I Out-Googled Google

Last week a friend, former professor of mine, and leading authority on computer security posted on Google+ a recommendation that people who have Google accounts should enable two-factor authentication. Basically this means that, if Google doesn't recognize your device or location, it asks you for confirmation via another medium (phone or text) in case your account has been hacked, phone has been stolen, etc.

I use Google a LOT: Gmail, Google Voice, Google+, Google Calendar, Google Analytics, etc. etc. Although I wasn't wild about the idea of adding a small hassle to my Google login experience, I figured it was worthwhile to prevent what would be an absolute catastrophe if my Google account were compromised.

So I went to my Google Account page and checked the box for two-factor authentication. The website then walked me through a few steps explaining the process and setting it up. When it came time to enter my phone number, I wavered a bit. Would it be a problem if I used a Google Voice number for my Google Account verification? It wasn't clear to me from the website if it would be or not. I didn't want to use my AT&T mobile number in case I changed it in the future and forgot to come back and update my two-factor authentication.

It was a bit of a quandary. I tested the notification with Google's "test run" tool, though, and it worked fine with my Google Voice number so that gave me confidence to proceed with that number. With a big warning that I was about to be signed out of all my Google accounts, I clicked the final Submit button.

When I tried to log back in, as expected, it said it was sending me a text to confirm my authenticity. The text never came. I waited . . . and the text still never came. When I checked my phone, I had been logged out of all my Google services there too and it was clear that, as I had originally feared, I was in a bit of a Google catch 22.

I searched through Google Help and it turns out that they have a way to let you back into your account if you find yourself locked out - whew! It would take up to 24 hours and would be a huge inconvenience, but not the end of the world. I set it in motion immediately. Then I received something unexpected: a call.

It turns out that, even though I was locked out of Google Voice, Google Voice was still forwarding phone calls to my mobile number. It was probably forwarding text messages too, but I had long since disabled that feature as I preferred to receive the messages just in my Google Voice app. Doh!

Once I discovered this fact, I was able to change my second authentication factor to voice instead of text. This worked like a champ and I was able to log in to my Google account - briefly! Then the Google account reclamation mechanism that I had initiated earlier kicked in and locked me out again for several hours until I finally received an email from them to reset my password.

So in the end it caused me nearly a full day of inconvenience and and no access to my Google accounts. While it was technically my fault, I would have hoped that Google would have anticipated my predicament a bit. At the very least, a warning to proceed carefully if using a Google Voice number would have helped. More helpful yet would have been some automated identification that the number I'd entered was a Google Voice number.

Even though I now have figured out how to get by this catch 22, I have irrationally disabled two-factor authentication anyway. The trauma of what happened has left me craving the safety of the previous status quo. Again, I don't thing Google has done anything technically wrong here, but I hope they'll take this experience as data about their usability and the effect it has on adoption of their features.

Successes and Failures

It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks. For some time I have been intensely focused on the CleanTech Open, a nation-wide contest of startups that are working on the challenges of energy, water, and buildings. We were honored to have been selected as semifinalists for the South Central Region back in May. Finally in late September we competed against the other regional semifinalists at the Clean Energy Venture Summit in Austin. Each company presented a 10-minute pitch and answered questions for 5 minutes from a panel of VC judges.

Long story short: Smart Office Energy Solutions placed third. Anyone who knows how competitive I am will realize that anything short of first place will come as a sore disappointment to me. Still, third place is enough (barely!) to advance to the national finals in San Jose, so I am pleased that we will have another shot. Between now and then we will be focused on addressing the areas of our business and our presentation that prevented us from taking home the gold. Hopefully we'll perform better on the national stage in November!

In a similar vein, last week I returned to Third Coast Training to do another metabolic profile. The good news: my resting metabolic rate has increased by more than 200 calories per day! I attribute this to moving from a calorie restrictive diet to one in which I'm eating plenty - just better foods. Also, my aerobic and anaerobic threshold heart rates have moved up, meaning that I am running faster and at higher intensities with lower levels of effort. This is the result of my running training and other anaerobic fitness conditioning.

