Background:

This is part of the Quought for the Day – 2008 Series.

Quought = Question that provokes thought!

The question I asked thought leaders and my very smart friends is:

What is ONE question that you wish someone had asked you when you were young? And, Why?

I will be posting answers (which will be Quoughts) one by one.This one is from Rock Clapper

Rock left his professorship at Brown Univ. and came to Silicon Valley in 1994. Basically, this coincided with his first look at an Internet application called a ‘browser’. He knew that his doctorate in applied social psychology was a perfect background for creating web-based consumer and business environments. At the time, Rock had done years of research and published many papers on persuasive communication, and was a sought after speaker in the U.S. and internationally.

Rock holds a BS in Psychology from Arizona State Univ., a Masters and Doctorate in Applied Social Psychology from the Univ. of Houston, as well as an alumnus of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business Executive Education Program. Rock has been the CEO of several successful Internet and software companies in Silicon Valley. He is a veteran of company acquisitions, having negotiated such for each company he led, as well as having led a company to the position of a public offering.

Rock’s Quought

Why are you a follower?

Rock’s reason for choosing that Quought

What I didn’t understand when I was younger, without the lens of my doctorate in Social Psychology and the ability of adult reflection, was the power of social influence.  If I had made my own way and followed my own passions, I could have accelerated and amplified my growth into the adult I eventually turned out to be.

More about Rock:

1. Band of Angels (Rock is a member of Band of Angels)

2. Rock Clapper’s LinkedIn Profile

3. Humane Society of the United States