4 MEET RYAN Ryan loves to solve problems — big problems or small, he enjoys looking at problems from different angles, reframing them and finding ways to untangle them. Originally trained as a designer, he instinctively seeks understanding, asks lots of questions and uses his outsider’s point of view to help clients see their challenges with fresh eyes. Whether he’s helping global companies like Colgate Palmolive successfully launch & grow brands or working with non-profits like TakeBackYourTime.org to increase awareness, he’s in the business of solving problems. Currently, he is working as a freelance creative director. RYAN HOSE
5 SKIPPER CHONG WARSON MEET SKIPPER Things you probably know about Skipper: •He’s a senior visual designer here at Fjord •If there’s an option, he takes the stairs every chance he gets Things you probably don’t know: •He was born at the foot of the Rocky Mountains and lived for the first years of his life in Seoul, Korea •Four years ago, he married his wife Laura on the banks of the East River in front of Jane’s Carousel •Much of his off time is spent either reading to or chasing after his toddler daughter Devereux
7 She’s just turned two-and-a-half and her two favorite questions are currently “What’s that?” and “Why?” Unfortunately, her calendar was completely booked up and she didn’t respond to any emails or Slack messages about helping her dadda with today’s workshop. MEET MY CHILD
9 ELEVATOR PITCH altMBA is a month-long intensive business education centered around completing hands-on projects in small groups. The program is designed for maximum person-to-person engagement; the entire experience takes place using Zoom video conferencing, Slack and Wordpress — 100 people are accepted into three sessions a year and split into geographic segments. Started by Seth Godin, we’ll be talking today about our experiences in the fourth session of altMBA, or altMBA4.
11 WHO’S SETH GODIN? PLEASE ASSEMBLE IN THE FOLLOWING TWO TEAMS He's the author of 18 books that have been bestsellers around the world and have been translated into more than 35 languages. He writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership and most of all, changing everything. You might be familiar with his books “Linchpin,” “Tribes,” “The Dip” and “Purple Cow.” Recently, Godin once again set the book publishing on its ear by launching a series of four books via Kickstarter. The campaign reached its goal after three hours and ended up becoming the most successful book project ever done this way. His newest book, “What To Do When It’s Your Turn,” is already a bestseller.
12 After signing up, we received a box of 10 books — Austin Kleon’s “Steal Like an Artist” is not shown in this photo because Skipper’s daughter absconded with it; appros pros. In addition to the books, there was a flurry of emails — including signup links to Zoom, Slack and Wordpress credentials. And then for the New York area, at least two meet ’n’ greets happened the last weekend of Feb. FIRST CONTACT DHRUVA HAS THIS BOOK ON HIS DESK
Inside each project prompt, there was a whole set of additional material inherent — including links to external sites and videos — see example at right. 13 WHAT DOES A altMBA PROJECT LOOK LIKE?
LESSON 1: THE IMPORTANCE OF DIVERSITY The importance of having a diverse group, of strong minds to talk things through with. To push, pull, challenge and augment ideas. As well as the importance of understanding problems from other points of view. With a rotating cast of group members, an active Slack channel, random comments on your project, a contrasting opinion was never far away. 15
LESSON 2: RESISTANCE* AND SHIPPING One of the strongest things that’s holding you back is resistance — the little voice in the back of your head, the “but” or the “what if” that speaks up at the crucial moment and defeats the joy and insight you brought to the project in the first place. The answer is to push through, use brute force to defeat it. Ship often, ship lousy stuff if you have to, but ship; and ship constantly. * The idea of resistance and subsequently the lizard brain comes from Steven Pressfield’s “War of Art.” 16
LESSON 3: START WITH WHY One concept that has stuck with Skipper more than the others — and it wasn’t even part of the required set of reading — is from Simon Sinek’s book, “Start with Why.” (There’s a reason why his talk on a related subject has become the second most watched TEDtalk.) An alterate approach is applying the interrogative technique of the 5 Whys — asking why 5 times to get to root cause of a problem. A bit like my daughter does. 17 a CLARITY OF WHY DISCIPLINE OF HOW CONSISTENCY OF WHAT
LESSON 4: AT THE CROSSROADS OF SHOULD AND MUST Elle Luna, a designer for the first iterations of Mailbox and Uber, wrote a Medium essay turned book called “At the Crossroads of Should and Must,” examining the path of should, the path of must and how we make that decision in our lives over and over. Beautifully illustrated and thought through, the book asks some of life’s hardest questions. 19
LESSON 5: BAD FEEDBACK IS GOOD NEWS The value of floating ideas out to that strong support group for input. Sometimes helpful, sometimes punishing but it can give good ideas a push making them stronger, faster. It can kill off lame ideas faster too. Also, the importance of answering, “What is it for?,” “Who is it for?” and “Why would they care?” over and over again. 20
LESSON 6: DO SOMETHING THAT MATTERS Daniel Pink — author of several bestselling books about business, work, and behavior — examines how incentives are not helpful in spurring creativity and problem solving. 21
The traditional top-tier MBA takes: • two years • you usually need to move • it costs north of $100,000 The best business school experience is transformative, exposing students to a new way of thinking as well as a cohort of fellow travelers, motivated, smart people in a hurry to change things. 24 MBA, BY THE NUMBERS
25 altMBA altMBA believes that access to information is no longer the reason to go to business school because that information is everywhere. Their aim is to assemble leaders (corporate executives, non- profit linchpins, founders, managers and people in a hurry) and to connect them and amplify their work with a month of intense effort. The altMBA program is organized around action, around publishing, around sharing work and learning from it, with a focus on: •Changing the culture •Changing the people you work with •Changing yourself
In addition, there was a curated list of 75 ideas and concepts made available to registered students of each session. Some of which were contained in each project, most of which are icebergs in and of themselves. Skipper will send out this list to the studio as well as the physical books for the session as a followup to this design clinic. 26 OTHER RESOURCES
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