Lessons from the Trenches: My Year in Review

It’s been a busy year of learning, stretching, growing and testing for me at IDEO. Knowing that I’m someone who likes to take stock of my progress and plan for the year ahead (see my posts here and here for examples), I thought I’d take some time to review my efforts and share some big lessons I’ve had along the way.

For those of you out in the working world, my hope is that these might resonate with you. And for the MBAs, design students and other job seekers out there, consider these some helpful tips for what’s to come!

So, here’s what I’ve learned so far:

The Road to Impact is Long…and Bumpy…and Unpaved

If you’re like me, when you start a new job you want to hit the ground running. Eager to make an impact and prove my value to my team, I dove in head first to every big and bold strategic question I could get my hands on – basically with the intention to solve every question, pursue every lead, and wring every ounce of opportunity I could from each day.

Not surprisingly, after a few months of this craziness I realized the dangers of this approach. First and foremost, I burnt out almost immediately. Secondly, this ‘raising my hand to tackle everything’ strategy actually meant that I wasn’t really able to complete anything I started…a brutal a-ha moment when I went back over my to-do lists and saw how many things I started but never crossed off.

At OpenIDEO we talk about achieving impact from our challenges, and yes – the road to OpenIDEO impact is definitely long (but we’re working on it). But from where I sit, my own road to impact at work – not just learning my job but actually doing it well – has been bumpy, unpaved and very windy.  After 12 months on the job, though, I not only know how to do my job, but I know how much of my job I can do. At least at one time.

Opportunities Disguised as Obstacles

Although it might sound cliché, this lesson for me is all about attitude. Buried in post-its, empty cups of coffee and a growing list of things to do, it’s been easy for me to throw my hands up in the air at times and wallow: “This is too difficult/chaotic/busy/challenging/insert negative thought here.”

But the truth is: it’s all about attitude. Take, for instance, the work that I do with my teammates who literally live half a world away. Rather than bemoan our regular Skype calls and long email chains, I’ve chosen to respect and appreciate the fact that our team brings a global voice and perspective to the work we do. Working across three time zones has also forced me to practice communicating in new ways, favoring short and to-the-point over long and wordy (definitely easier said than done – I’m still working on this one!).

Stopping to Smell the Roses…at least once a day

Let’s face it: working in a startup can be a bit nutty, to say the least. Over the course of the last year, I’ve had my fair share of skipped lunches, early morning starts and weekend work-a-thons. But somewhere along the way, the Golden Rule of Business School (you may know it as the 80/20 rule) flashed into my mind.

What I realized is that there is always going to be work. There’s always going to be an opportunity to do better, to try something out, to report back on the last experiment, or just really to do more. But as the law of diminishing returns teaches us, at a certain point this extra effort just stops paying off. Productivity drops, mood drops, everything drops.

I started taking walks at lunch. I started having coffee with new coworkers to welcome them in much the same way I was welcomed when I joined. I started attending lunches and know-hows and speaker sessions. In essence, I started showing up for activities and opportunities that existed beyond my desk.

I learned this lesson late in my first year at IDEO, so I’m truthfully only starting to reap the rewards. But trust me: I’m learning more, I’m making friends, and I’m doing even better at my job. A win win win!

Creating, Promoting and Leveraging Communities of Change

This last lesson has been an especially sweet one for me. When I started this blog almost three years ago, I was attracted to the idea of communities of change – who they are, what they do, and what we can learn from them. So you can imagine my nice surprise when, just a couple of weeks ago, I realized: this is what I do for work.

My job is all about creating, promoting and leveraging one very specific community of change: the OpenIDEO community. My role is to help our global community find their voice, learn about issues that affect them, and translate their enthusiasm and energies into ideas for local and global impact. Amazing how early interests and intentions can end up aligning with real life.

All in all, this last year has been an incredible time for me, one that’s pushed me to reevaluate how I work, collaborate, learn and lead. Are you taking time to review your own lessons at work, or in life? What have you learned?

It’s been a busy year of learning, stretching, growing and testing for me at OpenIDEO. Knowing that I’m someone who likes to take stock of my progress and plan for the year ahead (see my posts here and here for examples), I thought I’d take some time to review my efforts and share some big lessons I’ve had along the way.

For those of you out in the working world, my hope is that these might resonate with you. And for the MBAs, design students and other job seekers out there, consider these some helpful tips for what’s to come!

So, here’s what I’ve learned so far:

The Road to Impact is Long…and Bumpy…and Unpaved

If you’re like me, when you start a new job you want to hit the ground running. Eager to make an impact and prove my value to my team, I dove in head first to every big and bold strategic question I could get my hands on – basically with the intention to solve every question, pursue every lead, and wring every ounce of opportunity I could from each day.

