3b. Challenge Course (9/29)

What We Did: After talking to a lot of people prior to the challenge course at the University Outdoor Recreation Center, most were reluctant to participate – mainly because it was going to last 5 hours and we all had a lot of homework. When we got there we were split into two groups of about 20 students. This was still fairly close to the beginning of the school year so I didn’t know that many people in my group. I also didn’t know our trained facilitators who would be leading us through all the team activities that evening. Therefore, I was kind of dreading the night and hoping it would be over quickly.

The first activity was an icebreaker to learn each other’s names. The facilitators were trying to loosen us up but everyone still seemed pretty introverted. It wasn’t until we played the marble game that people started to communicate and work together. We had to transport a marble into a bucket about 30 feet away. But we could only transport it using a certain amount of differently shaped tubes cut in half. What we had to figure out was a system for keeping the line of tubes continuous. We established that the last person to have the marble roll down their tube would have to run to the other end of the line as fast as possible in order to prepare for the marble to reach them again. This seemed easy enough at first, but we quickly encountered more problems then we had anticipated. First of all, our group was made up of many people of different sizes. Therefore, the tall people would be passing a marble to a short person and cause the marble to acquire much more momentum due to the higher slope it traveled down. Any time the marble was going fast it would fall on the ground and we would have to start all over again. It was funny because even though we tried to work out all the faults, someone would always mess it up still. Eventually we learned how to keep the marble rolling slow and steady until we finally made it into the bucket.

Another challenging team-building activity we had to do required us all to have our eyes closed at all times and pretend we were blind. Each of us was handed a shaped block, and a few people were handed two. The facilitator that handed us our block told us what color it was. We were all told that there were 4 blocks of each color and 3 blocks were missing. None of us could look at our block or open our eyes, but the challenge was that we had to determine what shapes we did not have. This was an extremely challenging exercise because we had to give descriptions without using vision, our most relied on sense.

Aside from the team building activities, there were physical challenges for us to complete as well. First we were taken to a 15 foot wall and were told that all of us had to somehow get onto the other side of the wall. Most of us just stood there in disbelief because it was so high. The rules were that each person could only give a boost to someone else twice. We strategized that the smallest people should start because they can help boost other smaller people. We don’t want to waste a big person’s muscles on boosting a small person, because we need the bigger muscles to lift the bigger people. We ended up lifting each other according to size and it worked out the best that way.

Lastly, we were shown to the vertical challenge course and taught how to work the harnesses. At first I didn’t think I was going to try to climb it, but then I figured I would regret not trying. I didn’t expect to get to the top; I just wanted to see how far I could go. Much to my surprise, it turned out to not be as scary as I thought. I ended up reaching the top pretty quickly, so I’m glad I pushed myself to abandon my comfort zone.

 

Key Takeaways and Future Applications: In the end, I’m really glad I got to participate in this challenge course. It seems like a daunting task at first when you are told to solve problems with a bunch of people you barely know, but the group facilitators made sure we had fun with our activities while keeping them physically and intellectually challenging at the same time.

As I did more exercises I started to get more comfortable around my group members, thus I was more willing to make suggestions in the activities. I find that when I’m in an environment where I don’t know many people, I tend to keep my ideas to myself. I think this special class session allowed me to at least partially combat that insecurity because basically we had to communicate to survive. I realized that the more ideas are shared by people in the group, the more easy it will become to solve the problem.

I noticed that one of my peers emerged as a leader in the colored block simulation. It was interesting to me how all of us went into the activity knowing the exact same amount of information, but that some people have natural leadership qualities and others have followership qualities. All of us deliberated for a few minutes trying to figure out a strategy, but no one was really listening to each other. One person who had a good idea spoke up and took charge for the remainder of the activity. I learned from this that just because someone is a leader, that doesn’t necessarily mean they know more than you. Anyone can be a leader as long as they have the courage to take risks and make the first move.

My favorite part about the whole day was reaching a new level of comfort with my classmates. The physical challenges helped instill a mutual trust between us. I had to trust that the others wouldn’t drop me when belaying me over the wall, and they had to trust that I wasn’t going to fall and land on their faces. Once we were forced to break the awkward physical barriers between each other, nothing was weird anymore. We spent the whole rest of our time at the challenge course laughing and joking around with each other.

