Jul 02, 2020 | 3 min read

Bringing a Startup Mindset to the Education Industry with Jason Dole

By: Patrick Emmons

Bringing a Startup Mindset to the Education Industry with Jason Dole

The education industry has long faced barriers to innovation in the digital space. Jason Dole, CTO of World Book, wants to change this.

Jason has spent his career working in the startup space, and it’s that spirit of innovation that he believes will help drive meaningful change at such an established brand. He joined Patrick for a discussion that touched upon points such as putting people on teams based on mindset and influencing people in key positions to help with company buy-in. Tune in for Jason’s advice.

*Please note this interview was recorded in late 2019 prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.

  • [00:25] - This week: Jason Dole
  • [01:01] - Combining startup innovation with enterprise
  • [03:08] - Creating a fertile ground for innovation at World Book
  • [06:07] - How a CTO becomes the instigator of change
  • [07:07] - Small wins in the window of digital transformation
  • [09:13] - Creating urgency
  • [13:23] - Taking advantage of the new wave of disruption
  • [20:07] - Gamification
  • [24:05] - Will colleges remain relevant?
  • [29:54] - Hiring the right people for the right role
  • [35:57] - How to learn fast
  • [38:02] - Zero to One

Jason Dole is the CTO of World Book Inc. Prior to joining the team, he worked for various companies in the startup space.

If you’d like to receive new episodes as they’re published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.

Subscribe on Your Favorite Podcast Platform
Innovation and the Digital Enterprise
Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on Google PodcastsListen on Spotify Podcasts

This podcast episode was produced by Dante32.

About Patrick Emmons

If you can’t appreciate a good sports analogy, movie quote, or military reference, you may not want to work with him, but if you value honesty, integrity, and commitment to improvement, Patrick can certainly help take your business or your career to the next level. “Good enough,” is simply not in his vernacular. Pat’s passion is for relentlessly pushing himself and others to achieve full potential. Patrick Emmons is a graduate of St. Norbert College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Mathematics. Patrick co-founded Adage Technologies in 2001 and in 2015, founded DragonSpears as a spin-off dedicated to developing custom applications that improve speed, compliance and scalability of clients’ internal and customer-facing workflow processes. When he is not learning about new technology, running a better business, or becoming a stronger leader, he can be found coaching his kids’ (FIVE of them) baseball and lacrosse teams and praising his ever-so-patient wife for all her support.

Recent Episodes

We interview leaders from early-stage start-ups to billion-dollar enterprises who distill their lessons from their victories and their failures. Learn how these high-performing leaders organize their teams, establish a growth-minded culture, and leverage new technologies such as DevOps and Cloud.