The bad news: just as I did last time, I quit the running test too early. I felt like I was completely tapped out but, based on the level of lactate in my bloodstream, I probably could have kept going for another several minutes at greater speeds. This comes as a shock to someone who has typically regarded himself as having a high tolerance for pain. I've spent most of my life in short bursts of intensity, though, so now I need to work on sustaining such levels of discomfort for longer durations.

So in both my professional and personal life I am both achieving successes and enduring failures. Clearly my goal is to learn from the failures to increase the magnitude and frequency of the successes. This can be a somewhat frustrating experience, but it sure helps having "secure bases," people who love and support me no matter what, all around.

Austin is Awesome!

I came to Austin to compete in the CleanTech Open and attend the Clean Energy Venture Summit but, as long as I was already going to be here, Katie came up and brought Max and we stayed an extra day for a mini vacation. We've always liked Austin a lot and periodically we discuss whether we should be living there instead of Houston. Having a dog with us has added more points in Austin's favor but the debate is still inconclusive. Following are a few thoughts about how the two cities differ:

Social Culture: Austin has a more laid-back, hippie vibe whereas Houston has more of a formal business-driven culture. Winner: Austin

Active Culture: Austin wins by far when it comes to fitness and outdoor activities. Pedestrian friendly, biker friendly, outdoor activities friendly - Austin is basically everything that Houston isn't in this regard. With a big spring-fed natural open swimming pool right (Barton Springs) and running/walking trails around the lakes, it's positively easy to be outdoor-active. Plus, as we discovered on this trip, both the social and active culture extend to pet owners. Most restaurants with patios are dog-friendly outside and there are many off-leash parks throughout the city. We even took Max for his first swim in the tributary right by Barton Springs! Winner: Austin by a mile

Arts Culture: While Austin does have some of the visual and performing arts, Houston is clearly the heavyweight between the two. Austin has a few indie arts festivals but I would frankly rather be a visitor for those than a local. With world class symphony, opera, ballet, and theater - not to mention acclaimed art and science museums, Houston wins this one by a landslide.

Food: Culture: Austin has more natural/hippie options (It is the HQ of Whole Foods, after all!) while Houston has more options for fine dining. Houston is closer to the coast and offers a wide range of fresh, local seafood. Winner: Houston

Climate: Houston and Austin are pretty close geographically and have very similar climates. Houston has more humidity, rainfall, and then there's that occasional hurricane. Winner: Austin

Scenery: Austin's rolling hill country and lakescapes are absolutely beautiful. Houston, well . . . Winner: Austin

Urban Lifestyle: For both sustainability reasons and personal convenience, I prefer to live an urban lifestyle, living, working, socializing, etc. within the boundaries of a central hub. While Houston still requires a car to get around (Oh how I miss Lausanne!), I do spend 90% of my time within a 3-mile radius. Austin has made some strides in this area recently but I still get the impression that you need to drive all over the spread-out town. Winner: Houston

Internationalization: Although the demographics of the two cities are relatively similar, Houston has a much more international outlook than Austin. With 89 foreign consulates, Houston has the third-largest foreign diplomatic presence after Washington DC and New York City. Many people I meet in Houston are from other places outside of the US; they speak multiple languages and have traveled the world. Most people I meet in Austin are pretty focused on Texas. Having lived and worked abroad I really appreciate the global mindset. Winner: Houston

Travel: Katie and I both enjoy traveling and both Houston and Austin are centrally located, able to reach just about anywhere in the continental US within 4ish hours of flight time. Houston's airport is much, much bigger, though, and has more direct flights throughout the US. For international travel, Houston is the only option. Winner: Houston

School: Austin likes to boast that they don't need pro sports teams because they have the University of Texas. I think that's really cool, especially since I like college sports better than pro sports. However, I don't like UT and I have no desire to build out a wardrobe of burnt orange! Austin has UT; Houston has Rice. Winner: Houston

Network: I have a pretty good network in both cities but I've spent more of my career in Houston so my network is larger there. I'm pretty sure I could build my Austin network up quickly, though, if I were there fulltime so I'm only giving a slight edge to Houston.

