Who is Kate McKeown and why is she obsessed with re-imagining our approach to education?
Here’s her story (or rather, herstory).
Me at the November 2017 Techonomy Conference in Half Moon Bay, California.
Kate McKeown’s Bio
Kate McKeown is a writer, entrepreneur, inventor, and radical professor. She is the co-author, with Lou Mobley, of Beyond IBM, generously called a “best-selling business book” by the Wall Street Journal. Kate’s non-fiction has been published in many business journals, from "The Harvard Business Review" to "The Controller's Quarterly."
Kate worked extensively with W. Edwards Deming for more than ten years, including helping him to edit his book, Out of the Crisis, published by MIT Press. His next-systems-level thinking changed a country in one generation. We can too.
As an entrepreneur, Kate founded several companies, including C.W.O., Inc. (Cold War’s Over), a company that imported Russian military clothing for sale in the US, covered by BusinessWeek in “Developments to Watch” by Peter Coy. As it turns out, the Cold War was not over. Education today teaches people to play in a zero-sum game. This is very dangerous for the entire world.
Kate, in her dim past, was Chapter President of the Washington, DC, Chapter of the Young Entrepreneurs’ Organization, (YEO, now EO) where her mentor was Ray Hickok, the founder of YPO, the Young Presidents' Organization. From Ray she learned the importance of community, trust, and ongoing peer support.
As an inventor, Kate holds one patent, which she wrote (except for the claims) and prosecuted, and generally has several provisional patents pending. She sold one of her inventions on the QVC home shopping channel. Kate learned how to teach people to protect their intangible assets.
As a professor, Kate incited Entrepreneurship at the Fordham Graduate School of Business, and was Entrepreneur Fellow for the undergraduates. She taught for a decade in the Birthing of Giants program for entrepreneurs at MIT, co-sponsored by Inc. Magazine and EO. Kate has also taught finance to many groups of American businesspeople and entrepreneurs, in forums such as Comdex, and the AMA, and has guest lectured to groups of Russian and Chinese businesspeople (and anyone else who will listen) about the values underlying an entrepreneurial economy.
Who knew education was broken?
Turns out Kate did! Back in 1973. Here’s the valedictorian speech she wrote when she was graduating from Steel Valley High School. Kate’s mom passed recently and it turns out, she kept Kate’s speech all this time. Here’s the last sentence:
“Our schools, by applauding all creativity, encouraging each student in whatever he can do, however unorthodox, respecting him as a human being born with a capacity for great character, can meet the challenge to change.”
Hear what Kate’s students have to say!
To understand what Kate is trying to do as an educator and entrepreneur, ignore what you’ve read so far and watch the videos from this Youtube Series known as “Understanding Giinius™.” You’ll see real students of Kate’s talk about the need for educational change – so that students of all ages will become 21st-century entrepreneurs, inventors, and creators, instead of 20th-century factory-ready job-seekers.
PODCASTS
Mark Gandy is a teacher, friend, and coach to financial professionals who want to keep growing their skills and capabilities.
Mark started a podcast called CFO Bookshelf, and hosted Kate for an episode!