Director
The more time passes, the less precise the description of my role at Decisio becomes; I am a bit jealous of who can reply “”I am doctor”” or “”I am a teacher”” when asked what it is that they do. I do not work as an engineer, even if I hold a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in Energy and Nuclear Engineering. Even if I spend less and less time analyzing data and crunching numbers, my studies provided me with what I think is a valuable skill: understand which story lies behind data, which truths and which lies. I have always been at ease with words, both written and spoken, and I like to combine words and numbers to tell the story of a change that is possible, whether it is in the way we move around, in the way we produce the energy and power we need, in the way we organize the way we work and much more.
What exactly do you work on at Decisio?
One of the most fascinating aspects of my job is that it is not really one job, it is many jobs at the same time: I manage some of our projects, I collaborate in many that are managed by my colleagues, I look for new opportunities, I take care of some administrative work, I present in public quite often in conferences or other events. Some days ago, I fixed the curtains in the office. Sometimes I make coffee for our colleagues, sometimes on of them makes it for me. In the future I would like to dedicate most of time to help and support my colleagues in improving and growing. Stealing a metaphor to Hakira Murakami: not being a match, being the rough surface you scrap a match upon. Light other people up.
What is the request you get the most often from your colleagues?
“Every week somebody goes “”Matte my computer is doing this weird thing; can you fix it?”. But I also often get “”Matte we would need 10 written pages on X by tomorrow.” And I very much like also “Who is attending the presentation about Y tomorrow night?” Although I make it sound like I am bothered, I actually enjoy receiving these requests, and I am happy to do my best to help my colleagues.
And besides work?
I have two small kids. And maybe I could leave it at that, but the thing is that I believe being a dad is an explicit will, an “”action”” in the sense of something active. That is why I try to put my commitment and my intentionality with my kids and with my wife, without my phone, without other thoughts. Be with them, be good, feel good. Do I always succeed? Of course not. I succeed sometime, and that is good enough. Oh, and I read a lot of books and I try to watch a lot of movies. I climb uphill some mountains and I get down on my skies or snowboard, but climate change worries me and fills me with doubts.
A project of which you are particularly fond?
The cycling plan of the Metropolitan City of Milan, called Cambio. It was the first important projects I had the opportunity to manage, and the whole time I felt “”in the flow””: a difficult project, and important one, a “not to be screwed” one. As we were working on it, I realized we were doing it for real and doing it well. We surfed a big wave for about a year, and we did not fall. The satisfaction of realizing that sometimes c’mon, you’re not that bad. And then seeing years later that plan keeps on giving: cycle paths are designed and built, that your work could eventually change the word one bit. Amazing.
“Working at Decisio” in one word
Electric.