Grandeur: I don't know quite how to label this category but here I'm referring to the "importance" of the city. Austin has much more of a small town feel whereas I walk through downtown Houston and I feel the world's largest businesses moving and shaking all around me. Winner: Houston

So, as you can see, I'm somewhat divided on the Houston-Austin question. Perhaps this reflects the dichotomy within me: the tech entrepreneur and the aspiring global business leader. Regardless, I really enjoy both places and, if only we could get high-speed rail lines between them, it wouldn't even matter which one I called home!

Thanks for a great trip, Austin; I always love visiting and I'll be back soon!

School Pride Continued

No sooner had we returned to the US than we traveled to San Antonio for more IMD action - but this time closer to "home" turf! The Academy Of Management's annual meeting was being held there in several venues along the River Walk. The AOM is the preeminent academic organization for scholars in the fields of business and management. As such, many IMD professors, including IMD's president, were in attendance - along with 10,000 other management profs! I had been asked to participate in the session of one of my former IMD professors and jumped at the chance.

Katie and I arrived Saturday and spent the afternoon strolling along the River Walk. Although my brother attended university in San Antonio and I visited quite often, we never really spent much time in this part of town. Katie and I were enchanted by the canopy of trees, the fun restaurants along the river, and - above all - the lower temperature down in the shade! What a fantastic environment they have created!

Sunday morning was my presentation in the San Antonio Convention Center. Our session, led by Maury Peiperl and Suzanne de Janasz, focused on social value creation. Specifically, is it possible for organizations to to embed it in their philosophies/cultures? Or will it always be bare-minimum-box-checking?

We began with research by IMD professor Francisco Szekely, who had been my leadership coach during my MBA year, on Corporate Social Responsibility efforts by large corporations. The conclusion was that generally these have been ineffectual and are not being approached correctly at all.

I then followed up with my case study of Smart Office Energy Solutions, which we have designed from the ground up to have social value creation inextricably embedded in its DNA. It would be absolutely impossible for us to achieve economic success without also doing some good - and the more of one we achieve, the more of the other we achieve. Furthermore we create that same alignment of economic and social value for our clients, suppliers, employees, and investors such that this "good capitalism" spreads virally. My conclusion therefore was quite optimistic: that capitalism can align with social good but we need business leaders to search out business models that feature that alignment.

Our final "practitioner" (as we non-academics are called) was Lynellyn Long, who concluded with a much less optimistic "reality check" based on her experience in human rights activism, working with non-profits, NGOs, and governments. Her conclusion was that yes, perhaps it can be done but that Smart Office Energy Solutions is by far the exception to the rule and that the current landscape for corporate social value creation is actually quite bleak.

Finally we launched a session-wide discussion about not only these topics but also, more pointed for the business school professor crowd: how can social value (or attempts to align it with economic value) be taught to future generations of business leaders? The discussion was quite lively as we had a packed venue and I was encouraged by how much interest there was in the topic. Regarding social value pedagogy, I get the feeling that it may be like entrepreneurship, for which the consensus is that it can't be "taught" theoretically; instead it has to be developed experientially. That corresponds with my own experience; I certainly didn't develop a passion for using business to "do good" in the classroom!

I was really honored to be included in this session and it felt good to dip a toe back into the pool of academia. Who knows, maybe some day in the future I will expand my academic pursuits - in the meantime, though, I'm focused on getting things done! In addition to the session, it was a good chance to catch up with other IMD professors, including the few minutes I spent psychoanalyzing Jack Wood over coffee - I thought I was turning the tables on him but he was probably actually just gaming me the entire time! And on top of it all, it was a lovely 30 hours or so in San Antonio with my beautiful bride - tough to beat that!

School Pride

These last two weeks have been full of involvement with my university (Rice) and MBA (IMD) almae matres. After the Finnish wedding (which was itself an IMD connection), Katie and I spent a few days in Lausanne, Switzerland before returning to the US. Being in Switzerland always brings back memories of times at IMD, partially because Switzerland just doesn't change (Even the ads at the airport are the same!) and partially because Switzerland is just so different than Houston!