3b. BJ Levin (10/20)

What We Did: After one of our lectures we had the privilege of getting a visit from BJ Levin, a UMD alum who is now an executive producer at VICE media. He told us how he worked in investment banking on Wall Street right out of college – something hundreds of thousands of college students dream of everyday. However, once he got there he realized he hated it. Instead of staying there and being miserable, he decided to leave and pursue another dream of his to get into producing. According to him, passion is everything. If you don’t have extreme passion for what you’re doing, Levin argues that there’s no point in doing it at all.

He didn’t know the first thing about producing or how he could get a job doing it, so he started by talking to people in this field. BJ explained how important it is to network with people because you might need their help somewhere down the line. Eventually he produced his own film and sent it to companies all over the country. He told us that companies rejected him over and over and over again – now he’s an Emmy winner. He explained that just because you fail, it doesn’t mean that you’re a failure. It just means you are that much closer to something awesome.

Key Takeaways and Future Applications: A major insight that I gained from this guest speaker is that it’s never too early to put myself out there. Nobody is just going to hand out internships; we must relentlessly chase these opportunities ourselves. Getting job experience is one of the most important things we can do because it will show us what we do and do not like doing. BJ told us that the best way to find out if we want to do something in the future is to sit down and talk with them. This is an idea that many people don’ t even consider, but speaking with people who knows firsthand what a job is like will tell you so much more than you could find out any other way. It could also potentially save you a lot of time if you decide that what they’re describing isn’t for you.

If I had to describe BJ Levin’s speech in one word, it would be vicious. The point he wanted to make was that nothing is going to be handed to us, and he did this in a very harsh but realistic way. He told us that since we go to a big state school we’re already at a disadvantage. That’s not something you want to hear your first few weeks of freshman year, so I was a little taken aback. His diction was full of curse words and critical observations. I don’t think he was trying to come off as rude; he was just trying to motivate us to work harder than we ever thought we had to.

4. Improving my Creative Confidence

In high school and in college I have been told over and over that my generation needs to be more creative, but nobody ever told us how we could actually make this happen until I read Creative Confidence by Tom and David Kelly. I had my doubts about the effectiveness of these “creativity challenges” but I decided I would try them anyway because it couldn’t hurt. The first creativity challenge I did was called “thirty circles” and it was aimed at jump-starting an ideation session. I had 3 minutes to turn as many of the blank circles into recognizable objects as possible.

After 3 minutes had passed I was only able to fill in 16 of the 30 circles, which was surprising because I figured I would be able to fill in all or almost all of them. A circle is one of the most common shapes seen everyday, so I wonder why I wasn’t able to think of more objects to draw within the time constraint. I think it was also hard for me to fill in more because I focused more on quality than quantity, which is the opposite of what you should do in design thinking. A lot of my drawings are fairly intricate and took more time that they needed to. This is something that I struggle with because in school I am so used to focusing on quality over quantity. Obviously it will take me some practice to be able to do things the other way. Part of the activity was to analyze the things I did draw. I didn’t really find a real pattern of things I drew, so I am wondering what in my thought process caused me to draw these things. I was probably hungry at the time, which was why I drew the apple and the plate of food. The turtle was most likely because I was thinking about going to UMD and our mascot Testudo. The Converse logo was because I was looking around my room and saw a pair of my shoes. This activity was interesting and unique. It definitely piqued my interest and caused me to think more about being innovative. Even after the activity was over, I was still recognizing circular objects around me for the rest of the day, wondering why I forgot to draw something else.

The second creativity challenge I completed was the “customer journey map.” The aim of the activity was to emphasize with customers, employees and other end users. I had to come up with a process of journey that I wanted to map, and then write down every single step I could think of. The journey I thought of was buying a pet. Then I was to organize the steps into a visual map. I did this by using colored sticky notes and arranging them on a white board. This is a good activity because it brings to light that part of the sales experience that we might overlook. This is a process that could be useful to companies trying to enhance the customer experience because it is a way to build on top of other ideas. Doing this shows just how many steps go into experiencing a product. Because I hope to be a marketing executive in the future, I could definitely use this creativity challenge when developing a product or brand. This way, nothing is overlooked when I am planning to provide a positive customer experience throughout every single step.

