"I think in developing openness to change in someone, it's important to know where the resistance is coming from and talk about that and get to the root of it. It's important for them to know why the change is happening and where it's coming from, what the benefits are. And that can sometimes help alleviate their fears or concerns. Also, maybe understanding where they see a need for change and making that happen so they can see the benefit and feel it and be more open in the future." -- Lisa Kavanaugh
How do you develop openness to change?
Lisa Kavanaugh is the chief product and technology officer at Ask.com, responsible for the global development of both web and mobile applications that support Ask.com’s search-based Q&A product suite. With more than a decade of experience building and leading large engineering and product development teams, Kavanaugh has spearheaded the launch of multiple Ask.com vertical products and custom solutions for strategic partners – all the while serving as a very visible driver of change within the company. Known for spotting tech talent and infusing new ideas and processes (such as Scrum-based development) into Ask.com’s tech organization, Kavanaugh previously oversaw technology at Ask.com’s partner network, building the engineering team from scratch and launching a development platform that significantly accelerated Ask’s distribution business on an international level. Prior to her work at Ask.com, Kavanaugh served as a software engineer at Hewlett Packard. Kavanaugh received a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
