Blog Archives - beLithe

October 19, 2018 by Drew Kincius Leave a Comment

Embracing Assessments for Authentic Self-Discovery

As many of you may (or may not) know, I consider myself a novice in navigating the tech ecosystem. From learning to code to discovering how to manage and deliver software products, this past year provided an immersive experience in personal discovery. By unpacking how to overcome these new career challenges through exploring new ways of doing business, I am identifying a new me.

Now, when I say that I am “discovering a new me,” I am referring to the realization of my underlying strengths and weaknesses since I embarked on this new journey. I’ve taken a plethora of assessments as part of this adventure, including DISC Assessments, Kolbe Evaluations, and Clifton Strengths, in addition to employer-provided skill assessments apps such as Agile Onion and Pocket Prof.

I can wholeheartedly confess that I’ve improved my ability to define my personal and professional strengths and weaknesses accurately. It’s been instrumental in my transition from the not-for-profit sector into a career in technology.

Digging In

So what did these assessments reveal? Plenty; a plethora of new things about me personally and professionally. My initial takeaway was beginning to understand my values and what guided me in my professional work. Don’t get me wrong – we are all raised with a particular set of values, whether good or bad, which guide us into our adult years. However, we are rarely directed about professional values. “Ideal” professional ideologies should come naturally from our “ideal” personal values, well, at least they are supposed to be, right?

According to Gallup, the most dynamic people are those who truly and deeply understand their strengths and behaviors. This recognition of the skills you have acquired throughout your career can provide you with an underlying sense of your current abilities, as well as an accurate perspective regarding your natural talents. All of which offers a keen insight regarding your professional “why.”

It’s essential for an individual to find out where their work values lie. When we value our contributions, we increase the chances of being satisfied in our careers. Though not every job will fulfill our every move, knowing what we appreciate upfront is essential to determining if that outstanding job offer is from a company whose culture and values are somewhat in alignment with ours.

The Big Reveal

Here’s what I discovered from these assessments regarding my strengths:

Contextual: Looking back to the past to understand the present. I like to ask questions and allow the blueprints to emerge.
Restorative: Enjoy the challenge of solving problems by analyzing the solution. I like to bring things back to life.
Strategic: (my favorite and most likely most dominate trait) It is not a skill that can be taught. I am always playing out scenarios and asking, “what if this happened.”
Developer: Ability to see the potential in others. In my view, everyone is a work in progress, and I enjoy helping them discover their potential.
Input: Collecting and holding onto things of interest. It’s true, while I would not consider myself a hoarder, I can pride myself on my impressive home library…i.e., book collection.

Moving Forward

Empowered with this information, I have found areas of weakness where I could use additional training, as well as rediscovering areas of strength.

Diving in with these assessments has been incredibly valuable in helping me know the real me. I challenge you to take the time to invest in yourself and empower your authentic identity.

Let’s connect.
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October 16, 2018 by Drew Kincius Leave a Comment

We Belong Here In Tech

10.16.18 | Kendrea Williams |

Last month, I hopped on a plane to Houston ready to celebrate and network with thousands of other women in tech and computing at the annual Grace Hopper Celebration. The Grace Hopper Celebration is the self-described “world’s largest gathering of women technologists.”

Thank God I prepared! For the next three days, I had the honor to meet with some of technology’s best and brightest women leaders in the industry. Women, corporations, and universities from around the world were a part of this dynamic experience. The crowd was undoubtedly diverse, including students, new graduates, and women like me who have transitioned into a computing or technical role, mid-career. It was amazing!

Power in Unity

Our keynote speaker was a phenomenal woman by the name of Jessica Matthews, a Nigerian-American CEO and founder of Uncharted Power which produces Soccket, a soccer ball that can be used as a power generator. She delivered a powerful message regarding women and the available roles in the tech space, in addition to demonstrating a new power-generating jump rope. All while wearing heels!

