For your convenience, I’ve bolded John’s questions:

Tell me about your work and company? What is it that you do?

I am responsible for leading key business development and marketing functions at Übermind, including development and management of strategic partnerships, marketing strategy, social media/web marketing, and marketing communications.

In addition, my team oversees Übermind’s Mobile Strategy offering, which enables our clients to uncover and explore the many opportunities made possible by today’s mobile and social software.

Übermind is in an interesting, fast-moving industry. We’re a full-service software engineering firm and leading app developer for the iPad, iPhone, and Android platforms. We have developed and continue to maintain some of the world’s most acclaimed applications, spanning a wide array of industries and platforms.

In the context of your business leadership, how do you define success? Failure?

My gut reaction is to say, “I don’t cater to a strict definition.”

Though it may sound cavalier, my response stems from my desire to avoid any mental preoccupation or obsession with defining success or failure — especially failure. What I mean is that I try to learn from feedback, but at the same time, resist the urge to convert it into self absorption — either being overly focused on critical feedback or too self-absorbed with the positive. Moving towards one of the poles is unhelpful.

Tell me more about these poles?

Leaders are at the helm, and thus, are often pressured to classify the success or failure of their leadership endeavors in this spectral manner. The method appears sound at a first; we make choices, choices produce outcomes, and outcomes are then measured against what we thought would produce an ideal outcome.

Unfortunately, measuring success in a linear fashion is not only unrealistic, but it is amazingly unproductive. This is true for all leaders, but is most germane to young business leaders who, in my view, are in a much more ambiguous environment than their senior-level counterparts.

In an effort to measure success, the spectrum paradigm wrongfully assumes a universally agreed upon definition of success and failure, and it holds a leader’s decisions to the near-term results, completely ignoring the long-term, and ultimately, greater impact of those decisions.

Short-term analysis of success can be extremely detrimental to an up-and-coming leader; it focuses their attention on a single point rather than a strong, long-term success vector.

I hear you resisting a linear definition of success and failure, so what do you mean by a long-term success vector?

Here’s an example — salient to my industry — that illustrates the concept of a long-term success vector.

In the late ’90s, if we were to compare Microsoft to Apple, it would be laughable to think that Apple would ever be able to realistically go head-to-head with Microsoft and be “winning” the battle in the consumer software industry. Back then, those two companies were headed down very different roads and it would be easy to say that Microsoft was the success and Apple the failure.

Fast forward to present day where Apple — with its still small 6–8 percent share of the personal computer market — has eclipsed the Redmond-based giant in terms of value (valued at $222.12 billion and $219.18 billion respectively). Give them another 10 years and the tables could be turned again, though I’m not betting on it.

Generally speaking, measuring profitability is an obvious method for determining the success or failure from past to present. But leadership is not purely a “past-to-present” endeavor. It’s what a leader does next that matters.

But shouldn’t leaders be held accountable for their decisions?

Absolutely… I am not arguing against measurement but for right measurement. Here is what I mean:

Rather than a dot on a line, leadership, to me, is more like the variance of my heading towards the intended destination. Sure, I admit the analogy is, perhaps, somewhat cliché. Apropos, every leader has his or her own unique vision for where, and how, they will lead other people. I want “northeast,” you may want “northwest,” and even though we have different headings, we are all striving to stay on course.

If the term “on course” sounds ethereal and vague, well, it is. To some leaders, existence is solely about profit margin; others see ethics and culture as paramount. To me, my primary concerns are:

• Am I being a good steward of the resources that have been entrusted to me?
• Am I helping others around me develop into better people and reach their goals?
• Am I pursuing business opportunities that I have been able to identify because of my unique gifts and talents?
• Are my personal morals and values reflected in the way I approach my responsibilities? Co-workers? Good days? Bad days? The competition?
• Am I growing and/or improving professionally and personally?

The analogy of a compass heading is a helpful reminder to avoid adhering to a myopic view of time. If a business leader were to direct his or her company in a vector that negatively affects profit in the short-term but yields a harvest far greater than those of its competitors in the long-term, can we truly say that the leader both failed and succeeded?

My aim is to experience as little divergence from my heading as possible but also come to terms with the fact that failure is going to happen – probably more than I realize. When the needle sways, a true leader must humbly take up the charge to make things right.

We all must find the courage to heed those undeniable “tugs” from the Spirit on our heart, which implore us to be the type of leader we somehow know that we were designed to be.

What gives you courage to face failure? Who taught you to approach failure this way and how did they model it for you?