Not surprisingly, after a few months of this craziness I realized the dangers of this approach. First and foremost, I burnt out almost immediately. Secondly, this ‘raising my hand to tackle everything’ strategy actually meant that I wasn’t really able to complete anything I started…a brutal a-ha moment when I went back over my to-do lists and saw how many things I started but never crossed off.

At OpenIDEO we talk about achieving impact from our challenges, and yes – the road to OpenIDEO impact is definitely long (but we’re working on it). But from where I sit, my own road to impact at work – not just learning my job but actually doing it well – has been bumpy, unpaved and not at all direct.  After 12 months, though, I not only know how to do my job, but I know how much of my job I can do. At least at one time.

Opportunities Disguised as Obstacles

Although it might sound cliché, this lesson for me is all about attitude. Buried in post-its, empty cups of coffee and a growing list of things to do, it’s been easy for me to throw my hands up in the air at times and wallow: “This is just too difficult/chaotic/busy/scary.”

But the truth is: it’s all about attitude. Take, for instance, the work that I do with my teammates who literally live half a world away. Rather than bemoan our regular Skype calls and long email chains, I’ve chosen to respect and appreciate the fact that our team brings a global voice and perspective to the work we do. Working across three time zones has also forced me to practice communicating in new ways, favoring short and to-the-point over long and wordy (definitely still working on this one!).

Stopping to Smell the Roses…at least once a day

Let’s face it: working in a startup can be nuts. Over the course of the last year, I’ve had my fair share of skipped lunches, early morning starts and weekend work-a-thons. But somewhere along the way, the Golden Rule of Business School (you may know it as the 80/20 rule) flashed into my mind.

What I realized is that there is always going to be work. There’s always going to be an opportunity to do better, to try something out, to report back on the last experiment, or just really to do more. But as we all know, at a certain point this extra effort just stops paying off. Productivity drops, mood drops, everything drops.

I started taking walks at lunch, having coffee with new coworkers, and attending know-hows and speaker sessions. In essence, I started showing up for activities and opportunities that existed beyond my desk. And so far I’m learning more, I’m making friends, and I’m doing even better at my job. A win win win!

Creating, Promoting and Leveraging Communities of Change

This last lesson has been an especially sweet one for me. When I started this blog almost three years ago, I was attracted to the idea of communities of change – who they are, what they do, and what we can learn from them. So you can imagine my nice surprise when, just a couple of weeks ago, I realized: this is what I do for work.

My job is all about creating, promoting and leveraging one very specific community of change: the OpenIDEO community. My role is to help our global community find their voice, learn about issues that affect them, and translate their enthusiasm and energies into ideas for local and global impact. Amazing how early interests and intentions can end up aligning in real life.

All in all, this last year has been an incredible time for me, one that’s pushed me to reevaluate how I work, collaborate, learn and lead. Are you taking time to review your own lessons at work, or in life? What have you learned?

Ready... Set... Fail?

These days, when people talk about innovation, it’s almost inevitable that the word “failure” isn’t far behind. From what I’ve seen, failure and its role as a necessary ingredient for innovation is getting quite a bit of buzz these days, with everyone from design thinkers to social change agents to Warren Buffet saying that failure should be an expected – and even welcomed – outcome when you’re out to create change.

And sure, this isn’t super surprising. Anytime you think and act outside of the proverbial box, you’re bound to make some mistakes, right? Naturally.

But should we really be using the term "failure" to describe this behavior? I’m not so sure. Before I get to that, though, I’ve got a couple of admissions to share:

Admission #1: I am a perfectionist.

I don’t mean perfectionist in a purely competitive way, but more like I really want to get things right. Dotting every I and crossing every T is definitely part of it. But have you ever stopped to think first about which pen might draw the best I or T? I definitely do.

Admission #2: I’m also a planner.

I like knowing what’s coming down the pipeline, what’s on my to-do list, and what I can expect. More than anything, I LOVE when good planning leads to good results (guess it’s a vicious cycle of planning and perfection!).

But here's the problem:

First of all, perfection is often exhausting. Setting the bar beyond what’s doable can sometimes lead to greatness, but it can just as easily lead to burnout. And planning? As they say, expect the unexpected. I may always want to plan, but life gets chaotic, things get in the way, and new opportunities (and roadblocks) pop up.

When I first started my new job, I often used the word “stretched” to describe how I felt. Not in an overwhelmed kind of way, but instead like a rubber band being pulled in two directions at once. In essence, my new job and my new team stretch me everyday to think, act and approach my work in wholly different ways. While I like to plan my next move before getting started, for instance, my team likes to seize a good idea and run with it. And while I like to make sure we have things right (ok, let’s be honest – perfect) before diving into anything, my team is more than comfortable making a few mistakes along the way.

