Lisa Picard, an executive vice president with Skanska USA, is not your typical real estate developer.
Here, for example, is how she explains the most important thing people should know about her field: “The profession is art in its largest form, and when done right, it stimulates imaginations for generations to come. When done in motivation of fear or greed, it can tax generations to come.”
A graduate of MIT, Picard grew up in a middle-class neighborhood in the Los Angeles suburbs, and remembers playing in the concrete-lined river channels that doubled as chase scenes in movies. (“My hometown was the birthplace of the Taco Bell, and the hospital I was born in later became a looney bin,” she says.)
A self-described “Instagram-aholic” — follow her at lmpicard — she lived in Boston, San Francisco, Tucson and Miami, before settling in Seattle’s Green Lake neighborhood, where she has lived for nearly 18 years. She explains, “These experiences provide a stellar foundation for working with diverse people to create places people call home, work and fun.”
Meet our new Geek of the Week, and continue reading for her answers to our questionnaire.
What do you do, and why do you do it? I create vehicles for human experiences in the built environment (not the virtual); also known as a real estate developer.
Where do you find your inspiration? In the smallest of things and the biggest of things; lichen underfoot to the skies above. And, in the riffing (like a jazz band) of people being creative and curious about the changes around them.
What’s the one piece of technology you couldn’t live without, and why? The one technology that hasn’t been created yet…The one that causes me to pause, and have the constant realization of that space between stimulus and response.
What’s your workspace like, and why does it work for you? Open. Bright. Low clutter. These create a blank canvas for the day.
Your best tip or trick for managing everyday work and life. (Help us out, we need it.) Waking up and immediately feeling grateful for everything I am, and everything I’m not.
Mac, Windows or Linux? Mac.
Kirk, Picard, or Janeway? Picard; it’s my great grandson (proud parent).
Transporter, Time Machine or Cloak of Invisibility? Transporter to other dimensions beyond time.
If someone gave me $1 million to launch a startup, I would … Launch a startup, though I’m not sure what. Give me $1 million and watch me go. I’m sure it wouldn’t be an online retailer. Ok, I’m not sure.
I once waited in line for … For three hours using Task Rabbit for a hard to get reservation at a new restaurant. I’m a recovering foodie and it was worth it.
Your role models: My dad. He was curious, fearless and patient all at once.
Greatest Game in History: minecraft.
Best Gadget Ever: My Garmin. I love geo-positioned data on my speed and elevation. The later integration of this data in real time with other devices, images, people and places will only accelerate and spawn the next best gadgets the Geek of the Week will discover and write about.
First Computer: Apple IIc.
Current Phone: iPhone 5s (waiting for upgrade)
Favorite App: Favorites come and go. Right now, I love Strava, Bloomberg, Instagram on my iPhone. Lightroom on my MacBook given it represents play.
Favorite Cause: Education.
Most important technology of 2014: Advancement of driverless cars. It will increase roadway capacity, cut parking needs in our cities and make walking and cycling safer.
Most important technology of 2016: I think it will be illegal for people to drive cars (nearly) in 2016 without a guided system. This will prevent accidents with bicycles and pedestrians. The best part is that we will not need all the storage for vehicles in the city center when cars can just report in and pick you up (using solar power and fully EV). Driverless cars will increase the predictability of arrival times to destinations and double the capacity of roadways when cars can drive inches from each other. (I’m a Tesla driver so I can all ready feel the creep in of this technology.)
Final words of advice for your fellow geeks: Tech in all its glory does give a dopamine rush to the brain, a hit that becomes addictive. This rush shuts down empathic pathways that actually limit your creative responses, innovation. Work to develop a strong self-awareness so that you can be attentive to your market, colleagues and loved ones.
Sites: Lisa’s Flickr photo stream and Skanska.com
Twitter: @lmpicard
LinkedIn: Lisa Picard
