Every Generation Gets the Same Mountains

Recently, a childhood friend tagged me in a Facebook post linking to a YouTube video called Why Nobody Wants to Visit the Poconos, Pennsylvania Anymore. I clicked expecting a little nostalgia. I grew up there, after all, and figured I'd spend half an hour recognizing familiar places before getting on with my day.

Which is not where this story goes.  Stay with me, this is a long one.

For years, I've worked with researchers, inventors, and founders trying to turn ideas into companies. One of the hardest lessons to teach isn't how to launch a product; it's convincing people not to become one-trick ponies. A first success is wonderful, but it can also become a trap. Once customers love what you've built, it's only natural to spend your time making it better, faster, cheaper, or easier to scale. 

What's much harder is imagining that the thing people love today might not be the thing they'll want tomorrow, which is how one-trick ponies are made. Not because people lack talent or ambition, but because success has a way of narrowing our imagination. We become so busy refining what works that we forget to ask what might come next.

Now- back to the video.

Growing up, I never thought much about the resorts that dotted the Poconos. Buck Hill Inn, where I celebrated my senior prom, was less than a mile from my house as the crow flies. Mount Airy Lodge sat on my route to school, and I drove through its grounds nearly every weekday from fifth grade until I graduated from high school. They weren't destinations to me. They were simply part of everyday life.

I wasn't surprised to learn Buck Hill was gone or that Mount Airy had become something else; I already knew both of those things. What surprised me was seeing their history laid out end to end. For the first time, I wasn't thinking about them as places I happened to know but as ideas. Each represented someone's answer to the question, Why would people come to the Poconos?

When I was growing up, the answer seemed obvious. The Poconos were where people went on their honeymoon- it was, after all, “The Honeymoon Capital of the World.” That identity felt so established that it was easy to assume it had always existed. (spoiler alert- it hadn't, because before honeymooners came wealthy families escaping the summer heat. Before them came visitors seeking fresh mountain air and the promise of better health) After the honeymoon era waned there was skiing, water parks, casinos, hiking, outlet shopping, and countless other experiences. The mountains though, never changed. What changed was the imagination of the people who looked at those mountains and saw new possibilities.

Once I started looking at the resorts that way, I realized I wasn't really watching the story of a vacation destination anymore. I was watching generations of entrepreneurs answer that same question in completely different ways. For a while, each of them had the right answer, but every answer had a shelf life. The entrepreneurs who realized the answer had changed wrote the next chapter. The ones who assumed yesterday's answer would always be enough eventually became part of the previous one.

That doesn't mean the Poconos rose and fell for a single reason. Changing travel habits, affordable airfare, economic shifts, competition from other destinations, and countless other factors all played a role. But what struck me was that every new chapter seemed to begin with someone who saw possibilities the previous generation hadn't. They weren't necessarily better hotel operators or better business people. They simply looked at the same landscape and imagined a different future.

Many of the resorts that had defined earlier eras never made that leap - not because they were lazy or incompetent, but because, in many cases, they became exceptionally good at delivering exactly the experience they had promised for decades. Their challenge wasn't so much a failure of execution as it was a failure of imagination. Resort owners kept refining yesterday's answer while a new generation of visitors was hungry for today's answer, and by the time they recognized it, someone else was already imagining tomorrow's.

I see versions of that story all the time in the innovation world. Founders become attached to products, universities become attached to programs, and organizations become attached to services that once set them apart. None of those things are inherently bad; in fact, they're usually the result of years of thoughtful work and genuine success. The danger comes when that success convinces us that tomorrow will reward us for becoming even better at yesterday's answer instead of challenging us to ask what will tomorrow's look like.

That's why I spend so much time warning founders about becoming one-trick ponies. I'm not suggesting they abandon successful products every time a new technology appears or a new trend catches everyone's attention. I'm encouraging them to protect their imagination, because the companies that endure aren't always the ones with the best first idea. They're the ones that continue asking what comes next, even while their current answer is still working.

By the time the video ended, I realized it hadn't made me nostalgic at all. It reminded me that innovation isn't simply about creativity or clever ideas. It's about protecting your imagination. It takes imagination to create something new the first time; it takes even more imagination to recognize when the world has changed and to ask a different question before someone else does.

