13. Outside Class Events

Marc Greenberg (10/7)

Summary: I attended a talk on Pixar that Marc Wellman had informed us about. Going to see the guest speaker was optional but in addition to it being extra credit, I felt like it would be really interesting to me considering I am a huge fan of Pixar movies (especially Finding Nemo). Marc Greenberg explained to us that creating a movie is incredibly team oriented and collaborative. Pixar works around 3 axes: environment, hiring, and management philosophy. They believe it is paramount for employees to share updates with one another and create a teamwork-oriented company. One of Pixar’s goals is to teach employees the pressures of other employees, creating a mutual understanding and respect within the entire team. Employees know they are trusted and nothing is closed off from them. Greenberg also stressed that people at Pixar hire on potential – they aren’t afraid to hire people smarter than them.

Key Takeaways and Future Applications: This philosophy differs from that of Apple, where everything is incredibly secret and closed off. I think I would prefer to work at a company like Pixar over Apple, because I prefer being in an environment where my peers can relate to my stress and have an open relationship with me. I don’t think people in a workplace should be afraid to ask their co-workers for help with something. I admire that Pixar is a company founded on humility. They realize that prior success does not guarantee future success. When making great stories, the right team is paramount, and this means employees need to actively encourage each other, understand disagreements, and realize that they aren’t always right.

NYC Trip (10/23-10/24)

Evercore: The first stop on my SUSA New York City field trip was Evercore, an investment banking firm. We first spoke with Jeff who was a UMD graduate. He explained to us that his job was very strenuous, often requiring him to run on very little sleep. Evercore is a smaller firm and thus is a more level playing field between ranks. The first and second-year analysts can easily get help from people above them. This limits such a strict hierarchy between rankings, which is something I am very much in favor for. I believe that when there is open communication between employee rankings at a company, it gives the new people good insight and something to work towards.

Next we talked to Matt, who was a UMD graduate of last year. It was crazy to see someone so young working at such a prestigious firm in New York. Matt explained to us that Jeff helped him get the job at Evercore, which really emphasized to me the importance of Networking. Both Jeff and Matt explained that going to UMD is a disadvantage if you’re trying to get a job in investment banking because it is very competitive and firms tend to hire more people from Ivy League schools. Although this was harsh for me to hear, it was a reality and made me realize how hard I will have to work to be successful in the future.

Google: On the second day of the SUSA trip we visited Google, which was definitely my favorite company visit because of the fun and creative atmosphere of the office. Dan Taylor explained to us that Google looks for 4 main traits in job applicants: leadership, problem-solving, role related knowledge, and what he called “googlyness”. Trying to get a job at Google is very competitive, so I had a profound respect for all the workers we saw around the impressive office. Throughout the visit, I could see how Google enforced its philosophy of failing fast and often. We learned about the “permanent beta” that Google often employs with its products. For example, Gmail was in beta (test-run mode) for years. The idea was that if it was believed to still be improving, that other companies wouldn’t consider it finished and therefore wouldn’t try to surpass it.

When touring around the huge Chelsea-based office, I came to realize that Google really appreciates its employees. They aren’t micromanaged and are instead trusted that they will be productive and get things done. The office also offers a number of services to the people that work there. There is free and healthy food offered every day. Not only does this promote health for the office, but it also saves the company time in the long run because workers no longer have an incentive to leave the office for lunch and spend money on food elsewhere. The Google office also had a free IT desk that offered computer support, an arcade room, and even complimentary scooters that employees used to get around the building faster. This is the type of company I hope to work at in the future. I believe it’s a really good way for employees to be dedicated to the success of the firm, and not get burnt out by a traditional office’s repetitive day-to-day itinerary.

Overall, the experience at Google made me realize how much room for improvement there truly is if I want to be creative. One trait in particular that I could improve on is leadership. I want to be able to make a difference in the world and be an inspiration to others, so that starts with taking action. Here at UMD there are countless clubs and organizations that I can join. I’ve decided that I need to get more involved in clubs that I am interested in. If I put in the time and effort, I can improve my leadership qualities while doing something that I enjoy.

VICE: After our trip to Google, we ventured to Brooklyn and visited VICE Media. I already had substantial prior knowledge about the company thanks to our visit from BJ Levin about a week ago. However, I was very excited to see the actual company in action and the culture of the office. The office itself was very trendy, unique and modern looking, which I think is a reflection of the company’s aim at being an innovative groundbreaker in media. The room in which most of the employees work was completely open and accessible by all. The workers did not have specific desks; they each just found themselves a spot at the various long tables shared around the room. This was to promote a culture of collaboration and teamwork between teams. Additionally, there was a bar at the back of the room that opened at the end of the day for VICE employees to unwind after a hard day at work.