On our first afternoon we returned to the park where I proposed and celebrated our one year proposal anniversary / three month wedding anniversary. It was a grand mini-vacation and excellent welcome back to a place we love. Monday evening we had fondue (How Swiss!) with IMD friends at Le Chalet, overlooking Lac Leman. The sun was setting, lighting up the mountain faces with soft rose colors, while the moon was rising - absolutely beautiful!

Goodness, though, if we thought Finland was expensive, it was nothing compared to Switzerland! Switzerland has always been pretty costly but now, with the incredibly strong Swiss Franc (vs. the dollar and the Euro), it is more extreme than ever. Our modest picnic lunch, assembled at the grocery store, cost more than $60!

Tuesday we just kind of hung around Lausanne and caught up with other friends there. In the evening we divided up: the girls had a ladies night at a wine bar in Flon while the guys had male bonding at the Croix d'Ouchy - an old favorite. It was fun to see several classmates I haven't seen for some time.

Wednesday I gave a presentation at IMD on using social media for your own personal branding. I gave the same presentation last year but practically rewrote it from scratch this year due to all the changes/advances in the social media world during the last 12 months. The students seemed receptive and I hope it was valuable for them as they pursue their career searches. This was followed by an incredible dinner at Beau Rivage with our most gracious hosts - also IMD classmates. Beau Rivage was the site of our graduation so the IMD connections continued.

Early Thursday morning we hopped the train to the airport and returned to Texas, where the scholastic links rolled on - but that will be the subject of my next post.

Finnish Wedding Part 3

Saturday also began with a very late start (after briefly waking up for the amazing breakfast buffet). It was raining a bit so we didn't venture too far but we did walk around and see the Church in the rock, which was very cool. Again we bumped into our classmates while we were walking around town and, while we were having lunch, we witnessed a SlutWalk protest - hundreds of Finnish women (and some men) dressed outlandishly made for a "unique" cultural experience!

Saturday evening was the wedding itself, a positively lovely affair. After a short civil ceremony we were treated to more excellent Finnish cuisine for dinner: lots of raw meat and fish, but also delicious vegetarian options. The wine was very well paired with the food too. As we ate there were some toasts, mostly in English but also in Finnish. They were clever and poignant and paid great tribute to the happy couple. When Tuomas delivered his toast in Finnish to Emilia, it reinforced something we all learned at IMD - that only a very small part of communication comes from the actual meaning of words. Even though we couldn't understand his words, the heartfelt homage to his life partner was clearly evident.

Before we transitioned completely from sitting to dancing there was a brief bit of drama. It seems that someone kidnapped the bride! In order to earn her back, Tuomas had to answer trivia questions about her and then dance a traditional Texas line dance! At first his performance was not deemed enthusiastic enough so he gave it another try, pulling out all the stops, and won her back - what a great tradition!

Then the dancing started and it was a LOT of fun! The DJ played everything from 80s staples to contemporary Finnish music, to everything in between - including Finnish covers of classic songs. Despite the cool weather outside, it got very, VERY warm inside so I had to alternate between dancing and cooling off outside. Eventually the best man made an announcement that it was time to stop drinking . . . and start getting wasted - what a great sentiment!

As Katie and I were dancing with one of my Chinese classmates, having a blast, it reminded me of a failure of mine from the IMD year. I was so focused on academic achievement that I missed many opportunities to bond with my classmates, foregoing parties to work, for example. It is so evident to me now, though, that my classmates were IMD's greatest assets, and relationships with them are the greatest benefits that I took from the program. This is now the top piece of advice I give to incoming students: to take time to get to know their peers. In my case I am now finally doing it at, for example, weddings like this one - better late than never!

At 1 AM we had to relinquish our venue so we all hopped on a bus to The Tiger, the self-described classiest club in Helsinki. There we had some tables reserved and kept the dance party going until 4 AM. As the club closed, Katie and I walked back to our hotel under the early sunrise and relished in the denouement of what had been an incredibly fun night.