Ultimately, I realized I hadn't been watching a video about the Poconos at all. I'd been learning about entrepreneurs.

The video mentioned several times “the mountains remained.” What changed was the answer to a simple question: Why would people come here? One generation answered with grand hotels, another answered with honeymoon resorts, skiing, casinos, water parks, and outdoor adventure. None of those answers lasted forever, but each reflected someone who looked at the same mountains and imagined a different future.

Watching that history unfold reminded me that the people who shaped the Poconos weren't necessarily the ones who built the biggest hotels or operated them the best. They were the ones who realized the old answer was losing its power and had the imagination to offer a new one.

I think that's the hardest part of innovation. It isn't inventing something once. It's refusing to believe your first success is your last answer. Whether you're building a startup, leading an organization, or trying to reinvent an entire region, today's success can become tomorrow's blind spot if we're not careful. The work isn't simply making yesterday's answer better. It's recognizing when the answer has changed - and having the curiosity to imagine the next one before someone else does.

 

There is Always a Way

 

In 1959 my grandmother, a teacher in a low-income area in Northern Nevada, appeared on the popular show, “Queen for a Day.” Her wish, if she were to become “Queen,” was that each child in her school would have milk every day. While she didn’t win, it wasn’t long until a federal program provided weekly milk deliveries to the school. Children had milk every day, and even took milk home for the weekend. Statistics eventually showed that her school outpaced all similar schools in the United States for milk consumption. 

The clock she won that day occupied a place of honor in her house for forty years, and when she passed it came to me.  More than just a reminder of what time it is, it has served as a reminder for me that there is always a way.  No milk for students or money to get it?  My grandmother went on a game show.  No paper for students to write on?  She went to the Court House and got old ballots and write on the backs.  No books for the students to read?  She collected comic books and magazines for them.  There was always a way. 

            As I look back on my undergraduate career, I realize that “there’s always a way” could be my catch phrase.  I started college as a French major (Technical Writing and Translation) but got distracted along the way to my degree.  30 years later, I am set to graduate in ten days with no student loan debt.  Working at universities and taking advantage of tuition assistance and Qualified Tuition Reduction may have lengthened my college career, but I’ve finally reached my goal.  There’s always a way.

            Since 2018, I’ve been fortunate to work at Tech Launch Arizona (TLA), helping University of Arizona researchers find a way to commercialize their inventions and create impact beyond academia.  In my current position I manage a National Science Foundation-grant funded program (NSF I-Corps) designed to teach customer discovery skills to innovators who want to become entrepreneurs and start their own companies. Historically, teams that participate in this program are led and mentored by men, and with help from my TLA peers I’m working to encourage more women inventors to think about commercialization as a viable path for their work.  I have also been actively recruiting women and BIPOC mentors for the participating I-Corps teams.  At this time, I’m developing a “mini I-Corps” program for female innovators based on Ohio State’s REACH for Commercialization series.  I expect to hold the first cohort in Spring 2021 and teach women researchers at the University of Arizona that there’s always a way for their work to make an impact.

            Because I’ve worked so closely with entrepreneurs during my time at TLA, I’ve developed an appreciation for the process, and I’d like to help others through it.  I believe that by earning a Master of Science in Entrepreneurship I can be not only a more valuable employee at the University, but I can help forward the goals of Tech Launch Arizona by assisting more of our researchers commercialize their inventions.  I also plan on pursuing a graduate certificate in Human Rights Practice when it becomes available, to help women and BIPOC inventors find the way to surmount the obstacles they face on their way to entrepreneurship.

            There’s always a way.

Make the boat go faster

When I say "Make the Boat Go Faster" what do I really mean?  I say it all the time, anyone who knows me personally has heard the phrase at least once.  Anyone who's ever received a job application from me has seen it.

But what does it really mean?

The short answer is that everyone has a job to do.

The long answer requires some background.

In 2001 I worked for a company that was part of a worldwide group of companies.  Although my workplace was in Nevada, the headquarters of the group is in Sweden.  This often caused some disconnect, not only because of time zones, but also because of cultural differences.

