Category: work

career, creative process, creativity, GEL conference, innovation, job, travel, work

Arizona

Christa Avampato

I’m in Arizona for the ATM, Debit, and Prepaid Conference. Please contain your excitement. There is actually some good information on offer. It’s just packaged up by boring people in boring conference rooms. I’ve been a bit spoiled by innovation conferences like GEL where there are rooms full of fascinating characters. Weird, but fascinating, which is exactly just the right kind of fascinating for me. 


But enough about the conference. I’m really struck by Arizona. And not because it’s “maverick-y” as Tina Fey (or is it Sarah Palin?) would say. As I was driving from the airport, I was reminded of the book Women Who Run with the Wolves. In the introduction, Clarissa Pinkola-Estes talks about how the life in the dessert seems small on the surface and yet is huge underneath. There are intricate root systems and creatures of dazzling diversity that live below ground. There is a whole ecosystem that survives and thrives away from the watch of the human eye. Pinkola-Estes talks about how many people, women in particular, have these huge wells of emotion and thought and concern that exist beyond any other person’s grasp or understanding. 

The beauty of Arizona is stark. It’s another world here, like nothing I have seen or experienced anywhere else. Here, everything feels and looks foreign. My boss was commenting today how the food, the art, the culture, the history, and the landscape are unlike those in any other state. And you might think that sounds a bit odd to be some place so foreign in our own country. Somehow though, in it’s foreign-ness, it’s opened me up to new possibilities, to new ways of seeing everything in a different light than I saw it just yesterday. My stress from the last few days is gone. Anxiety vanished. How did that happen?

I believe in that saying, “So often what’s needed is a change of self and not a change of scene.” But for me, a change of scene provokes a change in me that I desperately need and can’t always ignite in my everyday living patterns. On occasion, our systems need a little shock and travel can do that for us, particularly to a place wholly unfamiliar. I needed to expand my mind to take in the new possibilities that my current tasks are providing. And I needed to get away from my computer screen, even for a little while, and not troll though my usual set of tasks. I guess the universe gave me exactly what I needed exactly at the time I needed it – Arizona.  

career, creativity, job, product, productivity, work

Moving forward from where you are

Christa Avampato

I’ve been really frustrated as of late by a project I just took over from a colleague. I have been dwelling on the phrase “At the beginning, we should have…” And you know what? It’s not productive. It’s actually counter-productive and it’s wearing me down. I’m sick of hearing myself talk about how frustrated I am. Imagine how my friends and family feel?


I woke up a little yesterday after an email from my mom. My best friend from childhood just lost her 27 year old cousin to cancer. My very dear friend, Ken, just had to put his mom into hospice. I have friends that are losing their jobs thanks to this financial crisis we’re now in, and they don’t know when they’ll be seeing a paycheck again. And I’m whining, literally whining, from my comfy couch in my comfy apartment after a day of work at a great company with a great brand. At the moment, I can’t stand myself. As my friend Kelly says, “I need to give myself a “cut it out.” “

By being so stuck on what other people should have done or should have considered,etc., I’m not moving forward. I’m treading water and quite frankly doing a lousy job of it. Now ,to be fair to myself, as my mother would ask me to be, I want to make sure these learnings are captured and put to good use in the very-near future. Yep, there were definitely mistakes that were made at the start of this project 6 months ago. And we’re paying a big price tag, literally and figuratively. No doubt about it. But I can’t change those mistakes. They’ve been made and we have to go from where we are. I’ve got the project now and no matter what the earlier decisions, I need to keep driving forward, eyes on the prize – which is straight ahead, not in the rearview mirror. 

I find an area that needs improvement, I jot it down, and I keep moving. I have to keep moving. My whining and internal negativity is weighing me down, in a time when I cannot afford the extra mental pounds. I need to get this project out the door so I can move on to other projects where I will be able to start from the beginning and draw on the learnings from this current project. 