The last creativity challenge that I completed was a long-term one called “increase your creative output.” According to Tom and David Kelly, our short-term memory holds a thought for only 15-30 seconds. When I have a good idea or thought randomly pop into my head, I shouldn’t just let it be a fleeting moment of wisdom and pass a few seconds later, I should write it down and remember it. To complete this activity I went to the Stamp and bought my own personal notebook where I would record my thoughts. Anytime I thought of something I thought was clever or I woke up from a weird dream, I would record it in this notebook. If I didn’t have the notebook on me at the time I would take a note in my phone and transfer it to my notebook later. One of the best ideas that I recorded was my random idea of creating a live app that showed what areas in McKeldin library were open for studying and which ones were occupied. This would save me and many other students from wandering around all 7 floors searching for somewhere to study. This activity was definitely the activity that gave me the most self-improvement. It allowed me to have much more self-appreciation for my creative mind because I had a whole portfolio of my thoughts and ideas in one single notebook at all times.

5. The Necessity of Strangers

On November 16^th, Alan Gregerman presented us with a Team Leaning Adventure (TLA) exercise. It said to get in small groups and to hit all six of the stops around Washington D.C. that were given to us. These stops were chosen because Gregerman felt they would be some of the best places to spark creativity. It was sort of like a Easter egg hunt, in that we were given specific things to look for everywhere we went. But, at the same time it wasn’t because we were making things up as we went along and looking for our own eggs of wisdom in places other than the six defined stops. Essentially, the major goal of this exercise was to keep our eyes peeled for remarkable people, places, things, ideas, insights and possibilities through our expedition. After completing this Team Learning Adventure (TLA) exercise and studying IDEO’s design thinking process extensively in class, I can say with confidence that the two processes are both very similar and very different.

Both processes believe that people can attain insight from others better and quicker than if they were to try and find out the information themselves. For example, while on our TLA we needed to find “the throne” in the National Portrait Gallery. Instead of wandering around aimlessly, we asked an employee and she thoughtfully pointed us in the right direction. An IDEO example is from the shopping cart video, in which the design team is trying to find out as many things wrong with the current shopping cart design as possible. As part of the design thinking process, IDEO workers talk to shoppers in stores about their biggest irritations with the design. Asking these strangers is a better plan than to try to come up with this information on your own, because these shoppers are cart experts after using them so often. From talking to a busy mother, the design team learned that getting children in and out of the kid seat is difficult and doesn’t give the children much space to lean on. Both processes also believe that the journey is just as important as the destination. The TLA was designed by Gregerman to encourage us to go off the path and encounter new and unexpected things on the way. The design thinking process isn’t mainly focused on the end result either. It is mainly just a way of thinking about the world around us that strengthens our creativity. Lastly, both processes prioritize collaboration with teammates to achieve moments of wisdom. Two heads are better than one in both cases, because ideas can be bounced off one another until an innovative idea is spawned.

Overall, the IDEO design thinking process is more structured because it has a goal of improving inventions, while the TLA technique is up in the air as long as you talk to strangers and obtain insights from new connections. In IDEO’s design process, extensive research about a product is done beforehand. In contrast, during the TLA, someone could know absolutely nothing about a product until asking a stranger. The goal is to gain new knowledge from new interactions. Another difference is that IDEO follows a rigid step-by-step formula for design thinking. The 5 steps are: questioning, observing, networking, associating and experimenting. The only step required for the TLA is to talk to strangers. Also, IDEO wants multidisciplinary teams of T-shaped people, whereas the TLA team members only need to have open minds and be willing to work together.

Those who benefitted from the Team Learning Adventure were the ones who actually wanted to gain new insight from others. They pushed themselves to get out of their comfort zone and think differently about the nature of what is possible. I consider myself to be one of these people. The TLA was a very beneficial challenge in my eyes because Gregerman had conditioned me, unlike ever before, to embrace strangers with open-mindedness rather than with avoidance. In doing this, I managed to talk to a number of different strangers around the city, and every single one of them had insightful advice to give. One example of doing this was in the Whole Foods produce section. I approached a worker named Sarah and asked her why she thinks Whole Foods is so special. She then gave me a firsthand account of the culture of the company, explaining how they hire representatives to introduce products to the markets, how they employ farming teams to make certain that the produce is the best, and their value on their “whole trade guarantee.” Before talking to Sarah, I always had a wishy-washy view on Whole Foods, mainly because of its snobby connotation and high prices. However, my view changed after I used Gregerman’s model to connect with the right people. Once I learned about all the dedication Whole Foods employees put into their goods, I realized that it’s definitely worth the extra money to purchase such healthy and ethically reliable foods. Another example was when I branched out and talked to our Uber driver. I learned that his name was Harry and he was from Vietnam. More importantly, he told us about his favorite places in DC and later in the day we actually went to a pretty good coffee shop that he suggested. I think that introverted people did not benefit from the TLA because they were less likely to approach an unfamiliar person, so they were left behind in generating moments of insight. If the introverted decided that they weren’t going to challenge themselves, they wouldn’t have found out some of the neat information that I did from Harry.

