Meet Rotem [Interviews Series #4]

I had the pleasure to host lovely Rotem, in this episode of #InterviewAmazingPeople, and it sure was an amazing interview. Rotem, is one of those people that you want to have as your friend. Her thoughts and ideas are articulate, and the more she digs deeper into things, she rises up insightful remarks.

Rotem Yarkoni, was born in Herzliya, moved to MOSHAV Bnei Dror in high school, and return back to Herzliya after she graduated her BSc in the Technion.

She’s the oldest of 3 siblings and a proud aunt of 4 nephews and niece. One more thing that you should know about Rotem, is that she writes her name in Hebrew in missing spelling, without the letter "?", (Just ???).

"I have a healthy OCD

about PPT and Excel files."

Q: What do you do and why?

In one of my lectures to a group of Industrial Engineering students, I told them that our job is to be “an organizational translator” and “a problem solver”.

My passion is helping organizations work better and achieve their business goals by solving problems and bringing change. I love understanding the big picture and drill down when it matters, connecting the dots and finding a way to make the workflow/process/organization unit work better.

I do so by asking the right questions, understanding every organizational function’s job, identifying the root problem, and finding a creative solution.

Q: What’s your hobby? Why did you choose that?

I like crocheting :-)

A few years ago, I saw a beautiful colorful rug on Pinterest, and because I love trying new things I decided to try and make one for my unborn 1st nephew.

It was fun, challenging, meditative and open me for a world of possibilities. Since then my crochet rugs decorate many rooms, my crochet hats keep my head warm in the winter and my crochet dolls entertain many kids.

If you like crochet or looking for some new craft, it is great for COVID-19 times and there is a great Israeli Octopus project you can join – crocheting octopus for premature babies, you can read about it here.

Q: What 3 things would you take to an island?

• A book (or if I can a library)
• A pen and a paper
• Music

And if I can have one more thing, a cold diet coke ??

Q: What’s your vision for your field of work in the next 5 years?

I think that people will always want to make things better – more efficient, more productive, more digital, more profitable, more accessible etc.

And lucky me, that is my business!

We live in a digital world and we’ll see more digital transformation in the near future, but we’ll also see that the human connection will become more important. As a business leaders, CX managers and digital transformation & process improvement specialists, we’ll have to find the balance between automation and human connection.

We can see it now - at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we all tried to go as digital as we can be. Organizations focus was to find technological solutions for home working and for digital connection with their customers.

Now, a few months in this pandemic, the digital transformation is full steam ahead, but the one thing we all want is a human connection and for this social distancing to be over.

"We need to find the balance between automation and human connection."

Q: If you had a super-power what will it be, and why?

Funny you ask, because I recently took an online test to find out my superhero power (don’t tell anyone, but I have a weakness for stupid online tests…), and I got Telekinesis. You can’t argue with a test result ??

?Q: What are your best tips for someone who is doing his first steps in your field?

• Try to understand what is important to you in your career, what is your passion
• Find a student job and get some experience - it will help you understand what you like to do and what you do not want to do in your career
• Learn as much as you can, all the time – It doesn’t have to be a formal education, follow leaders in your filed, follow professional publication in your field, take part in professional groups on social media, etc.
• We cannot drive continuous improvement without learning and improving ourselves

Q: Where would you like to travel? 

I love the cold countries! Iceland is my favorite place (if you haven’t been, add it to your post COVID-19 list!).

Just before the pandemic closed everything I’ve been in the wonderful, cold, white Lapland.

So, that leave me with Norway and Antarctica ?? But I can’t neglect the other countries in the world – Japan, Australia and New Zealand are also high on my list…

Q: What skill would you like to be master?

Storytelling – it is one of the overused buzzwords this year, but the ability to tell a story and convey your message through it, is an art I admire. 

“My motto in life is;

But to be yourself,

is all that you can do…” (Audioslave)

Q: When people come to you for help, what do they usually want help with?

Making sense of a situation and what should they do, in their work, career or personal life

Another thing, finding a creative idea for something – presentation, way to convey a message, making things work better, etc. 

The Common Question: What is your definition of success?

I think Dale Carnegie said it in the best way:

“Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.”

So, we got to the end of this interview, and it was inspiring! 

I want to thank to the lovely Rotem, that answered those questions with an open heart in such articulate way. I'm sure that the readers has at least 10 good reasons to meet Rotem Yarkoni on LinkedIn.

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