people want to feel like impact players. Put simply, great people want to feel like they’re part of something greater than themselves.

Early on in their company’s history, Google’s founders made clear that they considered the talent issue a make-or-break strategic issue for the future. So they published a Top Ten list of why the world’s best researchers, software programmers, and marketers should work at the Googleplex—and never once did they mention stock options or bonuses. Reason #2: “Life is beautiful. Being part of something that matters and working on products in which you can believe is remarkably fulfilling.” Reason #9: “Boldly go where no one has gone before. There are hundreds of challenges yet to solve. Your creative ideas matter here and are worth exploring.”

What’s your version of Google’s Top Ten list? Have you set out the most compelling reasons for great people to work on your team, in your division, at your company?

2. Do you know a great person when you see one? It’s a lot easier to be the right kind of leader if you’re running a team or department filled with the right kind of people. Indeed, as I reflect on the best workplaces I’ve visited, I’ve come to appreciate how much time and energy leaders spend on who gets to be there. These workplaces may feel different, but the organizing principle is the same: When it comes to evaluating talent, character counts for as much as credentials. Do you know what makes your star performers tick—and how to find more performers who share those attributes?

3. Can you find great people who aren’t looking for you? It’s a common-sense insight that’s commonly forgotten: The most talented performers tend to be in jobs they like, working with people they enjoy, on projects that keep them challenged. So leaders who are content to fill their organizations with people actively looking for jobs risk attracting malcontents and mediocre performers. The trick is to win over so-called “passive” jobseekers. These people may be outside your company, or they may be in a different department from inside your company, but they won’t work for you unless you work hard to persuade them to join.

4. Are you great at teaching great people how your team or company works and wins? Even the most highly focused specialists (software programmers, graphic designers, marketing wizards) are at their best when they appreciate how the whole business operates. That’s partly a matter of sharing financial statements: Can every person learn how to think like a businessperson? But it’s mainly a matter of shared understanding: Can smart people work on making everyone else in the organization smarter about the business?

5. Are you as tough on yourself as you are on your people? There’s no question that talented and ambitious young people have high expectations—for themselves, for their team or company, for their colleagues. Which is why they can be so tough on their leaders.

The ultimate challenge for a new boss who is determined not to be the same as the old boss is to demonstrate those same lofty expectations—for their behavior as leaders. One of my favorite HR gurus, Professor John Sullivan of San Francisco State University, says it best: “Stars don’t work for idiots.”

So here’s hoping that your team or department is filled with stars—and that they never think of you as an idiot.

The above picture can be found at http://discussionleader.hbsp.com/taylor/2008/05/memo_to_a_young_leader_what_ki.html