The Team Learning Adventure design can be a useful tool for companies to use when they are testing a prototype. Firms will not acquire constructive feedback from people within the office, they need to venture into the world to build customer relationships and get responses from everyday people. McDonald’s is an example of a company who could use the TLA approach right now. In colloquium class, we learned about McDonald’s new slogan, “lovin beats hatin.” Immediately, the entire room let out a groan of exasperation at this new corny motto. Clearly McDonald’s thinks this is a good idea, but when 60 college students unanimously agree that they hate it, that clearly shows that McDonald’s should reach out to strangers more in order to approve or deny any future business ventures. It should follow the paradigm Gregerman explains in his book: business and personal success = what I already know + my knowledge or understanding gap + a stranger who knows how to fill it in.

Gregerman’s insights towards strangers would make my mom nervous at first. Since I was a little girl she has always taught me not to talk to strangers because they can be bad people. According to Gregerman, we must get over this “stranger danger” paradigm in order to think differently and spark innovation. We must keep an open mind to strangers BECAUSE they are different from us. Most of the time, and I can attest to this, we seek advice from those who are closest and most similar to us. I usually go to my friends when I need advice or another opinion. However, since these people are similar, we aren’t really getting any vastly different thought from what we could have come up with on our own. This claim is backed by a number of different theories, one of them being the attachment theory. It says that infants form powerful attachments to their mothers, providing a secure base from which to explore and grow. Gregerman argues that the groupthink that forms in companies and organizations creates an opposition to people and ideas that are different from the already accepted way of doing things.

One important innovation lesson I learned from visiting Tesla motors and talking to employees was that it’s best to first sell a new product at a high price and low volume, and then gradually work towards a low price and high volume. This was a concept that one of the Tesla representatives explained to me at the store in D.C. and he seemed to really know his stuff. Rather than marketing something expensive to lower-income demographics and hoping that enough sells, this process is the most efficient way for a product to gain popularity. Tesla follows this philosophy because when first making electric cars, it is bound to be expensive. It isn’t until enough people buy the expensive luxury cars that Tesla will be able to achieve bulk deals on inputs, causing the cars to become more affordable. This is why Tesla first released high-end vehicles that would appeal to the very wealthy. Eventually, it is Elon Musk’s goal to create more affordable modest vehicles that would appeal to families and new car buyers. Another important innovation lesson I learned from Tesla is to try to revolutionize the way your product is sold from start to finish. Tesla has turned one of the greatest American consumer experiences – the shopping mall – into its car dealership. If successful, this will completely change how cars are sold in this company. Instead of making car buyers go to the dealer, the dealer comes to the car buyers in one of the places they spend more of their time. People will then be more likely to buy the car if they see it and are tempted by it every time they stop by the mall. It also saves them having to make a trip to a completely different area to view the car in a traditional dealership. This example of Tesla can serve as inspiration for hundreds of other companies looking to change up the place where things are sold. Companies should ask themselves: How can I get in closer proximity to my customers like Tesla has done?

From visiting the various different companies on our trip to D.C., I concluded that the two things that really matter to our generation in a business are

1. Specialized brand niches – Nike is an extremely innovative firm that stands out because it is able to market to specialized customers all over the world. For example, the Nike store in Georgetown had a Georgetown University theme to it, which appealed to the local college and made students feel special, undoubtedly caused a surge in sales. There was Georgetown athletic gear on the models and the floor was even made out of parts of the Georgetown basketball court. This is a way that even a huge worldwide company can make individual customers feel special.

2. Convenience – at this point in time, almost everybody has a smart phone and is accustomed to a fast-paced society. People want to get things done on the go and not have to wait around and waste time – this is why Uber is such a revolutionary innovation. I used Uber for the first time this weekend and I was blown away by how easy it was. Uber was able to disrupt the taxi industry by transforming the service into an app where you can request drivers based on where you need to go. When a driver agreed to come pick us up, a map showed up displaying his car and his estimated time of arrival. An icon also popped up showing our driver’s name and the type of car he drove so we could keep a lookout. Additionally, the app is set up with a credit card number so you don’t have to exchange any cash with the driver at the end of the trip. This saves time for both parties at the end of an Uber ride, and it also creates more safety for the drivers by eliminating the risk of being robbed. Quick and efficient companies are taking over the slower more traditional ones thanks to developing technology and online transactions.

