Hug Your People

Hug Your People is a business book by Jack Mitchell, the CEO of luxury retailer Mitchells. In his book, Mitchell uses human stories of his associates to educate the reader about the importance of "hugs" in a high morale work place.  Hugs include any act of personalized kindness which may take the form of a kind word, a compliment, a gift, a card, a handshake, a bear hug, a letter, or a bonus.

Five Lessons from Hug Your People:

1. Set Expectations instead of Rules.  Expectations are based on Trust, a good foundation for lasting relationships. Rules are based on Distrust, not a good place to start.
2. Hire Nice people, especially relevant for the retail business Mitchell is in. Nice people care about others, and build strong lasting relationships. You can train people how to be nice and give 'hugs.'  But the person has to be willing in the first place.  
3. Get to Know at least 100 associates you work with.  Know them by first and last names, and learn about their family, passions and aspirations.
4. Start and End meetings and emails with a personal touch.  Ask about family, passions and aspirations. Ask associates to share a personal update at the beginning of each meeting to get on the same page and learn more about each other. 
5. Take a Trip to the Moon. See yourself interacting with others from a different perspective. 

Should I get an MBA?

It's been a year since I graduated from Presidio.  People considering MBAs ask me whether doing an MBA is worth it and whether Presidio is worth it.  So I'll share my thoughts lest it helps you decide on this fork in the road.

The real value of an MBA depends on two factors:
1. Personal Growth
2. Network



Personal Growth
Presidio helped me grow as a person.  My MBA experience helped me understand people and the world in a different context from my engineering undergrad.  In pure engineering, issues are black and white.  There is a right and wrong answer that yields a working or non-working product. And while there are trade-offs involved, there is often a formula, or at least a partial formula, that is useful for optimization.  In business, there are many more moving parts with no correct answers.  The answer is always "it depends."  Much of the depending is linked to other people.  So having a context for working with others in a group is important.  My MBA helped me understand how to work with others most optimally.  I learned the difference between managing and leading.  I picked up frameworks for understanding human group psychology using tools such as 5 Dynamics.   I learned the importance of words, stories and cultural context in team work and leadership.  While the one-line conclusions of such lessons may hardly surprise you, hearing the lesson and living the lesson are two very different things.  During my MBA, I had a chance to read about, discuss and actually live these teamwork and leadership lessons.   And because Presidio is a young school, I had a chance to experience change management as a part of the organization.  While you may have a chance to learn these lessons in your career, having a safe place to explore these lessons is valuable. Since MBA is the broadest grad degree available, no matter your undergrad and career background, you will have a chance to learn outside your comfort zone and expertise area.  You will also connect with others who have expertise different from your own.  And that brings me to the next value factor, network.

Network
Every school has its network.  In a world where select MIT and Stanford classes are available online for free, this alumni network is ultimately what you are paying for.  Only one year out of graduation, I do not have enough data yet to gauge the value of my network.  At Presidio, we had a small but very tight-knit network of people who want to make a real difference on the planet.  I found my startup co-founder at Presidio, and connected with a potential customer through the network.  It is still too soon to tell the end of the story.  However, the network is important to examine in the course of an MBA selection.  Generally, a larger, more established school will give you a larger network, and a smaller, more niche school will connect you with a tighter group of passionate people who share your values.  Both are valuable, depending on what you want to achieve.

Feel free to leave me a comment if you have questions. I'm happy to share my experience about Presidio.

Six days til graduation

Two weeks ago, I caught myself reminiscing about my experience at Presidio while driving with fellow students to one of our last few presentations for Presidio.
It was a business plan pitching session for Capstone class. As I watched fellow students gave pitch after pitch of presentation perfection, I realize how far many have gone on their journey. Presentation ability is one of the trained qualities at Presidio. Many who have been shy in front of crowds have truly conquered their fear. I always had little fear in front of crowds. But I fear. As I step out of the comfort of student status and make belief work, the burden that lies before us seems insurmountable. Even with a community as courageous in thought and action as Presidio to work with, the challenge still seems too great. The need to completely re-invent the way we do things, the very culture of production and consumption, is monstrously large. I have hope that, at least in the Bay Area, sustainability is not a foreign word beyond Presidio walls. But the challenge is there all the same. With clarity comes confusion again. With the understanding of sustainability and the vision of an idyllic future, comes the tormeting desire for said future, and the fear that we will not get there in my lifetime.

Well, "Do or Die" as they say.

Presidio video

Check out this video about Presidio Graduate School.  It really conveys the sense of community and care that Presidio provides.


Fall Info Session from Presidio Graduate School on Vimeo.

Our Food is Making us Sick

If you eat food in the US, you must watch this 18 min video of Robyn O’Brien at the 2011 TEDxAustin. Hailed as Food's Erin Brockovitch by the NYTimes, Robyn is on a quest to uncover the secrets of American food production and how it is making us sick.

She also authored “The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food Is Making Us Sick and What We Can Do About It.” A former Wall Street food industry analyst, Robyn founded allergykidsfoundation.org after discovering her child developed an allergy to certain foods and started digging into the cause. She was named by Forbes as one of “20 Inspiring Women to Follow on Twitter.”

VC pitch

In this TED talk, David Rose talks about the 10 elements you must convey about YOU in a VC pitch:

1. Integrity
2. Passion
3. Experience
4. Knowledge
5. Skill
6. Leadership
7. Commitment
8. Vision
9. Realism and
10. Coachability

New corporate structures that combine mission and profit

In this excellent article in strategy+business magazine, Marjorie Kelly describes four companies structures that have harmoniously integrated both profit and mission.  Examples of these mission controlled yet publicly traded companies with revenues greater than $1 include: New York Times, Novo Nordisk in Denmark, Grupo Nueva in Chile, and Google with its integrated .org philanthropic department.  Read the article to learn more about each company's different control structure.  BCorp has now established as a possible structure for companies who desire to protect both mission and profit.