As Christians, we love to explore, discuss, and even debate (though I often find debate more hurtful than helpful), but thankfully there are verses in the Bible that require neither deep discussion nor provoke heated argument. In terms of not being afraid of failure, I think to the Gospel of Mark when Jesus counseled, “Do not fear; only believe.” (Mark 5:36).

It’s easier said than done, but in times when believing is truly difficult, my prayer is simply, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”

At the end of each day, I cannot help but to reflect on all the choices I made — professionally and personally — and the outcomes that followed. I find the greatest sense of joy on the days that I listened to my heart, believed what I heard to be truth, and then exercised my unique skills and abilities to act on my heart’s intuition.

Thanks for taking the time to read this interview – I’d love to hear any of your thoughts on anything of the questions or answers above!

– Ryan

Fortunately for me, the object of my affection –  the mobile / social software that we all know and love – has taken center stage for the time being and is causing quite a stir among brands, ad agencies, and consumers. Thanks to Jeff’s generosity with both his time and thoughts, I was prepared for this opportunity to help the world better understand the iPad and see it for the amazing technology that it is… err, will be.

Case in point, I had the opportunity to share a few of my thoughts regarding the the iPad with CNN.   If you had ever told me that my name would appear within a few lines of Steve Jobs, I would have never believed you. Still it’s important to keep in mind that the reason I made it into CNN’s iPad article is that someone of greater importance did not return the reporter’s email or phone call – there’s always a bigger fish in a bigger pond. Regardless, this little fish is still pretty excited about his moment in the spotlight of “iPad apps likely to be bigger, pricier“, and just a few lines below Steve at that!

From a technical standpoint, there’s a reason everyone wants to talk to us. At Übermind, we’ve been working with Apple and the iTunes Store since our founding in 1999. Most of the world’s iPhone (and now iPad) developers have been working with the iPhone’s SDK (software development kit) since late 2007 / early 2008 at best, but our developers have been working with the languages that power this platform since before Übermind was even a thought in minds of our founders. In other words, working alongside the experts here at Übermind has really been quite the blessing and ongoing learning experience – I cherish ever day here at our offices along the Ship Canal in Fremont, Seattle’s quirkiest neighborhood.

So, what mysteries can your passions lend you credibility in? Explore this question; it’s been a life changing one for me, and I’m confident it can be for you as well.

Happy Monday!

– RP

]]> http://ryanapeterson.com/vocation/ipad-cnn-steve-and-me/2010/02/feed/ 0 http://ryanapeterson.com/vocation/convergence/2009/12/ http://ryanapeterson.com/vocation/convergence/2009/12/#comments Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:43:12 +0000 Ryan http://ryanapeterson.com/?p=36 The focus of the past few years of my life has almost exclusively been on the pursuit of the same thing I’m sure many of you – especially those in their twenties – are chasing; I’ve been hunting for an answer to one of humanity’s most explored questions, “What is my purpose?”

The “purpose” question is a formidable quandary when attempting to produce even the slightest semblance of a coherent answer devoid of any of the usual purpose-related BS. Fortunately for me, that is not the point of this post! To me, understanding our unique purpose is on the same level as achieving perfection; I think Vince Lombardi put it best when he said, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.”

While my intent is to not get too theological, I want to point out that my perceived understanding of my purpose has a lot to do with the quality of the fruit that flows from the things I invest myself into.

So, I’ve touched on worms, BS, Vince Lombardi, theology, and purpose… not seeing the “convergence” yet? That’s probably a good thing.

All the searching, working for, and pursuing of purpose led me to this current, not to mention satisfying, season in life. If there is one overarching theme for this season, it’s most certainly “mobile.” Mobile allows me to better connect, communicate, and share (via iPhone for me) with the people in my life. Mobile affords me a role at an amazing company in Seattle, a comfortable life and near-endless opportunities to innovate, change, and advance. Mobile aligns many of my past interests and experiences with my current skill set, which previously seemed depressingly tangential to one another, therefore maximizing the unrecoverable time I’ve already spent – it’s enough to make my faux OCD, Mint.com-loving soul rejoice!

Also, it’s not just me who happens to be amped on mobile. Mobile is ushering in a new era of convergence, allowing you and I to control many aspects of our lives through the incredible smartphones more akin to computers than to typical cellular phones or even “smart” phones from just a few years ago. Mobile is coming, and just like so many other things in life, it can be a source of good or evil, growth or pestilence. In this exciting season of convergence, I’m here to help make mobile good.

I’m encouraged by, and gearing up for, the adventures in mobile that most assuredly await us in 2010 and beyond, I hope you are as well because like it or not, it’s coming, baby!

– RP