We all learn by doing, and in the doing, we screw up now and then. It happens to all of us, regardless of intelligence or experience or motivation. It’s all part of the process, and if you don’t let the process play out, you are doomed to remain in it like a hamster in a wheel. And who wants to keep treading the same ground again and again when there are so many places to see?! 

art, calm, career, encouragement, job, meditation, peace, work

Keep Calm and Carry On

Christa Avampato

My friend, Monika, graciously hosts group dinners at her home; a small group of us are hoping to make this a regular event with each of us taking turns with the hosting duties. Yesterday, I went over to Monika’s and we were taking turns trading stories about work when I noticed a poster she just had framed. It’s reprint of a WWII British propaganda poster that reads “Keep Calm and Carry On”. I figured if the British could keep their cool during such tumultuous times, I could certainly do the same. 


At the moment I am feel a fair amount of anxiety, more than I have felt in a long time. A lot to do and not enough time to do it. All day today I’ve been working, getting things in order, and I have been concentrating on my anxiety trying to figure out how to get it to dissipate. It really is like this knot in the very pit of my stomach, and it’s casing my muscles to ache, especially in my shoulders and neck. So I sat for a few minutes on my couch, and concentrated on just breathing, just being. And remarkably I felt better despite that I hadn’t gotten any further along than I was 5 minutes before.      

I realized how much time and energy I was spending being frustrated and irritated. How much effort I was putting into my disappointment. And it was clouding my ability to see this tremendous opportunity for growth and change that was being laid at my feet. Challenging situation, yes. Impossible to get through, of course not. It’s a moment when I am rising to my potential and then some. And that is something to be grateful for, if only I can remember to “Keep Calm and Carry On”. I just ordered my poster. Get yours at:  http://www.barterbooks.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=32036    
career, personality. psychology, schedule, school, work

A Very Extroverted Culture

Christa Avampato

On the Myers-Briggs scale I am an ENFP, Extrovert Intuitive Feeling Perceiver. The description of that personality type is so like me that for a moment I thought my mother had written it. A lot of people have a decent balance on each of the four levels and just tend to favor one characteristic over the other. I don’t. I’m off the charts on all of them. (This is also a mark of those who are either highly creative or insane. I’m still trying to decide which of those camps I fall into, but heck I’m inclusive. Why not be both highly creative AND insane? Isn’t life more fun that way?) I was talking to a co-worker of mine about how personality types form and support a particular culture in a company. 


“Isn’t it amazing what an extroverted culture we have here at work?” he asked. “Huh?” I replied. I hadn’t even noticed. “Go back and look at your calendar,” he said. “Let me know if you see a pattern.”

So I tootled back over to my desk and browsed through my calendar. Every day, specifically every afternoon, is packed with meetings and phone calls. I reported back to my co-worker and he smiled. One of the key components of the extrovert personality is that they like to ease into their day and gain energy as the day goes on. They get anchored in the morning, get up to speed, and by the afternoon are antsy and raring to go. That’s me. I don’t mind being up in the morning, I actually enjoy it, but I am one of those people who cannot be rushed into getting ready. I need to do my own thing for a while. For years I’ve hated the thought of exercising in the morning (I’m an after-work gym goer) and now I know why. 

Extroverts also approach other situations in their lives with this slow ramp up and the gaining of speed as time goes on. When they go to parties, they are a bit quiet at first and then the last ones  to leave. They take their time at the start of projects and then enjoy a swift and speedy wrap-up. Me again. Their best reflection time is at night when their creativity (or insantiy as the case may be) comes alive. And when do I write and study best? At night. Some people prefer to get to bed and can wake up early to knock out their work. Not me – I’ll stay up and get it done now thank you. I’m an extrovert.  