Case in point:  Corporate decided the group would sponsor a yacht in the Volvo Ocean Race.  My immediate coworkers were baffled.  Why would we care about some boat race, when we have NASCAR and football right here?  Who watches boats?

It was going to be a hard sell, but fortunately, the president of our company, Bob Cook, was up to the task.

Bob started out by explaining that Corporate wanted to encourage unity throughout the group.  Lofty goals, considering the group consisted of dozens of companies spread over every continent on the globe.  Tens of thousands of employees from all backgrounds and nationalities.

Then he broke it down further. 

"What do you do here?" he asked one of the production team.  "I make electromagnetic locks."
"What do you do here?" he asked one of the techs.  "I answer customer questions and troubleshoot problems."
"What do you do here?" he asked me.  "I design ads, catalogs, packaging, and write articles."

"Not any more.  What you all do here now is one thing.  The same thing.  You make the boat go faster."

You could almost see the question marks pop up over confused brows.

Bob explained that when Rich answered the client's questions, Les didn't have to, which allowed Les to do his job.  When Les did his job, Mike could do his, and so on up and over and around until we got to "And when Josh on the shore team does HIS job, then Mark Rudiger can do his job of navigating, and our boat will go faster.  Oh, by the way, did you know that Mark Rudiger is from Reno, Nevada?  And that the sails used on our boat are made in Minden, Nevada?"

That day I realized that no matter what I actually DO at a job, the reason I'm there is to make the boat go faster. 

Years later, I held the position of Administrative Assistant in the Facilities Department at the University of Kansas.  During a staff roundtable, Vice Chancellor of Public Affairs Tim Caboni asked a few of us what we did.  When he got to me, I said "I help educate students."  (in my head, I still said "I make the boat go faster.")

People that knew me scratched their heads, I didn't interact at all with students in that position.  But Chancellor Caboni smiled.  "And how do you do that?"  "I make sure they have functioning classrooms, well-lit building spaces, clean restrooms, and working equipment.  You might say that I am actually the most important person on campus." 

That brought a laugh, but it was true- my job description included sending technicians to fix what was broken, clean what was messy, and maintain what was working.  Without me, the students would not be able to learn as well.  I was an important part of what made the University of Kansas run.


No matter what you do at your job, make sure you're making the boat go faster.  Find your company's core goal and make sure that everything you do makes that goal happen.

I'm proud to say that because of my efforts, my VOR team came from behind to clinch second place.  Just think of what I could do to make YOUR boat go faster!

With friends like this...

"Well you didn't REALLY think you had a shot at that, did you?"

This, a while back, from a friend while I was lamenting the fact that I didn't get a sailing syndicate job I'd applied for.

What the hell kind of stupid question was that? Of course I had a shot! I'd done the same kind of job before, I'm highly qualified, I'm enthusiastic, I WAS PERFECT FOR IT. The only drawback was that I was in Kansas, not England. Pfft. Easily surmounted.

But that night...

"But the tigers come at night. With their voices soft as thunder. And they tear your hope apart. And they turn your dream to shame."

Stupid tigers. I should know better than to listen to them, but they were just repeating what my friend had said, over and over, adding little bits of their own commentary throughout the night, until I woke up the next day POSITIVE that I'd been on crack when I thought that I could do ANY job, let alone a job with a high-end sail racing syndicate.

I moped about until my husband asked me what was wrong.

"I should have never trah-ha-hied! What made me think I cooooould? I'll neh-he-hever..." ad nauseum, with tears.

Being the good husband, he listened patiently, and then said "Magnus thought you could."

Over the years, that has been sort of a refrain for my husband. Whenever I get down, my faith in my abilities starts to flag, he reminds me that a man who was the best in the world at what he did thought that I was good enough.

I think about that a lot when I'm feeling like I'll never reach my goals. And I take a breath, look at the future and think "Yeah. Magnus thought I could." Some days that's all it takes- one person to have faith in you.  (one person for me, besides my husband that is)

Who is that person for you? And are you that person for someone?

