I’m Preston Husom, and This is How I Work

Location: Duluth, MN
Current Gig: Organizational Management Student and HR Intern
One word that describes how you work: Strategically
What apps/software/tools can’t you live without? Why?
Microsoft One Note, Google Play Music, Skype, Twitter, Google Podcasts, Google News
All of these apps and tools allow me to connect to incredible thinkers and amazing information. It is a way for me to learn and continually grow. Take Twitter for instance. I have a passion for politics and being engaged. The best way to stay up to date on what is going on in the political process is to follow the right people on Twitter. Before there is a headline in the Washington Post or the New York Times, reporters, analysts, policy wonks have already been tweeting about it.
What’s your best time-saving shortcut/life hack?
“Give me six hours to cut down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening my axe.”
—Abraham Lincoln (in actuality, probably just an anonymous woodsman)
A Sherlock Holmes mindset is invaluable. Creating an organized initial plan that has considered and weighed all options and outcomes makes for a successful start to a project. I continually must remind myself of this fact and deploy it in my own life.
What everyday thing are you better at than everyone else? What’s your secret?
I am good at processing how two or more objects, people, concepts, and ideas are connected. I quickly understand the history of the relationship, how the relationship is working, why it’s working the way it is, how new influences or changes will effect the big picture, and the path to achieve a desired outcome. The secret is to constantly ask why things are the way they are. Things rarely, if not never, happen without a reason.
What do you listen to while you work?
I love listening to podcasts or music when I work. However, if the work requires me to think, read, or write, then I require silence.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
I had a mentor show me what is truly important in life (I talk about it here). Paraphrasing David Brooks, he talked about the difference between resume virtues and eulogy virtues. You ought to live your life based on the virtues of one’s eulogy and not on the virtues of your resume.
Where do you find inspiration and new ideas?
I try to read as much as I can. I listen to podcasts that expand my thinking as well as follow thinkers and influencers on social media. Also, the power of Lake Superior and living in such a beautiful natural city can bring about some amazing ideas.
What’s your favorite quote?
There are so many, however:
“If the highest aim of a captain is to preserve his ship, he would leave it in port forever.”
—Thomas Aquinas

