culture Archives

October 16, 2018 by Drew Kincius Leave a Comment

We Belong Here In Tech

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!”

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May 1, 2016 by Chris Daily Leave a Comment

Culture Work: The Fine Line Between Cheese and Charm

Last week I got the opportunity to talk culture at the Mid-Michigan Agile Group’s monthly meeting organized by Joe Hershey. I always look forward to talking about culture in agile environments and getting to watch all the light bulbs light up one by one in the audience as folks relate to the experiences I share during my presentation. The best part of the presentation is always the very end when I open up the floor for comments and Q&A. I love hearing about other’s experiences and thoughts on culture and engagement.

One of the questions I received really stuck with me.

Professional Tester Jeff MacBane (@JMacBane) asked…. “How do you prevent the work the team is doing on culture from being cheesy?”

I’d like to think that the work I do around culture is never perceived as cheesy because it is always genuine and coming from the heart – I’m passionate about building happy places to work. But the fact is some of the practices used to cultivate certain behaviors in a culture are downright cheesy and can be over the top. Think about the old “trust fall” team building activities… yuck! Even some of the more low-key activities like bringing in a cake and balloons to celebrate a team milestone can be perceived as cheesy.

So what’s my advice?

All culture work (and leadership behavior in general) must be authentic and come from genuine place. Lead from the heart and the rest will follow.
Remember that culture is NOT the fun “social committee” activities – culture is much bigger than that. Culture is the “social glue” that holds an organization together and guides decision making and behaviors of the parts of the system. Be careful not to associate the social committee-like activities with the word culture – you don’t want folks thinking about these words synonymously.
Accept that some cheese is a good thing. What would a pizza be without some mozzarella? It’s good to have a little cheese sprinkled in your culture activities. What matters is that the behaviors of our leaders and culture cheerleaders are genuine and consistent with the values we say we are working toward.

As Jeff said, he’s seen too much “cheese” in culture efforts in the past but he also thinks that a little bit of cheese is a good thing and not having that is a missed opportunity. Good luck finding your balance between the two!

Tana

January 28, 2016 by Chris Daily Leave a Comment

Talking Culture with the Lean and Agile Learning Network Chicago

On a cold, blustery Tuesday (1/28) night, Tana and I got the opportunity to attend Lean and Agile Learning Network’s meetup in Chicago hosted by Kasey Whitmer and Swoon. Tana presented our Culture Eats Agile for Breakfast talk. The experience level of the folks in the room varied from those just starting their agile journey to a few seasoned veterans. The theme of Tana’s presentation was that organizations wanting to transform their business into an agile mindset have to acknowledge that more than just process has to change for a transformation to be successful and sustainable. We’re proposing the more, in this case, is the organization’s culture. As the hour ticked down, it was great to see smiles and nods of agreement as Tana moved through the key tenets and then tied the tenets with our experiences together at Thrive HDS/IHIE, Blue Pillar, and Stratice Healthcare.

As you can imagine, a lot of good conversation ensued after the presentation wrapped up. It was obvious that others in the room had similar challenges at current and past employers. I am glad the topic of culture seemed to resonate with the those who were in attendance, and I hope they left feeling as though giving us their evening resulted in something tangible they can take back to their organizations.

Because of our schedules, we went up and back in the same day. Long day! Well worth the trip to have the opportunity to share experiences with fellow Agilists.

Anthony Mersino and Lean and Agile Learning Network – thanks for the invitation. We’d be glad to come back any time.

Chris

November 27, 2015 by Chris Daily Leave a Comment

We’re coming out! Culture was the missing agile link.

Over my career, I have worked in a variety of organizations of different sizes in the financial and healthcare industries. As I have progressed throughout my career, I have participated in and witnessed a number of agile transformations on my journey. There was always one thing that seemed to get in the way of new ideas or approaches to work, regardless of whether those ideas would be helpful to the organization or not. And it never mattered whether the idea came down from on high or from the bowels of the organization. I knew there was something in the way but I couldn’t put my finger on what exactly it was. The challenges weren’t always the same. And in most cases there were multiple challenges at the same time. The challenges ranged from lack of consensus across an organization to one individual with the power to shut down the initiative.

Because I had just come from an agile engagement where this elusive thing (still with no name) was an obstacle to our agile successes, when I arrived at Thrive HDS, I was determined to try to figure out an easier way. I found that the HR Director, Tana Linback, was already laying the foundation that I would need to introduce agile to the organization. Tana was focusing on this touchy, feely, squishy thing called culture. While I had always taken pride in constructing an environment (culture) for the team to be successful, I had not considered the bigger picture and that the culture of the entire workplace is key not just the culture of my team. Did I catch a break or what? I had found someone who had experience and loved to focus on an area that was the missing piece of the agile transformation puzzle. Well, I caught another break soon after. Tana had heard about Agile and Scrum, but didn’t know much about it but was intrigued. My agile journey was changing direction in a major way.

Fast forward to November 12, 2015. Tana speaks at APLN, a Chicago Agile User Group (check them out here http://www.meetup.com/APLN-Chicago/) delivering a presentation titled “Culture Eats Agile for Breakfast”. The presentation shares our experiences and what we learned while working at Thrive HDS and IHIE, highlighting the key role culture plays. Throughout the presentation and the Q&A that followed, I noticed a lot of nodding heads and smiles of agreement in the audience. A number of folks in the crowd had similar experiences. (Several posted their reactions here http://www.meetup.com/APLN-Chicago/events/225673469/)

Tana did a great job of capturing and then sharing the experiences and lessons learned. As we talked on the drive back to Indy, we both agreed this was a great first step. It’s time to take step 2.

Chris

We Belong Here In Tech

Power in Unity

A Sense Of Belonging

Culture Work: The Fine Line Between Cheese and Charm

Talking Culture with the Lean and Agile Learning Network Chicago

We’re coming out! Culture was the missing agile link.

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Power in Unity

A Sense Of Belonging

UPCOMING EVENTS

Call Us:

(219) 508-2057

#SLINKYTHINK:DIRECTLY TO YOUR INBOX

#SLINKYTHINK:
DIRECTLY TO YOUR INBOX