How I Work: Scott Wickstrom, CEO, G&A
Scott Wickstrom has a boundless drive to try everything, at least once. Design by Barbara Cadorna.
Scott Wickstrom has a boundless drive to try everything, at least once. From experience in the insurance and finance fields, to working as a chef, and now leading a creative company, his career and life chapters are intentionally ever-evolving, just like his take on a morning “routine.” He avoids being too comfortable, which is why he resists the temptation to play his one, beloved playlist composed of the best songs from the last 30 years (in fact, it’s the only playlist he has ever made — that’s how much he avoids settling with just one choice). Whether it was starting a parents’ starter kit company inspired by the Nordic parenting model with his wife, or finding new ways of working with AI in the design world, Wickstrom’s experiments complement his personal philosophy: you can never practice personal growth enough.
Wickstrom leads the evolution for the experiential design firm G&A, which has created branding for companies like Toyota; Sazerac; and Johnson & Johnson, and holds many long-running collaborations with arts institutions like the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum; International Spy Museum; and the National Museum of African American Music.
Here, Wickstrom shares how he works, including why he believes food is the most critical storytelling method; the company he started with his wife to introduce Nordic parenting methods into the U.S. healthcare system; and how he constantly changes his routine, outfits, and music choices to evolve with his personal growth.
G&A integrated exhibit design and interactive media with the historic architecture of the Sazerac Coffee House in New York City. Photo by Jeremy Bittermann.
1. Rise and Shine
I really don’t have a consistent routine so much as I’ll have what seem to be two- or three-week periods of trying out the next routine, which gets replaced by the “next next routine” after being inspired by something I’ve read that makes me think “That’s it! That’s what I should really be doing!”
I love these cycles of change that seem to spin off at least one or two enduring micro-habits each cycle, but more than that I love the feeling of trying something new and the hope and promise that comes with starting a new routine. Oatmeal every day, of course! Meditation for 10 minutes, then green tea! By the next week, I’m realizing I need to reverse everything. What was I thinking with morning oatmeal — it’s all about intermittent fasting!
The only constant through these cycles is that I do my most strategic decision making first thing in the morning. All the accumulated middle-of-the-night problems that got some TLC need to actually be resolved with a clear decision and an action plan. This one constant stabilizes me for whatever the day brings. Reed in the river.
2. Work Uniform
Until recently I’ve always avoided visible branding. This was a problem when I used to consult with a lot of brands who had expectations of what they’d see me and the team wearing in pitches or meetings.
It wasn’t a problem early in my career (corporate finance) when I had to wear a suit and tie every day, which of course is all about “guess the brand.” I learned to love high quality and unique textiles, and would pay close attention to weave, breathability, and drape — anything to help with the NYC heat in August.
I still tend to be more comfortable on the formal side these days — wearing collared shirts and hard-soled shoes somehow frees me to think more creatively and openly than if I’m dressed “casually.” Dry cleaning is horrible for the environment, so I wear a linen shirt almost every day.
3. How I Structure My Day
Most of the people I work with every day are on the East Coast, and I live in Portland, Oregon, so when I’m not traveling, I’m up early, quietly checking on things to see if I need to jump into anything. I use Scheduled Send whenever I can, though, so I can keep those first couple hours to myself for my own proactive work and avoid the back-and-forth loops.
Then the rest of the day is devoted to being responsive to people and teams, and since most of those teams are three hours ahead, I usually take a decent break at 3 or 4 p.m. my time, maybe pick the kids up from school or work out or shop for dinner with my wife, and then do more proactive work later in the day.
4. Playlist Favorites
Before we had kids I felt very connected to music trends. I would’ve said it was my primary creative inspiration. Maybe second to foodways and food history, but it was pretty important fuel for my own creative expression.
Having spent almost fifteen exhilarating years now drawing creative inspiration from my kids, I find I’m now going back to music more and more.
So I put Pitchfork’s Best New Music on whenever I can, trying to resist the temptation to play the only playlist I have — one head-breaking list of objectively the best songs of the past 30 years.
Newer stuff: Lately I’ve been into Khruangbin in a way I can’t really figure out. I think it feels new and global but also like friends’ garage bands from high school in California. When I was a chef in the 90s there was a lot of Spyro Gyra and Weather Report, so maybe it reminds me of that and brings me back to a wonderful time.
