About Kelsey Ruger

Let me start by saying I think most bio pages are boring. They are listing of jobs and accomplishments that can usually sound like “blah, blah, blah…blah, blah” but don’t really tell you anything about the person in question. So if you really want to know what I have done you can read my short bio or my LinkedIn page. If you really want to know what I am about, the following section will be much more informative.

Learning To Try, Think and Teach

While I have become acutely aware of how to really apply my skills and passions over the last several years, I must admit that I never really considered whether the interest I took in technology, design, art and science fiction as a child would lead to anything or whether they were just the expected outcome for someone that grew up with ADHD. When I sat down to redesign Themoleskin and gave serious thought to “Who are you and why do you do what you do?” I realized that my interest in these topics was really about the discovery of the unknown and the excitement of creating something new. In fact my approach to discovery can be summarized in three words – “Try, Think, Teach” The simple words “try, think, teach” have always given direction to what I should do, what I could do and what I would do. As a child I was gifted with an active imagination and energy to spare. I would spend hours on activities that not only stretched my imagination, but also offered new and unique challenges. Sometimes those challenges inspired me to try all sorts of things, whether that meant trying some exotic food or attempting to dive into the pool from the 2nd floor of our apartment building (yes, this really did happen and I should say that special emphasis should be placed on the word try). Fortunately as I grew older I learned to eliminate the foolhardy tries, and focus on challenges that didn’t result in death or dismemberment. Over time I have learned to take chances, not to fear imagining what’s possible and that thinking of something big needs to be matched by equally “big action”. You won’t always be able to predict what will happen, but no matter what happens, you learn valuable lessons that you can take with you and pass on to others.

Challenging Your Sacred Cows

It’s probably not hard to imagine that someone who follows the motto “try, think, teach” would break some rules along the way. I have always been amazed at how closely people cling to their “sacred cows”, simply because of the energy and emotion they have invested in the idea. Psychologist, Prescot Lecky believed that this behavior is because of consistency. He said that “our need for consistency is stronger than just about any other intrinsic need we have. People will behave in a manner that is consistent with their previously existing self-concept, even when this behavior is unrewarding to them otherwise.” In a world where the ability to be creative is becoming increasingly important, this is a dangerous practice. In most cases even if an “idea” was correct when it was introduced, the passage of time and/or the introduction of new or complimentary ideas may have rendered it false. Don’t be afraid to challenge the “established rules”.

Some Things I Believe

• I believe that your creative abilities will drive your future success.
• I believe that people with a solid L-directed skilled and applied R-directed skills will have a decided competitive advantage.
• I believe that while existing “rules” and “norms” give us an important footing for navigating the world around us, the ability to experiment comfortably with and within the established boundaries will become more important.
• I believe that anyone is capable of accessing and utilizing their reservoir of creative ability.
• I believe we miss creative opportunities every day because we only pay attention to the common answers and normal outcomes.
• I believe that the responsiveness, refactoring, resilience and resourcefulness will be more critical in our fast paced world than the traditional Rs of reading, writing and arithmetic.