6. Improving my Discovery Skills

The Innovator’s DNA is a powerful model for innovation. Once I learned what it was in class, I realized that it could be applied everywhere. A good way to develop my creativity is to practice using these five steps whenever possible. The first step is associating, which is connecting wildly different ideas, objects, services, technologies, and disciplines to create new inventions. To improve my own associating skills I thought of a problem that I know many people face, especially college students trying to save money and get the most bang for their buck. One late night in my dorm I was getting ready to brush my teeth when I realized that I was extremely low on toothpaste, and the convenience store was closed so I couldn’t run and get more. Therefore, I had to squeeze the life out of my tube until I got the most miniscule amount onto my toothbrush. By associating unrelated ideas, I recalled times back home when my dad and I would make homemade pizza. To make the crust, I needed to use a rolling pin to get the dough as flat as possible. I realized that a rolling pin would have the same effect on a tube of toothpaste and get a lot more out of it than I could. I think a good invention would be a device that you can place your toothpaste tube into and it will automatically roll it out for you before each use.

The second innovator’s DNA step is questioning, which is challenging the status quo by asking a lot of questions to cultivate creative insight. I used this skill one Saturday when my parents were coming to visit me with my cousin from Ireland who was in town. He was very keen on seeing an American university so I wanted to give him a really fun experience. I started trying to plan my family’s visit when I discovered that it was actually pretty hard to figure out what is going on here at UMD on any given day. Sure, clubs and organizations will advertise upcoming events and meetings with flyers or sidewalk chalk in heavily trafficked areas, but as far as I know there isn’t one publicly accessible calendar or database that holds every upcoming event all together. So I used my innovator’s DNA discovery skill to ask, why not? In my current predicament, a public UMD calendar would have been very useful. Clubs could upload their events onto the schedule and then people could view it to plan out their upcoming events. I didn’t stop there. I then asked, what if the public calendar website became a sort of social media? Friends could add each other on the website (that would also double a smart phone app) and see what events each other was attending. This could blossom into a whole world of opportunities. For example, if someone saw that their friend was planning on going to a public service event, one of them could contact the other and arrange to go together. I even dared to ask, what if it became a sort of challenge? Students could be able to check in at every event. The more events a student went to, the more points they would earn to increase their score on the website. This would turn into a sort of challenge where friends would try to increase their score by getting more points than their friends. In addition, this healthy competition between students would benefit the university as a whole by increasing student involvement.

The third innovator’s DNA step is observing. This is described as taking note of a problem or struggle and acknowledging that it needs to be improved. I actually made a creative observation a few days after my inspiring visit to IDEO in New York. One day I was eating Oreos and I noticed that I kept running

into trouble when dunking them in milk. I enjoy a soft, milk-soaked cookie over a hard one. However, I hate getting milk all over my hands and also hate when the cookie gets too soft and breaks in half, sinking to the bottom, only to be retrieved as a soggy pile of milk at the bottom of the glass after I have finished the milk. This acute observation led me to come up with an innovative type of cup specifically for dunking cookies in milk. The cup would have a platform inside that could be shifted up and down the glass with a lever on the side. The cookie is placed on the platform and then lowered into the milk for the desired time. Then it is raised up after the preferred time and eaten. Although I know this prototype isn’t perfect, it helped get my creative juices flowing and proved that I can be creative when I set my mind to it. As long as I continue this type of behavior that I learned from IDEO, I will improve my skills tenfold.

The fourth innovator’s DNA discovery skill is networking, or making connections with many people. This is one of the most important skills that one can have in order to get a job in the future, especially a job in the business world. I decided to improve my networking by following the suggestion in the innovator’s DNA book, which was to following the mealtime networking plan. One week I messaged my friend Kayla to meet me for lunch at Noodles & Company. I am looking for a summer job back home in Annapolis and Kayla works at a bagel place called Naval Bagels. Over lunch I asked her what she likes and dislikes about working there and if it would be a good fit for me. The week after that I went to dinner with my friend Emma and her roommate, Chantel, who is trying to get into the business school like I am. Not only did I make a new friend, I got a new contact who could help encourage me to work hard to get into the Smith school. Next week I have already arranged to go to 251 North on Tuesday with my friend Michelle who is in Terps for Change, a community service club here at UMD that I am interested in joining. I hope to gain more information from her and tips on getting into the club.

