George is a Partner in Oliver Wyman Labs and in the North American Retail Practice. After his first six years after college when he worked in IBM’s research lab tinkering with technology, George has spent his career finding ways to harness technology to solve business problems.
Experience can either hold you to the past or provide insights that help you see the future. I’ve witnessed early in my career at IBM Research that the scientists did the latter, but when I transitioned into the business side of IBM, the executives did the former. I took away the clear need to not let the past hold me down, not only in the way I think but also in the career path I have taken.
George exhibits the classic left-right brain dichotomy: he’s a professional mechanical engineer (left brain) and a classical musician and calligrapher (right brain). He finds that the combination of the two often leads to interesting solutions. This is how he explains coming up with idea for using the technology built originally for his second mobile startup — a military application for low-cost, bomb-sensing probes — to launch his third startup, a pioneering mobile multi-player gaming platform.
George enjoys finding ways to help his clients be successful building businesses around emerging market opportunities. He’s been a consultant for almost 20 years, and while technology has rapidly advanced, the thrill of harnessing it has remained a constant.
I think we are best when we deliver change to the humans who are our clients. It’s important to be passionate about people, both your clients and those you work with.