Another phenomenal woman that I met while at the conference was Jovita Jenkins. While Jessica Matthews can be considered a millennial and a new female thought leader in the tech space, Mrs. Jenkins is regarded as a pioneer. In a time where educational opportunities were a rejected notion altogether, Mrs. Jenkins overcame those odds and entered the tech space by receiving a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mathematics. Her academic success qualified her to work in a technology lab, working on fascinating projects like the first B150 bomber, as well as spending much time working for NASA. Her arguably most notable accomplishment is that she retired as a lead engineer for TRW, Inc., where she led a team of men.

This expansive, impactful experience concluded with a strong message from professor Anita Hill in the wake of the #MeToo movement. She encouraged women to show up and be present. She invited us to speak up for ourselves and our fellow sisters when it comes to dismantling systems meant to oppress or silence women.

A Sense Of Belonging

I left that conference with not only a sense of relief, but I also left feeling like I could finally shed the dreaded “imposter syndrome” which was keeping me from exploring a technology-related career. And it was the messages from the likes of Jessica Matthews, Jovita Jenkins, and Anita Hill, all screaming loud and clear:

“You belong here…in tech!”

Let’s connect.
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October 12, 2018 by Drew Kincius Leave a Comment

Fostering Tough Conversations In The Name Of Inclusion

10.12.18 | Chris Daily |

I had the privilege of speaking Wednesday night at this month’s Northside Agileindy monthly meeting.

Our focus topic: managing diverse teams.

To be utterly frank, I’m not sure what I was thinking when I agreed to unpack this tense subject. Figuring out how, and what, I was going to talk about was tough.

A Source of Stress

Early in my IT career, I didn’t recognize the unconscious bias that was all around me. As my life and career have progressed, I’ve realized that diversity and inclusion is not something that just happens, but rather a culture that leaders have to foster intentionally.

The day of the actual presentation was pretty stressful for me. Not because I didn’t know the material or that I had a lot of other things going on, but because I knew what was yet to come that night. I tend to get butterflies before I present, but this time was different.

It seems as though we, as a nation of individuals, are drifting farther apart than ever before. I knew that this meeting could very likely stir up raw emotions. The values of diversity and inclusion, or a lack of it, have been focal points of passionate conversations, violence, and even death for decades.

Strength From Vulnerability

Fostering an environment of vulnerability and honesty was vital, as I first shared my struggles with acknowledging my own biases. We defined diversity and its benefits for any business. Living the values of scrum aligns with the concepts of diversity and inclusion.

Thankfully, the atmosphere remained engaged, passionate, and constructive.

I had fantastic follow-up conversations with attendees after the event, further discussing the importance of diving into these challenging topics. My underlying hope is that they left feeling that they gained some new insights in addition to a fresh perspective on diversity and inclusion.

I know I sure did.

Thanks, Agileindy, for the growth opportunity.

Chris

Let’s connect.
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October 1, 2018 by Chris Daily 1 Comment

Spotify, Agile, and Scrum: Demystifying the “Spotify” Model

A Sound Decision

You know, sometimes I think sharing anything about the Spotify model with someone new to Agile or Scrum can cause more harm than good.

A friend of mine forwarded an article to me last week and asked my opinion about what was being shared. The article was written by a Spotify product manager who experimented with taking an Agile team and removing the agile practices that they had been utilizing to see what would happen. That’s right, they quit facilitating all of the events that are outlined in the Scrum framework.

Those results validate something that I have felt should occur with a Scrum team. Over time, by following the framework, the members of a Scrum team will become better at collaboration, planning, and delivery of value. My theory is that, as they become better communicators and collaborators, the team’s reliance on the Scrum framework will change as long as they continue to live by the values of Scrum.

Dealing With A Lack of Context

This result might sound appealing to many. Some of the statements I have heard include:

“Trust the team and they will figure it out.”
“We don’t know stinking Scrum.”
“We should just move to the Spotify model of software development.”