The fifth and final discovery skill is experimenting, which is how people try new things and test ideas in order to gain new insight. I did this recently in the dining hall when I encountered an issue. I had stopped into the diner to quickly get a cup of water before I headed off to study at McKeldin. I got a cardboard cup and filled it until I realized that there were no more lids left. I thought about just abandoning my cup of water but then I realized I would regret it when I was thirsty later on. Instead, I went over to the coffee station and decided I would try to see if a coffee cup lid would fit the same on a Pepsi cup. It turns out that the lid fit perfectly and didn’t spill a thing! I’m glad I decided to find a solution to my problem by experimenting with a different lid. I didn’t want to walk so far with an uncovered cup of water because it would splash on me and make me cold.

7. Improving my Networking

To increase my networking potential, I employed my lessons from class and reading The Start-Up of You to create a LinkedIn profile. I noticed right away that the website would soon become a very useful tool for me in the college years to come. By exploring the website and its different features, I overcame most of the learning curve in about 45 minutes. The first thing I did was complete my profile. Once I had my resume down in one place I realized that I don’t really have much to show for my time in college so far. I’m determined to obtain a much more impressive resume, but for the time being I just put up mostly high school organizations and accomplishments. My LinkedIn profile link is https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=385116670&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile_pic.

The next step I took to improve my networking was searching for connections on LinkedIn. I connected with old teachers, classmates, and even my dad who is a small business owner. These people are just the beginning of my future business network, but I know they will offer me with some of the most valuable information. If there’s anything I learned about business people, it’s that they can get very lucky with opportunities that launch their careers. You never know where favorable circumstances will lie, but I’m hoping that by taking the initiative to connect with as many people as I can first, I can increase the odds.

Another networking activity I did was going to one of University of Maryland’s writing centers to get advice on writing a resume. I know that building an impressive resume is absolutely necessary in order to create a competitive advantage to others in my field, so I wanted expert advice on what I should do to make mine outstanding. First of all, I never even knew where the writing center was before this

exercise, so it was good for me to locate this resource for the future. I spoke with a writing counselor and brought my high school resume with me just for critiquing purposes. What the counselor told me was something that I already knew: I need more job experience. However, she gave me the means to make this happen by providing me with helpful websites and services specifically for helping UMD students find jobs and internships. She also showed me different templates that I can use to make my resume look more professional, as well as example cover letters. I’m glad I decided to get advice from someone who knows a lot more than me. She helped me gain new information and provided me with tools that I will use to pursue unique breakout opportunities.

The most rewarding networking activity that I’ve done so far was sitting down and having a long talk with an entrepreneur very close to me: my dad. There are a number of reasons why I admire and look up to my dad, but one of the most obvious one is the fact that he started his own business, Peter Kennedy Yacht Services, and makes a living off of it. I took the time to talk to dad about his business using the abundance of new insights I’ve gained from my BMGT289 class. He graduated university in Ireland as an architect, but has since changed his business plan to something that he is passionate about and challenges him every day. It turns out my dad’s business is more international than I thought. He buys electronic parts from Victron Energy, which is in the Netherlands but makes most of its products in Malaysia and India. He then exports all of these parts all over the world. Sometimes my dad will send me the address of a package that he is shipping to somewhere particularly obscure, then the two of us will marvel at the location when we look it up on Google Earth. He told me his best customer is in Australia, so the stuff that was made in Asia is almost going all the way back to where it came from.

One feat that my dad took on years ago was making his own website. However, he recently hired an Indian company, suntecindia.net, to take all the stuff off his old website and put it on a new and improved website. It was a month’s worth of work for one person, plus a bit of time for his supervisor. According to my dad they did a great job, it all got done, and the cost for the month was $500.

All of this new information taught me that thanks to today's technology driven society, we are all connected on so many levels. Therefore, it's much easier for people in the U.S. to outsource their work to places overseas for much cheaper, and a lot of times, to a much higher caliber. Because of this it's also much harder for people here in the U.S. to get a job here because we now have to stand out against competitors all over the world instead of in a smaller scope. This is why networking is so important. It allows us to form personal connections and relationships that others can’t replicate.