The most interesting thing I learned was how much legal rigmarole media companies have to work around in order to finally produce a story. We spoke with one woman whose job it was to identify every sound and song that appears in a video and make sure they have approval to include it. This means contacting all the artists and creators personally. If VICE didn’t do this for all of their documentaries, they could get sued for millions.

When I left the VICE office I took with me that the things we see published are not as easy as it seems. There is so much work that gets put into the things we take for granted like movies, newspapers, magazines and websites. It made me realize that there are so many more jobs out there that I didn’t even know existed. The more I develop my creativity, there will be more doors opened for me to apply these skills to.

IDEO: The design firm IDEO was the fourth company that we visited on our New York trip. After learning about this company extensively in class and from reading Creative Confidence, I had high expectations for an atmosphere of originality. Mel, another UMD graduate, gave us a tour of the office and explained how different each employee is but also how they have the ability to come together and use their creativity to create great inventions. Mel himself was an expert at software and neuroscience. From walking around the office, it was clear to me that IDEO was constantly prototyping and testing new ideas. I especially liked the innovative gumball machine invention. IDEO had an office dog and ran into trouble when multiple people would feed it until it became obese. So in the traditional IDEO spirit, the office congregated and came up with the idea of a time-constrained gumball machine that would dispense treats for the pet in increments, therefore he couldn’t be overfed.

After visiting IDEO I realized how important it is to use imagination in everyday life. The employees here are basically paid to have fun and think outside the box. They aren’t as fixated on the success of the final product as much as the process of creating it. I was very inspired after this visit because it reminded me of how young children are with their ideas. They aren’t afraid of being judged and aren’t thinking about how successful they will be; they just explore the world and think differently about it in the process. I decided that I was going to be more observant and pay attention to problems I encounter with everyday objects. Then I will think of ways I can improve it.

Goldman Sachs: The last visit on our trip was to Goldman Sachs in the financial district of NYC. I’ve heard so much about this company as it’s a leading global investment company, so I was interested to see what all the fuss was about. We were met by another UMD alum named Greg who explained to us how little sleep he runs on to perform his very fast-paced and demanding entry-level position as analyst. I learned how there is zero room for error in such a job, which instantly turned me off to it. I have always cared for a work environment where failure is embraced as opposed to a place where it’s forbidden. The office was very impressive with its flashy meeting rooms and impressive views, but it greatly differed from an office like Google or IDEO where creativity is encouraged. The Goldman Sachs office rooms were very bland and corporate. Doug explained how there are kitchens and gyms in the office because managers basically don’t want the employees to ever leave the office.

I’m really glad I got to visit Goldman Sachs because it showed me what I DON’T want to do in the future. I’m sure the investment banking track is perfect for some people, I am just not one of them because I prefer a more creative environment and unlike Doug, I don’t thrive on stress. I also again learned how important networking is, because Doug explained to us how he got the job from such an unlikely connection: his grandma’s best friend’s daughter.

Walter Isaacson (11/10)

Summary: I went to an optional guest speaker event in the CSPAC with Walter Isaacson on a Monday evening. I was very intrigued to attend because this was the same author that wrote the Steve Jobs autobiography, a book I am very fond about. Isaacson explained that the intersection of arts and science/technology is critical for the future. He explained that beauty matters. Machines will never have creative thought, only humans will. This is why we need to be in charge of making connections for creativity. Mr. Isaacson explained that humans are social animals. Creativity happens best when people are together in the flesh. His opinion was that we need to stop telecommunicating on Facebook and Skype and actually work together in the same place. Steve Jobs broke down barriers by redesigning the separated Pixar buildings into one. The new building had an atrium in the middle where Jobs wanted people to have serendipitous encounters.

Key Takeaways and Future Applications: Isaacson really helped me realize that the next stage of innovation must involve arts and humanities. This was interesting because the common attitude towards of English and humanities majors is one that they will not make money or be successful in the future. The guest speaker provided me with a frame-flip on that common connotation.

Walter Isaacson provided me with a new idea that had never occurred to me. America’s current education system should put more emphasis on the arts. STEM education should become STEAM, and subjects need to be taught with a connection between them all.