Not so amazing though, right? A lot people in this world are extroverts – 70% of the population. What is amazing to me is that an organization comprised of tens of thousands of people all across the globe has a very strong, identifiable culture that almost perfectly exhibits the traits of being a supreme extrovert. While we’d like to believe that a company’s goal is to be balanced with all personality traits, it seems that in some cases the “birds of a feather” principle stands. Who knew calendars were more than just a way to get where we’re supposed to be when? They’re actually a window into the psyches of the people around us.   
productivity, time, to-do lists, work

In Praise of Emptiness

Christa Avampato

I’m looking at my to-do lists for the weekend. 23 items, some of them time consuming. And this is just a typical low-key weekend for me. No traveling, I’m not hosting any event, none of the tasks require advanced preparation. 23 items – exactly who do I think I am that I can finish a first week of a job, jam pack my weekend, and be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for Monday morning?


This week in the New York Times, there was an article entitled “A Place and an Era in Which Time Could Stand Still“. It discusses the need to let kids have some time with nothing to do during summer camp rather than cramming activity after activity into their days. And this consideration is worth a look for adults, too, especially those engaged in creative pursuits. We need time to let our task-master minds unwind if we are to get at our best creative thinking. It’s buried beneath all of our to-do lists and action items.     

Why do we keep doing this to ourselves? Why are we obsessed with the need to be productive at every moment. Our European neighbors have a way of looking at life that is practically the antithesis of the American view – they enjoy life and the people around them. They savor the experience of life and the simple happiness that comes from lingering over a cup of coffee and a good book in an outdoor cafe. We chug the coffee and speed read the book in a packed subway car. Is it any wonder that we are dealing with so many health issues and a general lack of enjoyment in this country?

Recognizing this need to unwind, the editors at Real Simple Magazine put together a 14-day stress detox program. I looked for an on-line link but the list is only available in print and includes things like taking time to be grateful and investing a little time in gardening of any kind, even if it’s just a windowsill house plant. It’s well worth the look with one caveat – I would recommend stretching out the changes and enjoying them, reflecting on them, and fully ingesting their meaning and power. The last thing we need is another deadline and a another item on a rushed to-do list.   
career, dreams, friendship, work

Getting to what’s possible

Christa Avampato

Considering the possible alongside the impossible is one of the joyful dichotomies in product development. The excitement bubbles over when you begin to consider, and help others consider, what it would take to remove those two tiny letters, “im”, from the latter. Put another way it’s the commitment of individuals – I am (I’m) going to remove them, and help others do the same.

Yesterday, I had dinner with my college friend, Chris. I hadn’t seen him in 10 years! He’s now at Carnegie Hall working on the international education exchange program. And along the way we have both become interested in technology as a way to communicate art, and we got into a long discussion about vision and funding, whether that funding comes from donors for a nonprofit or from sales and investors for a for-profit company. Money can and often in time does follow vision. The opposite does not work. No leader can gain vision by having funding, and any leader who thinks (s)he can or should progress in that order is setting himself / herself up for a rude awakening.

And yet, it happens all the time. Organizations lose their way. Companies forget their core customer or core competency in favor of some hot trend or a fervent desire to just grow and make as much money as possible. It might work in the short-term; in the long-run failure is nearly certain. In the case of vision, an ounce of prevention is worth a least a pound of cure. So how do we, as individuals and as organizations, stay true to who we are and keep our vision front and center?

I have a few ways that I maintain my vision for my life. I have the great gift of being able to delude myself for a very short period of time (about 60 seconds several times per year). On occasion, I take a minute (literally) and imagine what I’d like to be doing, right now, if money didn’t matter. If I’m doing something radically different, chances are I’m on the wrong track. My writing helps – in print, it’s much harder to lie to yourself. We have this built-in filter that does not allow us to put falsehoods to paper without feeling really awful about ourselves. I also consider my level of sleepiness. While most people may consider their sound sleep to be a good sign, if I’m feeling worn out at the end of the day, sleeping dead to the world, something is terribly wrong. If I’m energized and ready to go 20 hours a day, then I know good stuff is happening.