8. How "The Start-Up of You" Shaped my Career Planning

As Ben Casnocha, co-author of The Start-Up of You, once said: “we make connections with strangers by laughing at the same shit.” We live in an information age, so everyone wants the latest and greatest ideas. Even if someone is of a much higher status, you can always offer him or her information, because that is the one thing that people can never get enough of no matter who they are.

While I still don’t have much job experience yet, I have a good idea of what my strengths and weaknesses are based on my personal experiences in and out of school. I believe that a company will hire me over other professionals because I place a unique importance on my peers to help improve myself. Unlike others, I believe in learning from my failures and using them to improve and move forward. Whether it's hosting prospective students as a member of the UMD Highriser program, or taking business networking trips to NYC, I capitalize on every opportunity that comes my way in order to absorb new knowledge about the world and connect with others. I thrive in group settings because I believe the most valuable resource we have to develop creativity is each other.

From this book I learned how to develop my competitive advantage by finding the intersection of my assets, aspirations, and market realities. Aspirations shape what I do, but what I do also shapes my aspirations. My identity isn’t found; it emerges. I learned that there are always industries, places, and people with momentum. I need to put myself in a position to ride the waves instead of getting stuck in a rut. The book explained that I can learn new skills to be successful, or I can put myself in a market niche where my existing assets shine brighter than those of others. For example, college basketball players who don’t make it into the NBA here in America will go play in European leagues where their skills are much more valued.

This book also gave me a newfound awareness that I need to plan to adapt. Contrary to what I had previously believed, it is possible to follow a plan AND be flexible. I have to both listen to my heart as well as listen to the market. ABZ planning is an adaptive approach that promotes trial and error in business plans.

A good plan A can be stopped/reversed/morphed into a plan B and minimizes the cost of failure. My plan A at the moment is to work at a marketing firm, perhaps in D.C., where I will exercise my creativity while also working across a spectrum of business activities. A major skill I need for this profession is critical thinking. Critical thinking is the foundation on which modern business professionals build their careers. It is a key skill that leads to creative thinking, which in turn leads to problem solving. All of these are skills that I believe I am on the right track to obtaining. I also plan on applying for multiple internships in the area that have to do with marketing and business strategy. However, so that I don’t end up stuck in one position, I will keep my job options open and always be on the lookout for new opportunities. The Start-Up of You explains that it’s important to have patience and think in the long run, not just strive for immediate success. For example, my first job in this field will most likely not be the best. However, it’s important to trust the journey. Anywhere I work will teach me something. Then when I feel like my time there has reached an end, I will move on to other options. I’m going to try to think at least two steps ahead at all times so that I won’t just choose the best option presented to me, but instead consider where I want to sooner or later end up.

A plan B is a slight pivot from my plan A when I decide that I need a bigger change. Pivoting is changing direction to get somewhere else based on what you have learned along the way. If my plan A doesn’t turn out as planned, my plan B is to change my focus somehow. I very well might decide that marketing is not for me, so I need to have a backup plan for something else I can do in business. My plan B if I veer off track is to go into advertising, which is similar to marketing but a little different. The Start-Up of You taught me that unless I need to take immediate action, one way to begin the process of pivoting is to start my potential plan B on the side of my plan A. That way, changing plans is not as risky because I was slightly working on my plan B all along. To work on my plan B on the side I will do some self-teaching about the advertising industry by reading books and articles on the subject. While still in my plan A, I can sit in on meetings at my company that aren’t required. Whichever company I work at will likely have an advertising team, so getting advice and learning from what they do is the best way to ensure that I am doing good planning.

If working in marketing and in advertising both fail, my plan Z is to become an independent entrepreneur. With the wisdom I gain from my job experience I’m sure I will have some creative ideas stowed away in my internal vault. Perhaps I could do some work at my dad’s company to find inspiration. As time goes on, I will also have a much larger network that could help me be successful if I do come up with a good business plan.

I am so thankful to have read The Start-Up of You because it introduced the entirely new idea of ABZ planning that I never would have come up with on my own. In regards to career planning, I know that the fear of failure will never go away, but it can be face head-on with careful planning. The way to feel comfortable with the future is to have one strategy that is fairly certain. The certainty of the plan B backstop is what enables me to be aggressive, not tentative about my plan A.