Sage Summit 2015

Sage Summit highlights from Techvibes

Sage Summit 2015

William McDonough attended Sage Summit 2015 this past week in New Orleans. Sage Summit draws together a diverse community of industry leaders and professionals, to network and learn from peers. Bre Pettis, founder of MakerBot, Dolly Singh, former head of talent acquisition for SpaceC and Oculus VR, participated in a panel discussion with William McDonough, entitled “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.” Jacob Serebrin of Techvibes, highlighted a few key takeaways from the conversation.

By thinking about things in a different light, you can turn a negative into a positive, Serebrin explains. McDonough was faced with a challenge while designing a motorcycle factory in India: finding a source for groundwater and being able to replace it according State of Rajasthan law.  McDonough was able to utilize the plant’s power system to capture up to six million gallons of water from the air, each year. This led to a surge in new employment opportunities for local residents.  McDonough’s challenge was used as an example of turning a negative into a positive.

Diversity was highlighted by Dolly Singh. To have revolutionary change, you must go against tradition by hiring people from outside the standard mode, according to Singh. When it comes to hiring, “If they’re not so good that you wouldn’t care if they were the boss or you’re the boss, then they’re probably not worth it,” states Singh. In her experience, Singh only hires individuals who make amazing things by having diverse thoughts and ideas which results in new findings every day.

Read Jacob Serebrin’s full article on techvibes.com.