What I'm going to do next

OK my loves and my lovlies. We've had a few days to process our reactions to the election, and for many of us, and for many of our loved ones, it looks like a bumpy ride ahead.

We cannot each throw our full energy at all the things that are going to be needing our help in the years to come. I know we all support many things, but if we tried to be active in all our causes, we'd burn ourselves out, thereby being no good to anyone, especially ourselves.

SO. This is what I propose.

Pick something. Pick the cause that resonates with you the most and throw your energy at it. I will pick the cause that resonates most with me and throw my energy at it. I will support your cause, and you will support mine, and we'll find intersectionality where we can work together on our causes.

If we all pick our causes, and link them together, we'll form a sort of web of support for ALL the causes. (think those little gold Nova ships in Guardians of the Galaxy)

My cause is the environment. I will do my best to make sure all of us have a planet to live on. This is more than just saving the whales or using cloth grocery bags. I will put my energy toward stopping climate change, so that drought doesn't exacerbate civil wars in Africa, so that indigenous people the world over aren't forced from their homes due to rising ocean levels. I will do what I can to make sure that kids in every country in the world have clean water to drink.

That's what I'm going to do. What are you going to do and how do our causes intersect?

Magnus

**EDIT**
Do I put the bad news at the beginning or the end?  The beginning I guess.

By now you probably know.  You know we've lost one of the best and brightest.  We've lost an incandescent smile, a heart as big as any ocean, a giant.

I worked with Magnus for just a few weeks, but have thought about him often (like- every day) for a decade.  He was just so NICE.  I knew nothing about sailing when we met, I was a glorified groupie- running errands and making coffee.  Magnus made me feel like I was a terribly important part of the team.  That what I was doing was helping them succeed.  A big hug and a kiss every time he saw me- he was the best at the world at what he did but he took the time to make a nobody landlubber feel important.

That was his gift.  Beyond being a legendary sailor, he had the ability to make every single person he met feel important.  It was no joke.  To him, everyone WAS important.

I am heartbroken, caught between being enraged at the circumstances and crawling into bed and hiding in my sadness.

As I've said several times already since hearing the news, the only consolation is there is a new star in the heavens for sailors to navigate by.

Godspeed Mange.  You changed my life.  You will be missed.

***************************************************

What a shocker this morning as I read SCA's press release about Magnus Olsson:

Team SCA Information

2013-04-19
Very sadly Magnus Olsson, one of the coaches for Team SCA, SCA's participation in the Volvo Ocean Race, suffered a stroke this week. He is receiving the best medical care and our thoughts are with him and his family.

Magnus (Mange) is one of my favorite people.  I've written about him before.  I worked with him in Miami with the ASSA ABLOY Racing Team back in the day. 

It is impossible to know Magnus and NOT love him.  As Patrick Shaughnessy (President of Farr Yacht Design) tweeted "Wishing Magnus Olsson, everyone’s favorite sailor, and worlds most smiley person, a speedy recovery. Get well Mange."

Here's hoping he recovers quickly.

Goals and movies and heeey Macarena!

A bit discombobulated this morning, but if I don't keep writing, I'll stop writing.

What have you done to reach your goals?

What would you do to reach your goals?

My high school principal urged me to read "What Color is Your Parachute" to help me figure out a career path.

My husband urges me to set goals and plan for them.

I get that goals are important.

Mother Nature has given me the attention span of a gnat (I had ADD before ADD was cool), and the economy has laid me off five times.

These last two things sort of overwhelm the first few.

Heck- right now if you were to observe what's going on in my brain, the brain that should be concentrating on writing, you'd see bits of the X Files, you'd hear Sammy Davis Jr. AND the Macarena, you'd see thoughts of baking bread, that woman has a lot of cats, thank God it's nice out today, I wonder if my breakfast is done cooking and OH HEY BLOG POST.

And I've gotten off track. 

I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT GOALS. (Uh, no, I'm, I'm calling about a suit, about, about Bob's suit. I'm calling about BOB'S SUIT!)

How do YOU set them?  How do YOU achieve them?  How do you decide if they're realistic or just unrealistic enough to try anyway?

How do you distinguish between a want and a goal?

What are your goals and can I help you reach them?