And in recent months, I have thought a lot about one other remedy. I am still mourning the loss of Tim Russert, especially as this election grows closer and closer. I still flip on the Today Show and expect him to be there guiding us, coaching us along. And the sentiment that everyday he woke up as if he’d just won the lottery sticks with me. I think about people like Tim, people I admire and look up to, and consider whether or not I’d be proud to tell them what I’m doing with my days if I ever had the chance to meet them. In short, I’m trying to win the lottery of life everyday, and trying to take as many others with me as possible. That’s my vision.

career, corporation, job, work

Survive and Thrive

Christa Avampato

I woke up this morning wholly unemployed. Sort of. I’m being paid through Thursday, which I greatly appreciate, though I’m not actually going to work. Yesterday was my last day in the office. My suspicion is that my access to information because of who I worked for is too much for some peoples’ comfort. And that’s okay; I get it. I’m very grateful to have a few free days before my new job begins on Monday, particularly because I’m being paid, so we all came out ahead by me leaving before my time was scheduled to be up. A win-win all around.   


The day was anti-climactic. I’ve cried every single time I’ve left a job. If not at my good-bye party, then certainly afterwards by myself or with friends at the after-party. This time – no party, no fanfare, no tears. Maybe I’m growing up. Or maybe there are times when a change occurs that is so obviously a good move that there isn’t any way for sadness to be a part of the shift. I wished them well, they wished me well, and off I went. It was a departure entirely free of drama. 

There are two main lessons that I received in this experience and that I fully realized as I was driving that long, slow drive home for the last time. No matter what kind of business, the products or services that are sold, big or small company, the single defining determinant of success is leadership at the very top. Without it, truly nothing else matters. Nothing. As if CEOs needed any more pressure on them. Sorry CEOs – that’s why you get paid the big bucks.     

I realized the other insight as I crossed over the border to NY, looking out along the skyline sparkling in the cool, unseasonal sunshine. A few hours earlier, there was a storm that seemed almost apocalyptic in nature. The sky was practically black at 11am. My friend, Richard, said it was Heaven’s way of washing away this experience in favor of the new adventure I am about to take. I agree with him. I also think the weather today, its vascillation between storm and sun, was very much a reflection of two pivotal professional experiences I’ve had – one in 2000 and one now, 8 years later. 

The storm: In 2000 I worked for a woman named Charlotte Wilcox, a crusty broad who didn’t let anyone push her around, ever. If she was involved in a show, there was no question who was the top dog. She was hard on herself and hard on her staff, especially me. She taught me how to survive in business – it wasn’t a pleasant experience, in the same way that a root canal isn’t pleasant, but the lessons she taught me about follow-through and work ethic, your own and that of your boss, have been absolutely critical to my success. She told me that the great problem with my generation is that we have no follow-through and that I should never, ever, under any circumstance, work harder than the person signing my paycheck. And if I ever get the opportunity to sign paychecks, I better remember that I need to work harder than anyone I pay. As a result, I am conscious to ask more of myself than I ever ask of anyone else and I follow-through, always. 

The sun: Bob, my most recent boss, taught me a very different lesson. He was what I think of as the anti-Charlotte. I spent a mostly joyful year, a bit more, working for him. I learned and read and reasoned and tried my best to offer insight, advice, and counsel. And 99% of the time I was greeted with gratitude to an embarrassing degree by everyone I came into contact with on a variety of projects. I worked very hard to be valuable and helpful whenever and wherever I could. In short, Bob taught me how to thrive – how to use my very best strengths to make a difference, and for that lesson I am most grateful. 

In the end, I think all of life, and most particularly our professional lives, comes down to those two basic blocks: surviving and thriving. The rest is all decoration.   

career, corporation, friendship, job, personality. relationships, work

What bird are you?

