Yishan Wong, the former CEO of Reddit, is taking on a big problem: the climate crisis. Wong is the head of Terraformation, an organization that plans to fight the climate crisis through reforestation efforts. 

Based in Hawaii, Wong and the Terraformation team have so far created the world’s largest solar-powered desalination system to help sustain newly planted trees. And it’s going strong. In places like New Zealand, Ecuador, and Uganda, these restoration efforts have the potential to lead to thousands of acres of new forest.

While Wong is searching for ways to scale his goal of reducing carbon emissions one tree at a time, his biggest challenge is finding people who are solution-oriented into the wild.  

All Hands On Deck

At Terraformation, Wong and his team are working together to bring tech and the environment together. When the Terraformation CEO was searching for solutions to remove the enormous amounts of CO2 emissions from the atmosphere, he was also looking for ways to get people on board. 

Wong found that while the notion of climate change was not necessarily based around technology, the fundamental philosophy stood strong to attract engineers: solving problems.

For Wong, he knew his passion and curiosity for technology came from the idea of solving problems. So, how his next venture in building out Terraformation was getting a team of solution-oriented folks. 

“I’m a very practical problem-solving engineer or technologist. And I say that in contrast to engineers who like technology for technology's sake. Some people are engineers because they like to solve problems. Some people are engineers because they like gadgets.”

With experience at Reddit, Facebook, and PayPal, Wong found that working with people who are not technologists yielded the best results. To be specific, curious people. When forming the Terraformation team, Wong recognized the deep expertise of each team member. But he placed curiosity at the forefront of his search.

“We've been able to form a team of people with a lot of expertise in their field, recognize deep expertise in other fields, and are curious about [their work].”

As Wong continues to scale Terraformation, he’s adamant about finding the spark of curiosity among teammates. Creating a diverse, multi-disciplinary team has a nuanced benefit as people are challenged to overcome their traditional ways of thinking.

“One of the ways we're going to ultimately be successful with solving climate change is with effective multidisciplinary solutions. It requires types of people from different fields.”

As Wong said, the climate crisis requires a “certain combination of humility and confidence in one's expertise.” 

Humility When Scaling

As Terraformation continues to grow, Wong described how part of recruiting not only requires technical skills but soft skills.  

“There's a certain combination of humility and confidence in one's expertise.”

That’s how Wong recruited Terraformation’s head of forestry. Part of having the experience and background in forestry there is an element of humility and urge to authentically connect with others on something new. 

And for the Terraformation CEO, brings this mindset to his targeted audience. It’s not about selling a product, but connecting those who have polarizing views on climate change. 

“It’s less about any specific audience. It’s about the message being targeted towards a certain mindset which is a solution-oriented mindset.”While climate change continues to be a hot topic  — social or economic issue — Terraformation’s core strategy is focusing on solution-oriented people. Instead of fighting a culture war, Wong and his team are on a mission to create sustainable, concrete ideas.