Senior Manager for Cisco Online Troubleshooting Tools and Automation, Martha Garriock was just eight years old when she started developing the skill set that has become invaluable in her corporate life.
She learned the nuances of facilitating teams for maximum output, how to be a confident presenter in front of large groups of people, and how to brainstorm and solve problems fast. Perhaps most significantly, she learned how to think outside the box.
Martha’s skills – acquired through her involvement in DI – epitomize the creativity and innovation imperative for 21st-Century organizations to cut it in a high-velocity, post-Internet world. “DI was instrumental in teaching me teamwork, risk taking and creativity,” she says. “These three skills have helped me get to where I am today and differentiate me from others. In my role, I am expected to innovate and inspire my teams to innovate. Innovation results from listening to your customers, coming up with creative solutions that will delight our customers, and then taking the risk to try it out! At Cisco, I am known as an ideas person, who is willing to take risks and try new creative approaches in hopes of finding something that is game changing. All skills I started learning in first grade with DI!”