My concern is one of Context. Maybe it is better stated as Lack of Context. What’s missing is the context of where the team was at the time the changes were introduced.

Spotify was founded in April 2006 and had adopted Scrum early in their journey. Yet, they had encountered some scaling problems as the number of teams grew. They brought in Henrik Kniberg, who helped Spotify embrace the Agile mindset by taking their experiences with Scrum and adding in practices from other Agile practices and frameworks to develop what has become known as the Spotify model. Essentially, Spotify moved past Scrum to achieve a higher level of Agile. Even today, the Spotify model is not even fully used within Spotify.

I like the Spotify model. Many concepts (tribes, guilds, squads, etc.) are appealing. What get’s lost in translation, though, is that Agile is a mindset. Not just a practice or a tool, but a different way of thinking and working. Without embracing the Agile mindset, the Spotify model and its associated practices will do no better than any other practice including Waterfall or Scrum. The Spotify model is one of several ways to scale agility across an organization.

Agile + Scrum in Action

Here are links to Spotify’s Agile Engineering and Product Management YouTube videos:

Let me know what you think. Want to talk about it?

Thanks for coming in today.

Chris

Let’s connect. Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | www.beLithe.com

August 14, 2018 by Chris Daily Leave a Comment

Check out our new shirts.

One of the things I noticed when I started at Angie’s list was the number of people who wore Angie’s list t-shirts. It was typically the most engaged employees to boot. In fact, employees could buy a t-shirt for $5. I realized that, if I ever got a chance to run my own company, I wanted to replicate what I learned at Angie’s list.

When Tana and I originally formed beLithe, we were primarily partnering with great organizations like CEWit, Eleven Fifty, and TechPoint to work with college students . One of the things we started giving away to our students was T-shirts. Our original T-shirt from 2016 had a quote on the back was a Winston Churchill quote “To improve is to change, so to be perfect is to have changed often.”

I thought it was time to change the quote, so I found a new one (check it out here). I couldn’t write one. As I searched for ideas, I stumbled across Apple’s diversity statement off there website. I couldn’t resist. It reflects the approach that I have always felt was right for am company, but never heard anyone at my past employers be so direct. With all due respect to Apple, I used this one on our shirt.

In my Scrum training, we discuss one of the values of Scrum, openness, as one of the things that makes Scrum work. We talk about openness in terms of one’s day to day status, opinions on how work is done, and what can be improved. Diversity is generally accepted as a requirement for high performing teams. Including other points of view provides better decision making across the board. After conducting Scrum training for a number of years, I have had a revelation. In Scrum, we should be open not just in what we share, but in what we take in. We should be open to other’s ideas as well, whether we agree with them or not. We shouldn’t let all the crap that doesn’t really matter cloud our opinions about teammates.

My goal for beLithe is that we are a high performing team, and this is one small way of embracing our future. We are just starting the journey, and I hope it will be a fun ride.

Thanks for coming in today.

Chris

Embracing Assessments for Authentic Self-Discovery

Digging In

The Big Reveal

Moving Forward

We Belong Here In Tech

Power in Unity

A Sense Of Belonging

Fostering Tough Conversations In The Name Of Inclusion

A Source of Stress

Strength From Vulnerability

Spotify, Agile, and Scrum: Demystifying the “Spotify” Model

A Sound Decision

Dealing With A Lack of Context

Agile + Scrum in Action

Check out our new shirts.

UPCOMING EVENTS

#SLINKYTHINK:
DIRECTLY TO YOUR INBOX

Digging In

The Big Reveal

Moving Forward

Power in Unity

A Sense Of Belonging

A Source of Stress

Strength From Vulnerability

A Sound Decision

Dealing With A Lack of Context

Agile + Scrum in Action

UPCOMING EVENTS

#SLINKYTHINK:DIRECTLY TO YOUR INBOX

#SLINKYTHINK:
DIRECTLY TO YOUR INBOX