Growing up n Toledo, Ohio, I was curious, creative, and loved to build things: developing a life-long love of Legos, building a sidecar for my my bike, and constructing a downhill ski bike from a discarded frame. In high school, I excelled at math and science but had a more natural talent for the social sciences and humanities. When it came time, Yale University seemed to be a great fit, allowing me to continue my interest in engineering in the context of a broader liberal arts education.

At Yale, I discovered my love of rugby, playing four years for the Yale RFC and continuing with the Milwaukee RFC for an additional 10+ years. I remain fascinated by the sport’s free-flowing, non-stop nature and the patterns of play that develop over the course of an 80 minute game. Each player is required to express athleticism, determination and grit in the context of a team that requires coordination but not strict adherence to positional roles and a strategy, just like jazz musicians and business leaders.

I believe innovation and growth initiatives should emanate from the culture and core competencies of the organization. Be authentic. Build from strength into adjacent markets, new applications, or re-imagined solutions. As our cultures and economies continue to evolve, there will be an increasing need for companies to move away from product-focused delivery to a more wholistic and sustainable solutions-focused relationship with customers and stakeholders. Broad partnerships with supply chain, technology partners and, in some cases, competitors will be needed to build seamless, friction-free solutions that advance customer interests. Business success depends on customers successfully meeting their explicit (and implicit) goals.

A naturally curious and empathetic listener, I enjoy the opportunity to hear about a customer’s or colleague’s challenges and pull from my experience or network of subject matter experts to devise solutions from seemingly disparate fields. When a solution is not apparent, I construct hypotheses and small experiments to explore the stated issue and identify the relevant solution space. I have found Lean Startup methodology and the associated business model discovery tools combined with LEAN product development to b valuable in building complete solutions that account for technology and business needs. These tools also allow effective consideration of priorities and development of product and technology roadmaps.

If you are interested in thoughtful, transformational change and growth for your business and personnel (or just chatting about STEM careers, mopeds,  soccer,  and rugby) please reach out to me.