What is something people usually don’t know about you but has influenced you in who you are?

Piergiorgio – I’ve been a volleyball coach since I were 16, for around 10 yrs. Being so young it has been an incredibly learning experience on what leadership is, on what being an example is, on what a team is, on what “learn and adapt” means. It was a good practice field for something I was building… without even knowing it: my roots as an engineer (details, problem solving, organisations) and as a leader (team, passion, working together, respect, make the potential emerge) come probably from there. And it was an emergent process as I didn’t have the experience and the sensitivity: it was just commitment, passion and errors 🙂

If you would not have been in your current industry / role, what would have become of you?

Piergiorgio – When I was young I dreamt to be an expert in astrophysics: that mix of physics and stars (and dreams) is still somewhere in my mind. I think I loved the idea that such an inspiring stuff like the sky, was also a kind of giant mathematical equation that have to be solved using the tech and the human side of our brain.

To tell the truth I also miss my being a software developer 🙂

What is your biggest challenge and why is it a good thing for you?

Piergiorgio – I’m still struggling to know what I want to to do in my life, what’s going to be my job when I grow up: there are so many cool things around and I’m so ignorant and young 🙂 This is cool, sometimes, because it obliges me to continuously look around, be curious and dance with ambiguity. Sometimes it’s painful: I admire who has a clear vision of the future.

What drives you?

Piergiorgio – Mainly curiosity. I read everything, I collect all the flyers I find around no matter if they are about a yoga training or a business conference: ask my wife, she is not happy with all that paper around 🙂 And it’s contagious as my 11 years old son does the same. Above curiosity there is a layer of control: yes, the engineering side of my personality pops up continuously. I do search continuously for uncertantainty but I need to find a way to control it as soon as possible. Well control is probably not the right term, it’s more the need to understand it and learn how to ‘cope’ with it.

What is your biggest achievement?

Piergiorgio – Professionally speaking I was lucky enough to always find great people and companies to work with and I hope it’s not just good luck. With this companies I achieved unbelievable professional results: and I say unbelievable because, really, there are so many skilled and motivated people around that are better than me that…  is unbelievable 🙂

What is the last book you have read?

Piergiorgio – Exponential Organizations, The Purple Cow and Thinking fast and slow: I get bored too quickly so I need to read books in parallel 🙂

What question do you think I should also ask and what is the answer?

Piergiorgio – Is agile dead? Who cares.

Who do you think I should ask next?

Piergiorgio – Nicola Canalini and Federico Ravaldi