John Kay

Have you ever seen a design squiggle? If you have, then you already know something about me. My bio is like a design squiggle. It confuses linear thinkers. It confounds the keyword recognition systems used by recruiting software. And I couldn’t be happier. Long before my business education, I obtained an undergraduate degree in English literature and philosophy. I read Shakespeare and Jane Austin. Plato and John Stuart Mill. I learned to write – and I did a lot of it. But mostly I learned to look for patterns, complexities, interconnections, the nature of humanity and the human brain. How people make sense of the everyday world. Studying English and philosophy was better training for the business world than I ever could have imagined. After graduation, I ended up working in government. I despised the drudgery of bureaucracy. But I loved the idea of public service and public policy. Finding solutions to real-world problems. My time in government gave me a fascinating opportunity to study one of the most complex systems ever created by humankind. After leaving government, I embarked on my next – and totally unexpected – journey. The world of business. Another zigzag. Another wild ride. It’s taken me across industries as diverse as insurance, corporate travel and finance. I co-founded an online media company, briefly owned a weekly newspaper, and tried to co-launch an affordable housing start-up. When I started out, I knew nothing about any of these industries. If you’ve ever been in the backcountry without a GPS, you know what I experienced. I’ve had successes and failures. I’ve learned a lot about navigating change, finding solutions, understanding human experience and human interaction. I’ve tinkered, designed and created. Along the way, I added an MBA and an accounting designation. More squiggly lines in my bio. So what am I? An innovator, design thinker, entrepreneur, problem solver. An observer of human interaction and experience. I am a creative and a quant. And I’m in no hurry to smooth out the design squiggle that is my life and career.