And so here comes Admission #3: mistakes make me very, very uncomfortable.

What's funny is that when we talk about innovation, especially in the social sector, I'll be the first to raise my hand and recognize how important failure is as a part of the learning process. Objectively I can understand that innovation is messy and chaotic, and because of that, it can and should entail making mistakes along the way.

The hardest part, of course, is taking a leap of faith in my own innovation process, knowing full well that I might not get it right the first time.

For a perfectionist who likes to plan, making a mistake is one of the toughest things you could ask me to do! But like a rubber band being stretched, I’m learning to accept the fact that a few mistakes along the way are helpful, and maybe even healthy.

It can be tough to find a balance between waiting to do something until it’s perfect and jumping in with both feet, regardless of the warning bells. I've learned that the need for perfection shouldn’t paralyze you, but your willingness to make mistakes also shouldn’t cloud your better judgment.

How do you move forward thoughtfully and also proactively? How do you try to get it right the first time, but also give yourself permission to make a few missteps along the way?

To be honest, I don’t yet know. But I’m working on it, and I'll let you know how it goes.

Which brings me back to my original question: is failure the same thing as making mistakes? I may be a recovering perfectionist, but I'd argue there's a definite difference!

Day in the Life of a Community Manager

It’s been a few weeks since my last post – and coincidentally it’s also been a few weeks since I started my new job as community manager for OpenIDEO. While I’ve had many “bloggable” moments recently, I’ll admit I just haven’t quite gotten around to it. Too much new stuff to learn, too many new people to meet, too much new work to do, I guess.

But today, when someone forwarded me this awesome infographic, it was like the stars aligned and I just HAD to post this. For anyone who’s curious about how I’d describe my first few weeks on the job, it doesn’t get better than this:

All kidding about piñatas aside, I do think this image very accurately depicts my experience so far.

So far my new job has been 150% about tending to the garden, cheerleading for members, patrolling the spammers, and playing concierge. It’s also been about taking a pulse on the community’s mood and priorities, and translating them into actionable insights for my team. And, in all my spare time, of course I’m also trying to gobble up as much information as my Tweetdeck can handle on social innovation, technology and design.

(Oh, and maybe sleep occasionally too...)

In short, I’m learning that as community manager I wear a lot of hats.

Some of these hats aren’t so fun – imagine writing an email to someone asking them not to spam our site anymore! But some of them are just plain awesome. Seriously – my job is to figure out ways to nurture and grow a community of people who care about doing good things in our world. How amazing is that?

As I get more embedded into the world of community management, I’ll do my best to record what I learn here.

For now, I’m curious to hear from you, as a user of online communities, what do you think the role of a community manager is? And for all you community managers out there, what hats do you wear that might not be captured in the image above? I’d love to hear your thoughts (and tips too, since I’m definitely still learning!).

The Adventure Begins

Back in December, when my family was handing out holiday gifts, my mom gave me and my husband Dan an incredible present. About ten years ago, my mom bought this etching of a couple, rowing their boat in fast waters.

At the time, she wasn’t quite sure why the painting spoke to her, but she saw it and just knew she had to have it.

The painting’s purpose, she was certain, would become known to her at some point.

This Christmas, to my thrill and surprise, my mom gave me and Dan this painting. As she presented it to us, she said the painting’s purpose had recently become clear to her.

The couple? “They,” she said, “are the two of you.” And the title? “Clearly, it’s time for your adventure to begin.”

I’ve always believed that putting out good energy into the universe means you’ll get good things in return.

So, for the next few weeks I concentrated on the exciting thought that our adventure was just beginning. And you know what? As cliché as it sounds, it worked!

Literally within days of receiving this painting, Dan and I saw clues pointing us towards our new adventure – a new and improved apartment to live in, a better work schedule for Dan, even my own growing excitement for a big birthday just weeks away.

But perhaps nothing kicked off our new adventure quite like the news I received in mid-January: a job offer from IDEO.

Back in August 2010, IDEO launched OpenIDEO, a new online social innovation community whose goal is to bring diverse people together to design solutions to some of our world’s toughest challenges. I first checked out the site last fall and was immediately hooked. Amazingly, in November a position opened up to join OpenIDEO as a community manager, and of course I jumped at the chance to apply.

As I write this I’ve just finished my first week as part of the OpenIDEO team, and all I can say is I’m thrilled. Thrilled to be part of such a dynamic and innovative company, for sure. But more than that, I’m thrilled to be part of a project that so deeply speaks to some of my biggest passions: doing good in our world, connecting people online and offline, and creating community.

