Trying to Keep Up With a Bunch of Speedy, Acrobatic Birds

Given that my time at Ashoka has shaped my own narrative in profound ways, I feel like this little birthday card might be the best way to say “so long” and, most of all, “THANK YOU”.

My last two years with Ashoka have definitely been a growth experience unlike any other in my life so far.  Before arriving, I had settled into a comfortable persona as the “crazy creative guy” at McKinsey… but coming to Ashoka quickly redefined my notions of both creativity and craziness.  I felt like a structure-obsessed ogre desperately trying to keep up with a bunch of speedy and acrobatic birds, flying from one new idea to the next and tying them all together in three different ways each day!  Working with so many graceful, bedeviling creatures has been a tremendous opportunity to seek the balance between structure and freedom, prescriptiveness and flexibility… and it’s been really, really fun (almost) the whole time!

In terms of next steps, I’m working to launch my own venture here in Berlin, aimed at increasing connectivity and collaboration among different grassroots communities in my neighbourhood of Neukolln.  Or, to put it less pretentiously, I’m gonna be opening a café :-) 

Again – thanks for an amazing two years, hope you keep things crazy and beautiful around here, and hope to see you again soon (in one way or another).

This story was submitted to the Ashoka 30th Birthday Card.