Perry HewittDecember 12, 2013

Beyond the webgrrl:

5 common traits of successful

women in tech

Disclaimers: Not an expert on workplace gender

issues Observations ≠ statistically sound

data Has never worked in IT (but all

around it!)

Credentialers: Is female Has worked in a lot of tech

companies Managed software developers 15+

years Enjoys building and managing

cross-functional teams of any and all genders

Communicate and amplify Harvard’s mission of excellence in teaching, learning, and research while making the University and its contributions relatable and relevant in an always-on world

Enable communications and engagement approaches to live digitally, and often digital-first to enrich our constituents’ experience of Harvard

build amplify

aggregate curate

COPEship

measure iterate

mobile data

social video

http://youtu.be/yRNt7ZLY0Kc

December 2013: Still no progress after years of no progress

1. Find your voice

I’m sorry if this is a dumb question, but I was wondering …

This is probably off-topic, but …

I’m not sure if anyone else agrees

with this, but …

You’re defining the problem as X. From

my experience…

I’m going to jump in here, and add…

Here’s my question: …

Social media as connecter and amplifier

So! Getting women to submit content: easy? Um. When I’d talk to men about the conference and ask if they felt like they had an idea to submit for a talk, they’d *always* start brainstorming on the spot. I’m not generalizing — every guy I talked to about speaking was able to come up with an idea, or multiple ideas, right away…and yet, overwhelmingly the women I talked to with the same pitch deferred with a, “well, but I’m not an expert on anything,” or “I wouldn’t know what to submit,” or “yes but I’m not a *lead* [title], so you should talk to my boss and see if he’d want to present.”

– Courtney Stanton, geekfeminism.org

2. Invest in your own technical expertise

Quiz time! Who is the most invested in your career advancement?

Your boss Your company’s HR The trainer hired for your

professional development Your colleagues Your family Your direct reports You

Seek informal and formal learning opportunities

Identify unexpected “teachers”

Apply and ask, apply and ask

Focus only on discrete technical skills

Wait for formal credentialing to be in place

Lear

ning

-firs

t app

roac

hT

raining-first approach

Develop industry knowledge broader than your technical training

Consumerization of IT means … Web/digital trends Business Intelligence Mobile ecosystem and behaviors Emerging standards Measurement best practices

Your professional development is your responsibility.

3. Build your professional/personal support team

“Figure out the people around you that you want to work with for the rest of your life. Figure out the people who are smart & awesome, who share your values, who get things done—and maybe most important, who you like to be with and who you want to help win. And treat them right, always.”

-- John Lilly, Greylock

82% of executive businesswomen played organized sports after elementary school – what does that imply about teamwork and resolving workplace differences?

photo credit: rose lincoln

4. Perform, but also tell the story / cultivate / steward

photo credit: renee s suen

There’s still value in watching a pot to keep projects on track …

photo credit: warriorwoman531

… but recognize that firefighters get rewarded, however the blaze

took hold

A card, a call, a letter a day.

Your achievementsColleagues' achievements

5. Make smart compromises

photo credit: rich900

Not everything can be dialed up to 11.Where can you compromise to meet overall

business goals while recognizing that requirements may shift over time?

Selected Resources

A selection of books about

work

The Power of Habit

Thinking Fast and Slow

Blind Spot: Hidden Biases of Good People

Women Don’t Ask: The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation

Catalyst 2013 Census of Women in Fortune 500

What Works for Women at Work

Lean In