A start-up is a start-up...

[syndicated from http://blogs.ft.com/mba-blog]

The California Fisheries Fund is definitely still a start-up. The rapid changes of direction; the nebulous defined roles and responsibilities and the need for self-starters to go through their days doing just that. Even over the short seven weeks I have been with the CFF, I have experienced the turmoil that goes with working in this kind of fast-paced environment. Right now I feel as if I could throw out half of the draft fund operations manual I was given when I started and in fact, have been trying to do just that with my work on defining, refining and updating our mission performance metrics.

Not so easy in this kind of world, where success is not measured by how much money you can bring in, but by much more intangible things such as the increased economic livelihood of a working waterfront, or the estimated conservation delta in the 1, 000ft-deep habitat of one of 60 species of rockfish.

I have been challenged every single day on the job and have loved it. Now I am heading towards the landing pattern of my internship, finalising my projects and working on ensuring that others buy into my ideas and are ready to assume full ownership of the results.
Earning the trust and respect of a diverse group of players. Trying (and most likely failing) to work my way through the deep, political waters of the California fishing industry has not been easy, but has taught me that these individuals are not too different from the hard-working people I grew up with in Appalachia. And I doubt they will be that much different from the hard-working people I will I am sure work with wherever I end up, once I have graduated.