Of course, there’s a long road ahead for me as I learn my new job, figure out how things work, and actually roll up my sleeves and get started.

But for now I’m also trying to enjoy the start of this brand new adventure.

As I get more and more involved in building and growing OpenIDEO, I’d love to see some familiar faces on the site. I truly believe in the potential role that this global community – already 156 countries strong – can play in changing our world for the better.

I thought I’d share a great video that talks about OpenIDEO’s purpose and vision so that you can learn a little more about what I’m working on. I hope you’ll each consider signing up and joining in – the more the merrier.

Here’s to a new adventure in 2011!

My Year-End Job Search Advice

Boy how time flies! Incredibly, we’ve made it through another year.

2010 was an interesting year for me, comprised of what I see as two separate phases: the last six months of business school, and the first six months of the rest of my life.

Anyone who’s gone to business school can speak to how intense the experience is. For two years you push yourself to learn, study, compete, and succeed – in the classroom, among your friends, and especially in the job search. You also sacrifice; your life revolves around being a student and everything else often takes a back seat.

As cliché as it sounds, business school is all-consuming (that whole “seeing the forest through the trees” thing doesn’t always apply to us MBAs).

Like any good business school student, I took my two years in school very seriously, working hard to ensure success for my job search. After all, I often reasoned, the whole point of going to business school is to get a job!

Just out of curiosity, I went back and looked over my 2010 calendar. From January to December I went on 28 job interviews and reached out to another 64 people for informational interviews, or 1.8 interviews of some type per week.

I wrote countless cover letters, recreated my resume practically every week, and scoured the job boards for openings. I networked, I applied, I interviewed…and nothing happened.

In fact, while I left business school in May thrilled and excited to find a job, by the second half of 2010 I felt a bit like the low squeal of air being let out of a balloon very, very slowly.

By late October, I was officially deflated.

Things were just not working out like I’d planned. I wasn’t finding the job I wanted, or dare I admit, the job I felt I deserved (even if they won’t say it out loud, I believe every MBA feels a sense of job entitlement from the minute they step on campus because, again, the point of business school is to get a better job).

For a while my apparent inability to turn a job interview into a job offer just ate away at me.

With time, though, and a lot of soul searching, I realized that no matter how much I wanted to control the outcome of my job search, I had to let it go. This was clearly something I could not fix all by myself, no matter how much I wanted to.

So, with that, I tried to relax and remember the big picture.

And when I did, I suddenly saw all the important people, experiences and traditions that I’d neglected during my job search. I saw my husband, my family, and my friends. I saw birthday parties and holidays, yoga classes and hikes outside, and weekend movies and dinners out. In essence, I saw a world filled with people who love me, and whom I love – and I decided right then and there that it was time to start participating in the fulfilling life I already had, with or without a job.

In hindsight, getting an MBA was the best career choice I’ve ever made. It gave me skills and experience and confidence unlike anything else, and I am so proud of how far I’ve come.

Yet I also believe that getting an MBA was one of the most selfish things I’ve ever done.

Business school gave me permission to focus on me, and only me, for two years. And when the final result didn’t initially turn out the way I had hoped or expected, I could only conclude that I had somehow failed. It sounds extreme now looking back, but at the time, that’s how I felt.

I am certain now that I haven’t failed.

Instead, what I have done is realized that business school is just one piece of my life story. There was life before business school, and there will certainly be life after business school. No matter how enormous the experience has felt, my post-MBA job search is actually just a blip on the radar.

Ironically, the moment you stop worrying about something is the moment it happens. I am pleased to say that I’m finally making some great progress on my job search, and I’m feeling hopeful for good things in the New Year. But it hasn't been an easy year for me, and unfortunately I know the same is true for so many other job seekers out there today.

And so, with that I’d like to leave with you a few words of unsolicited advice as we close out 2010 and move towards 2011:

To the Class of 2011 – and to those brave members of the Class of 2010 still pounding the pavement – I say: pick your heads up. See the forest, not just the trees. Know that your MBA job search is just one stop along the long chronology of your professional life. It doesn’t define you as a person, or determine your success or failure. It’s just a job. And you will have many in your lifetime.

And to everyone who’s helped me throughout my own search: I want to offer my most heartfelt thanks. It really did take a village to find me a job! And I am so grateful for the village I have.

Happy holidays to each of you and best wishes for a terrific (and employed) 2011!

Ashley's Note: I originally wrote this post for Vault's CSR blog, In Good Company, as part of their 2010 CSR Year in Review series. I encourage you to check out all of their guest bloggers - there's some great CSR learning there!