Jason Kessler – Case Study

V-Teamwork Alumni - Jason Kessler

Job Title: Project Director Company: Mission Control for Earth

Tell us what you do and what your work typically involves.

I design, lead and facilitate innovative large-scale science and community-based projects and programs. I work across many boundaries: geographical, organizational, disciplinary. Recent examples are NASA’s Asteroid Grand Challenge which used public private partnership, citizen science, and crowdsourcing to accelerate NASA’s hunt for hazardous asteroids (before they find us). In another recent program, we worked with Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade InnovationXchange and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID),  to source, support, and scale innovations globally to improve the quantity and quality of food worldwide to address malnutrition and health challenges.

In my current role, Mission Control for Earth (MCE) serves as a north star coalescing action around managing our planet better. A philanthropically funded project, MCE seeks to understand how to best support informed, interactive decision-making using Earth system data at local and regional scales and over seasonal time frames.

Typically my work involves conversations between many stakeholders, some of them very senior. Conversations to align on goals; conversations to reframe problems in novel ways that reveal new possibilities for collaboration; and conversations that keep diverse networks of participants focused and coordinated on project outcomes. I also manage budgets and funding arrangements.

How has V-Teamwork helped you become more effective / level up/ develop as a contributor?

What I would say is that it created a new awareness and expanded my consciousness around the innovation opportunities in my work. The V-Teamwork experience was a window into the way I operate. It was a safe environment to look at myself in action: learning with a global team also helped push me and exposed me to new ways of thinking about problems and approaching challenges in completely original ways.

I’ve been fortunate to have some great learning experiences in my career but the difference in the V-Teamwork experience is in the shared learning. It’s a whole other dynamic to be learning in action and in psychological safety with a team of people. We were really in it together: doing the work in the team, but also operating at a meta-level in a safe place allowing me to extend my growth and learning. So yes, V-Teamwork Core Skills brought a lot more awareness of what I’m actually doing in my work with people -- so I can then focus on what really matters and do it better.

What did you most enjoy about being part of V-Teamwork?

The thing that strikes me most about my v-teamwork experience is that it put me in conversations with awesome people that I otherwise wouldn’t have any opportunity to engage with, not only on a human-to-human level, but also in the thrill of being thrown into a group learning experience.

The other nice part is that the work we did by ourselves between each in-game session makes it relevant to everyday situations.

What’s something you approached differently recently because of what you learned in V-Teamwork?

I’m not sure that I approach things differently.  I would say that I approach things with more self-awareness and inner confidence.   V-Teamwork has been an important part of my journey to becoming more inwardly confident and outwardly competent to take on bigger projects, to gain the trust of stakeholders who operate at a more global level and on a bigger, more ambitious scale. I need to operate in a much deeper and much more robust way to play on that stage.

How has V-Teamwork helped you become more effective / level up/ develop as a contributor?

What I would say is that it created a new awareness and expanded my consciousness around the innovation opportunities in my work. The V-Teamwork experience was a window into the way I operate. It was a safe environment to look at myself in action: learning with a global team also helped push me and exposed me to new ways of thinking about problems and approaching challenges in completely original ways.

I’ve been fortunate to have some great learning experiences in my career but the difference in the V-Teamwork experience is in the shared learning. It’s a whole other dynamic to be learning in action and in psychological safety with a team of people. We were really in it together: doing the work in the team, but also operating at a meta-level in a safe place allowing me to extend my growth and learning. So yes, V-Teamwork Core Skills brought a lot more awareness of what I’m actually doing in my work with people -- so I can then focus on what really matters and do it better.

If you’re still not sure, here is a little bit more about us...

Our customers can't stop talking about us

 

After doing the program, executives, managers and team members are delighted at the way they can create a collaborative culture, hold people accountable and transform previously difficult relationships.

We’ve worked with some of the best in the business

 

Through our work with executives and managers at multinational tech companies and major government organisations, we know what’s involved in leading high-level, high-performing teams, and we’ve ensured that our program will deliver results for the most senior of managers.

Our expertise spans many disciplines

 

Our program is founded on world-leading research in behavioural science, games and gamification, biology of cognition, philosophy of language and somatics.

Our own team brings together more than a decade of experience in ontological and somatic coaching, action-learning methods, management consulting, organizational development, and user experience design.