But that’s for daytime listening. Lately it’s usually Dry Cleaning or Wet Leg or something like that while making dinner.
5. Tools of the Trade
As a strategist, I love frameworks. I love visual frameworks of really complex challenges that simplify the problem into things a bunch of people want to do to fix it without getting too stressed. And hopefully have some fun!
Until the pandemic, in-person white boarding was almost always my go-to tool for visualizing frameworks and developing strategic plans. I got a ReMarkable 2 in 2020 and have used it a lot to replace the in-person white board sessions, but it’s not as good a substitute for a few people being in a room together passing the pen back and forth.
I also write a lot and have transitioned from OneNote early on, to Evernote around 2010 or so, and last year moved everything to Notion. I probably obsess about hoarding work notes and photos of every white board I’ve worked on — and have saved all my Moleskines for the past 25 years — but there’s one period around 2001-2004 where I was using another digital tool that broke and went out of business before I could migrate the data so I apparently didn’t exist for those three magical years.
Wickstrom works from home in Portland, Oregon.
6. Dream Studio
A full restaurant kitchen onsite. Food is a major passion — I do think it’s the most interesting and critically reliable storytelling method (understanding foodways) to understand people and culture everywhere around the world — and for me it’s a super fun, relaxing, and useful creative distraction.
And the process of designing a group meal, then creating and eating it, is an insanely effective way to create trust and bonds between people.
When I first came across Olafur Eliasson’s The Kitchen I thought, “F*ck, really? They’ll let you do that?” But I haven’t done it yet. One day I will.
7. One Unique Thing About My Work Process…
I don’t know if it’s globally unique, but in my current work I absolutely love the imperative that I have to functionally code switch every 30 minutes or so.
I have this simple picture of a 21-piece puzzle next to one of my monitors that breaks down the things I need to pay attention to every day.
It has six high-level categories: business strategy, marketing & business development, leadership & org development, people strategy & development, systems & processes, and culture. Within those six categories are more granular strategic telescopes — things like client growth, “the work,” brand, or innovation.
I feel so privileged I get to try to see the hidden connections between these 21 pieces for my job, and use that to inform vision-setting and any guidance or direction I’m allowed to provide my teams.
8. Mantra
You can’t practice personal growth enough.
The number one thing that motivates me at work is to be very close to a process where someone — a co-worker — goes into the ‘personal growth’ crucible, has to confront some difficult truths about themselves, and then leverages their own intellectual curiosity and comfort with risk to truly evolve into what should feel to their loved ones and co-workers like ‘a better version of themselves.’
And I think I’m motivated to be that person too. All the time, actually. I am 100% a lifelong learner — I thrive when I’m continuously learning something new. I push to go from ‘this is a new challenge - imposter!’ to ‘well this is pretty comfortable’ fairly quickly, and then I try adding more into the mix that I find personally really interesting to somehow create a passion out of it, after the fact. You can create your passions, right? They don’t have to be intrinsic?
The process is often filled with winces and headshakes at things I’ve done and said that I wish I hadn’t (sorry everyone!), so all I can do is try to be better with new teams, new people, and new words.
9. My Brightest Idea that Never Saw the Light of Day
Shortly after my wife gave birth to our daughter, we became sort of frustrated-obsessed with the Finnish starter kit for new moms and the Nordic parenting model overall.
So we started a company (Toast Slice…you can still find remnants of it on the web in places) devoted initially to high-design products for infants through early education. These included things like flash cards, bamboo toys, and modern coloring books.
But we wanted to work with the U.S. healthcare system to evolve Toast Slice to develop a new mom’s starter kit like the Finnish model. We told ourselves after a few years we were making great progress, but in hindsight of course that was never going to see the light of day. We still have the fire in our bellies, though…
Wickstrom and his wife created “Toast Slice,” a company inspired by the Nordic parenting model that sells high-design products for children, including a coloring book that explores the homes of different animals. Images: Wickstrom.
10. To-Do List Item that Keeps Me Up at Night
Everyone has AI fever right now, I guess, but I feel I’m behind on having a documented business strategy in place for how we use it. We’re testing a handful of tools in project management and overall company operations, but the role of AI in our client work becomes more complex with every new tool that comes online.
I’m sure most designers are working this out right now too — if anyone wants to form a team to figure it out together, let’s connect!
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