Doing Good with Karen Gordon

Austin Tech Connect: The Podcast For The Austin Technology Ecosystem, Business Leaders, and Tech Entrepreneurs!

In episode 90 of "Austin Tech Connect", Thom Singer talks to Karen Gordon, CEO of Dynamics. Karen is a serial entrepreneur, who is passionate about helping people harness the power of differences to amplify outcome.

About Karen Gordon Karen Gordon is the CEO of 5 Dynamics, a company that is focused on making the world a better place one relationship at a time. 5 Dynamics’ proprietary software, Simpli5, creates cultures fueled by self and interpersonal awareness to bolster productive collaboration, boost morale, accelerate timelines, and deliver better results. Most leaders tend to focus on what people do, instead of how they do it. In 3 minutes or less, Simpli5 determines how a person works through different phases of a project–ideation, alignment, planning and execution. Using these analyses, Simpli5 delivers customized development resources to leaders and their team members. Before launching 5 Dynamics in 2010, Karen led GTCI, a data and telecommunications company, to over 1100% growth, landing GTCI on the Inc. 500 list two years in a row. She is a former Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist and was included in the Dallas Top 25 businesses list. Louisiana Tech University named Karen its 2006 Alumnus of the Year in the College of Liberal Arts. Her thought leadership has been shared in Money Inc, Entrepreneur, The CEO Magazine, The Future of Everything, and many other publications. Her entrepreneurial spirit, love of learning, and commitment to excellence are attributes that she brings to all of her endeavors. Karen’s TEDx presentation on “The Myth of Difficult People” continues to be watched by thousands of people each year. As an author, educator and entrepreneur, she has over 25 years of experience leading organizations to reach their highest potential. She has created and managed many businesses ranging from a martial arts studio, to a telecommunications and data company, to an employee experience platform. She is currently in the process of developing a retreat space in the woods of Maine that will focus on leadership development programs. Karen splits her time between Austin, TX and Wilton, Maine. When in Maine, she can be found at her lakeside camp enjoying nature with a good book, a glass of wine and her faithful dogs, Winston and Jasmine. Karen has also served on multiple non-profit boards over the years that share her passions of helping children, animal welfare, and social justice. About Simpli5 Simpli5, powered by 5 Dynamics, unleashes human potential by blending psychology, neuroscience, and technology to help individuals and teams navigate complex social and professional dynamics with creativity, empathy, critical thinking, and confidence. Their innovative platform analyzes individual’s and team’s working styles by acknowledging their affinity for different phases of a project cycle, which empowers adjustments and corrections that lead to improved collaboration, personal satisfaction, and superior outcomes. Simpli5’s roots are grounded in the work of Mike Sturm, an educator, a social psychologist, and a learning diagnostician. Originally applied in educational settings, this model was quickly brought by working parents into business applications. Today, Simpli5 fosters cultures driven by employee and team effectiveness, self-awareness, and interpersonal understanding. It equips leaders and teams with the insights they need to adjust leadership styles, predict performance, and address organizational challenges throughout a project’s lifecycle. Their methodology is being utilized in diverse organizations and learning institutions, from Stanford and Harvard to LinkedIn, Sutter Health, UKG, and IDEO. The methodology can be applied any place where two or more people are working together on a shared outcome.