About me

I was born in NYC and have lived and worked on five continents. I haven't made it down under. I got homesick and think I'm back for good!

What I believe drives good teamwork

The less you assume, and the more you are curious, the quicker you will find "symbiosis" in your working relationships. This works best bi-directionally. The best proxy indicator of this is the number of questions you ask.

Personality traits

Efficiency oriented. I am more geared towards efficiency than most. I'm the kind of person that looks for the shortest route when I'm walking. This shows up usually as me diving right into business right away or within a few minutes of starting a meeting. It also shows ups as me craving discipline in how we problem solve -- I don't like bringing up to many adjacent issues that aren't on-target with the topic at hand.

Lateral thinker. I come from a pretty mish-mashed background, from where I've lived to what I've studied to industries I've worked in. This has only expanded my penchant for lateral thinking -- making connection points across different topics.

Curious but introverted. While I find people fascinating and exciting, I have a finite capacity for engaging any given day because I'm an introvert. So more than a few hours of meetings in a row starts to feel draining for me.

What I believe from my work experience

I’ve gathered organizational behavior insights from across my network here:

https://mbainthe.city/2025/09/28/organizational-groundhog-day-why-we-see-the-same-mistakes-across-our-careers/

What to know to work best with me

· I can serve team members reporting to me best when they provide the following up front:

In project planning: Clear timing. How long you think each discrete task will take you/the team, and when you expect each step to be accomplished. If timing needs to be shifted, please flag in advance of the internal deadline. Managing workflow and expectations for work products builds trust that you are a reliable teammate.
In work products: Clear awareness of what needs improving. Indicate what you want me to review for (e.g., pressure testing insights, word choice) as well as what I should not review (e.g., formatting). Provide advanced guidance on the level of fidelity to expect (how "rough draft" is the work?). Collectively, this will enable team members to know how they can best plug in in a way that is additive.
In communication: Plain speak works best. Say what you mean, and I can easily engage.
In general: Clear priorities in your professional development. Share your development areas, including how I can support your development and the level of priority for each development goal. If you don't have any yet, consider consulting with your manager or peers who are several years ahead for inspiration.

· I prefer people to come to me proactively with questions or concerns, rather than “spinning your wheels” alone for a long time.

· I like to facilitate focused work for myself and others by:

Having non-interruptive communications (e.g., communicating in Trello), rather than interruptive communications (e.g., IMing), unless urgent.
Blocking time and batching work.
Doing my focused work in the AM and holding meetings in the PM.
Limiting time spent on e-mail to discrete times of day.

· In general, I like to level-set expectations early - please share your expectations of me! And if you think I haven't been clear with my expectations, please ask the questions that will give you the guidance you need.

Where I am on the Radical Candor matrix (most of the time)

I'd like to think I'm usually radically candid, but if there's a close second "quadrant" that I end up in, it's ruinous empathy -- not challenging teammates hard enough. This seems to happen when I couch or soften my feedback -- I blame this habit on living in England for 6 years. So while I am still working on this, if you see me doing this, it's worth checking in to validate that you understand the feedback and why I have reasoned that it is important. As a New Yorker, when I am on the receiving end, I love when people are radically candid -- which means caring personally and challenging directly. I feel enlightened when people are straight up with me early on in a way that's intended to help me grow. (Reference: https://radicalcandor.com/our-approach)

· I like to provide real-time feedback on how we are working together and on deliverables, and appreciate the same. Feedback may be specific in some instances, and I ask that you generalize the lessons and apply them. If you're not sure how to generalize or action feedback, I'm always happy to support ideation and action planning.

What I can help with

Strategic thinking

· Brainstorming and workshopping ideas on client projects.

· Integrating and structuring disparate insights and discussions that ultimately connect. This can be relevant in landscape scans and systems mapping.

· Tightening storylines. Most of our work needs to quickly point to the “so what?” or to walk through a narrative in a way tailored to a specific audience. I can help you think through this.

Relationship management

· Stakeholder relationships. I have had success in the last couple of years gaining cornerstone support for several of our projects. I can share what I've seen work well. I can also provide the back story on many stakeholders we've worked with in the last few years.

· Feedback facilitation. If you have needs or goals you want help voicing to leadership, I am happy to advocate for you. Just let me know what you need.

Project management

Agile project management. I use a Kanban workflow, which allows for asynchronous communication and work – happy to demo this anytime.

Skills development

· Recommended content. If you’re trying to work on a skill, e.g., time management, people management, etc., I’m happy to share good reads / listens.

What I want to learn more about

· Business development. I'd like to have a clear methodology for selling to different stages and types of clients.

· Marketing funnel conversion strategy.· I am learning more tactical conversion strategies from step to step in the marketing "funnel", particularly in the context of open innovation challenges.

· Visual storytelling. I would like to grow a larger visual storytelling lexicon; I am always learning new things from the Design and Insights team.

Fun facts about me

· I love music but can hardly name an artist or a song.

· I had a longstanding phobia of dogs but have converted to a dog-lover. My puppy is named Obe.

Christina Ward

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