Sunday began with brunch at an island mansion. Our party was noticeably diminished in size, partially because some people had already departed, but also because many people were still suffering from the previous night. Those of us who made it out were treated to excellent recovery food and a great view of the bay. Afterward Katie and I ferried over to Suomenlinna, the world's largest sea fortress, for some touring and sight seeing.

Sunday evening featured a final, casual dinner with the wedding couple and then Monday morning we were up eaaaaarly to catch our flight to Switzerland. Somehow it is easier to get up at 4 AM, though, when the sun is already rising. As we waited for our airport ride, I breathed in and took one last look at the gray, early lit skies above the train station and savored my most "canonical" view of Finland. It was a short trip but a fantastic introduction to a great country and great people! Many congratulations to Tuomas and Emilia!

Finnish Wedding Part 2

Friday began with an amazing breakfast buffet at our hotel. It was a veritable smorgasbord of Nordic staples: pickled herring, mustard herring, marinated salmon, little pancakes, organic spelt/barley porridge with lingonberries, eggs, freshly baked bread, cheese, pastries, nuts/seeds, and fresh fruit. None of this wimpy continental breakfast for us - these Finns know how to start the day off right!

To be more precise, Friday actually began by waking up at 4:30 AM - my body was still getting used to the new time zone. Normally I might be able to roll back over and go to sleep in the dark. However, it was already very light out! This far north they have very little actual darkness in the summers. While we were there the sun generally set ~11 PM and rose ~4 AM - I can't imagine what it was like back around the summer solstice!

Because of this early morning wakeup, we found ourselves spending the rest of our morning after breakfast napping instead of exploring the town - oops! We roused ourselves in time for the first event of the wedding weekend, though: soccer! We walked down to the south end of the peninsula (Helsinki is incredibly walkable and there is public transportation to take you anywhere that's out of range.) and met the families of the bride and groom in a beautiful green park.

The groom's side would be playing the bride's side in a "friendly" game of soccer in the park. However, it was immediately evident that the bride's side was very sporty and pretty competitive to boot! Having not played soccer since I was ~5, this made me a little nervous. Also, I didn't have any cleats, just the Vibrams Five Fingers that I had brought for walking/jogging, so changing direction might be hard. Oh well, even if I made a fool of myself and totally let Tuomas down, I would at least get some good exercise!

Before the match started we energized with Finnish home cooking and plenty of beer - my kind of pre-game ritual! Then the match began on a [fortunately] shortened field. Long story short: I managed to score three of our five first-half goals - two kicks and one header - so hopefully I acquitted myself well. They were mostly blind beginner's luck, but I'll take them! The highlight for me, though, was a jumping scissor/bicycle kick to clear the ball out of our side. It just went out of bounds but at least it connected and it felt pretty cool! The groom's side had more people than the bride's side so I sat out the second half and got to know some of the other attendees - including two other Houstonians, one of which was a Rice Owl!

Afterward we continued to drink and threw around a REAL football as well. Both the bride's and groom's sides were full of Finns who play American football - both full contact and flag varieties. How awesome is that? Finally we disbanded from the park and several of us went for a late lunch at a cafe overlooking the bay. The weather was beautiful so we were happy just to relax and soak it all in. Walking around in the afternoon we bumped into some other IMD folks. Helsinki is small enough that it isn't uncommon just to bump into people you know--even when you're not from there!

Dinner that evening was organized at The Sea Horse, a traditional restaurant near the wharf that serves classic Finnish fare. We began with cocktails and Katie and I both tried ones that we thought we could never find back home. She had one that was like a kir royale but with rhubarb liqueur. I had a martini-like drink with blueberry liqueur - they were both delicious!

To eat, I tried the traditional Vorschmack  while Katie had a very creamy mushroom soup. Then, for our main courses, we both had freshly caught local fish . . . for the third time that day! Dinner was delicious and was followed by some drinks at a local bar. Once again it was good to catch up with IMD classmates but this time it was also great getting to know some of the Finnish friends and family of the wedding couple. We called it an evening by 1 AM as we needed to rest up and bring our A game the following night!