Christa Avampato

My friend, Alex, recently had a company off-site where they evaluated their personality types in an effort to work better as a team. They took a relationship assessment that I had never heard of. Tony Alessandra developed an assessment related to birds that describes four common personality types:   


The Dove: Relationship-Oriented
The Owl: Detail-Oriented
The Eagle: Results-Oriented
The Peacock: Socially-Oriented

I may have a predisposition to these type of exams because my father was a clinical psychologist and used to administer them. Alessandra’s main point is that communication type, and knowing which one you are, can make all the difference in your career progression. Of course there are always hybrids – my friend, Alex, is a pea-gle – a combo peacock and eagle. My conundrum is always that I think I have elements of each type. I strive to be relationship, detail, results, and and socially-oriented. So what do I do? How can I learn how best to work with people if I am very honestly a complete chameleon?  

On the one hand, I could be the perfect partner – able to work with anyone. And conversely, I could be in a tough situation because I may never be quite certain that I am being true to myself, mostly because I have the ability to adapt almost to a fault. My challenge will be identifying which of these relationship types is the one which plays most to my strengths, and perhaps which one leaves me the most energized and effective. I envy those who easily fall into one bucket or another. My path is more a long and winding road.    
career, corporation, job, networking, relationships, social media, social network, work

Spinning the web: Making the most of the final two weeks at a job

Christa Avampato

I never expected that anyone would much care that I was leaving my current job for a new opportunity. I figured people would pat me on the shoulder, wish me luck on my new adventure, and send me on my way. Just the opposite. People have gone out of their way to connect, to learn about my new job, and to make sure that they have my personal contact info correct so we can stay in touch. And these aren’t just my friends from work, but senior people whom I greatly respect and admire. It is nothing short of flattering. Of course, there are a few odd responses – people who have written me off before I’m out the door and those who have even chosen to ignore me altogether – but those are the very small minority and are people I never hoped to stay in touch with going forward.

While I have sometimes dreaded winding down my time at a job, and know many others who have had similar experiences, this time around I am glad to have over a week remaining. Closing these loops and ensuring their long-term stability are important. I now understand how professional networks and webs are built, and absolutely see that they are at least as valuable, if not more so, than the actual experience from a job. These days, everything seems to be about relationships.

The dawning of the age of social networking tools also eases the sting of leaving a job. I am a self-admitted sap. I think I’ve cried every time I’ve left a job. Though this time with these new tools at my disposal, it is easy to see that the many wonderful people I have worked alongside of will be in my life for years to come. It’s not a “good-bye”, but a “see you around the bend”. All the more reason to make sure those bridges remain whole and intact.

corporation, passion, presentation, speaking, work

What’s the difference between being preachy and passionate?

Christa Avampato

I understand that there can be a thin line between preaching and speaking passionately. Barack Obama is a brilliant example of someone who has mastered the art of speaking passionately without becoming preachy. A friend of mine was just telling me about a meeting he was recently asked to join because of his expertise on humanitarian relief work. Mind you, this topic was the topic of discussion. He is marvelously articulate and speaks with such authority and passion that it is fully understandable how people will walk to the ends of the Earth for him. 


After he finished his two minute discussion on the role of humanitarian relief work in several hot-button areas of the world right now, there was dead silence from his boss. I should interject here that he is far more educated and personally vested in this cause than she is, despite the fact that she has seniority. He makes her look good without fail, on every project, and she has often publicly taken credit for work he has done. 

At this meeting, rather than thanking him for his point of view, she responded by addressing the group with, “well, not that that information has anything to do with the issue at hand…” Actually, it had everything to do with the issue at hand. His boss was irritated that he had a more articulate, and opposing view, than the surface comments she was making. What’s more my friend is far more genuine than his boss, she knows this, and is unable to level the playing field with him. She closed the conversation saying, “well, I think we’ve had enough preaching for one day.” So ludicrous, it’s laughable…

And that started me thinking about the difference between preaching, which often has a negative connotation, and articulately addressing an issue with passion. It comes down to whether the person speaking is talking to hear himself talk and or if he is educating and sharing his point-of-view with his audience. Preaching has a lot of shallow dazzle and speaking with passion has dazzle plus substance. With all of my friend’s energy and enthusiasm, my advice to him was to move on to someplace that appreciates and rewards him for everything he has to offer.