Elevator Pitch
Why does your organization exist? What aesthetic quality of truth, goodness and beauty does it imagine for the future? How is that reflected in your software?
If the answers are unclear, welcome! You’ll leave this talk equipped to choose them for yourself. As a Knower, you will have this power. 💪
Description
Every organization exists to gather and focus human potential to design a kind of future it imagines for itself — one that reflects its own ideals of truth, goodness, and beauty1. For some organizations, that vision is sharp and clear. But for most, it’s a muddled mess.
Without clarity on WHY we exist, our human potential cannot be actualized. We will fail to consciously bring the power each one of us inherently possesses to thwart institutional cowardice in our everyday decisions — especially those with lasting consequences: how we staff, how we communicate, how we design, build, deploy, operate, and maintain software.
In this talk, I will argue that clarity of purpose does not have to elude us. We can be empowered to CHOOSE it for ourselves, regardless of where we are in the hierarchy, or what job we do, or whether we’ve been given permission.
REAL empowerment, as compared to the facile and non-threatening version we know doesn’t work, means becoming able to DO things we couldn’t do before. As such, you will leave this talk equipped to act as a Knower — an examiner of the ordinary, wielder of owned power, newly capable of designing better futures for yourself, for your organization, and for the people out there you serve.
This talk also serves as a 101 level introduction to Organizational Strategy for individual contributors.
1Nonaka, et al.
Notes
Hi folks! This talk will alternate between me talking and the audience doing (so more of a lightweight workshop than a 45m lecture). No special requirements needed here, since folks just need a pen/pencil and some paper to write on for themselves.
Participants will make a strategy map of their organizations / departments / teams in order to explicitly describe what they KNOW about their purpose in the grand scheme, and therefore what they OUGHT to be doing, regardless of unclear articulations of organizational vision they may currently be receiving. I’ll be giving them a hands-on experience with a technique called Wardley Mapping (to sum up, it causes a lot of lightbulb moments that sound like, “Ohhhh, that’s why!”). I expect outcomes to include greater individual agency, more role clarity, and greater competency in execution, regardless of where they are in the SDLC.
COVID-19 means in-person talks are likely still going to be bad news around the time this conference is to take place, so rest assured that I can deliver this remotely with ease. I hold online workshops every week as part of my usual gig. Even better, my participants claim they’re engaging, worthwhile, and even not a complete waste of time! 😂
For that matter, if any other speakers need help with converting their material for an online experience, I’d be happy to help. I have a good book recommendation and can coach folks through the process if needed. Cheers!