What I’ve learned from Australian Women in tech conference
Ansarada’s tech women this September 6th,7th attended Women in Tech Australia 2018 conference in Sydney. There were lots of great and inspirational talks which made me write this to brief what have been my takeaways.
Meeting lots of successful women in tech who were sharing their stories and journeys were persuasive and make you think there’s no excuse to give up and not to meet your dreams.
Following I’m listing talks that I attended, the key takeaways have been mentioned on the website and the main quotes which resonated with me
Unblocking Innovation for Digital Transformation
Miriam McLemore (Director Enterprise Strategy @ Amazon Web Services)
Key takeaways: how to achieve growth without burdensome accumulation, success without slowness, and constant innovation.
To handle the fast pace of digital transformation create the agility to respond to opportunities and be flexible about technology and create an environment of innovation
Miriam McLemore talked about Amazon leadership principles and how these principals are put in action, following is the items that I’ve noted :
- Customer obsession — Leaders start with customer’s problem and go backward
I found it interesting that there were different talks acknowledging each other; This above item has been mentioned in another talk by Yasmine Sefouane (Product Owner, API Ecosystem @ Xero) which was about Moving from Feature-Based to Problem-Based Roadmaps
- Bias for action — Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.
- Disagree and commit — Make a decision after all disagreements and then be committed
This one was actually my favourite one, getting to the level of committing yourself after discussions to the idea that didn’t get your vote is not easy but practicing it would add value to the team.
She also talked about Returning professionals program which is the process to bring women back in the workforce after their long maternity leave.
And her final advice was :
As the transformation step take bold steps, If you are not ready don’t wait to take a small step and keep going.
How to Talk to your Boss about Diversity, Like a Boss!
Roisin Parkes (Chief Technology Officer @ Gumtree)
Martin Herbst (General Manager @ Gumtree Australia)
Key takeaways: Why talk to your boss about it at all? Discuss tactics for getting your boss onside. How to make sure the conversation doesn’t end there.
This was an engaging one on one that Roisin planned with Martin her boss
At the early stages of the talk, she gave a confronting percentage
56% of women leave tech industry in middle age NOT because they are not passionate about their job and NOT because of family commitment, the main reason is lack of support from their manager!!
In the one on one session that Roisin and Martin had, they chatted about what they can do to increase the gender diversity in their company. The following is the list that I noted :
- It seems lots of female candidate being turned off by job descriptions — Job ads shouldn’t be intimidating.
- Building an inclusive environment by supporting women and not to let them feel excluded.
- In a meeting If the manager sees people are not talking ask them to speak out — mainly women raise their thoughts when they feel really prepared which stops them from stepping up and talking. Women want to be believed, managers should give this chance to them to crack their shelves.
- Enabling open conversations — Make this a business priority otherwise it would never be done.
- What can we start with right away to increase the number of women in management positions ? — Make a commitment and do public speaking around this and start it as a journey and make regular checkins. Also measure how to get there.
- Coach your leaders to become better leaders.
“Fueling your life”- How to Live an Extraordinary Work and Personal Life
Melissa Verner Green (Head of Melbourne Agency & Government @ Facebook)
Key takeaway : Writing your vision is a tool that helps you achieve the biggest goals you have. Allowing you to take action and find a balance between work and life.
Don’t move too fast to break your balance & burn you out
This session was one of the best, Melissa talked about Vision writing and openly shared her vision that she had been written for this year.
In Facebook they allocate one day in a year to write their vision for the coming year which includes their personal and work life
Benefits of writing your vision :
- Helps you to take control of your life then you can start taking action.
- If you write your vision down, you’re 42% more likely to set your self on a plan and make it happen.
- Share your vision — Articulate it by sharing it with others, it makes you more committed.
Dream big have a crack
- Write about : What would you do if you weren’t afraid.
Panel Session — Getting a Seat at the Table
Led by: Vanessa Doake (Co-Founder and COO @ Code Like a Girl)
Dr. Susan Entwisle (AVP, Digital Engineering @ Cognizant)
Gavin Whyte (Principal Chief Data Scientist @ Deloitte)
Cindy Schwartz (General Manager, Product Strategy & Innovation @ Citadel Group)
Leadership doesn’t come from your position, it comes from your voice and action
They talked about how to run a meeting confidently, here are the highlights:
- Confidence comes from knowledge — Don’t lock up in the corner.
- Good things happen when your confidence and passion come together.
- You’re not alone, everyone has experienced Imposter syndrome, don’t stay in your comfort zone.
- These are what can help you to put yourself out of your comfort zone :
Constantly reading and learning
Understand and experience it before talking about it
Your brain talks you out of doing new things because it wants to protect you, be aware and go forward regardless
No one gives you golden opportunities you should ask for it
Take mentors’ help to go through steps
You won’t get it in the first time — Push yourself
Grass grows on the other side, don’t stay where you shouldn’t. Know who you are
Aim to grow and add value and make a positive culture
Avoid the Pitfalls of Today By Creating a Long-Term Plan
Natasha Mandie (Managing Director @ EM Advisory)
Key takeaways: How to identify your purpose, how to create an MVP, what to do to scale your team and people.
In a Strategic plan you should consider :
- Purpose — If your purpose is clear any how it can be done
- Time — Developing ideas needs time, say no to things to create space to think
- MVP, having a theory
How to test to go through the uncertainty
- Talk to your stakeholders
- Ask open questions
- Be prepared to be wrong in this case you will learn
90% of startups fail because they are not prepared to go wrong
Chunk up your plan into small steps
What does a good plan looks like? You can measure it by seeing if it’s driven by purpose
Why Truth and Valour Trump Short-Termism and Gantt Charts
Gail Williamson(Chief Growth Officer @ WiseTech Global )
Key takeaways: Learn characteristics of innovators who can really deliver, the environment that supports them, the importance of truth and valour to build valuable, trusted businesses, and the ‘power of no’.
Reward success
Support failure
Eliminate inaction
Gail was an absolute professional lady talking about being innovative
- From truth, innovation comes
- A questioning mind enables the search for truth
- The desire to make better, best imaginable not best practice
- Grit resilience to push through force us to see what is possible
- Stand by your decisions
- Foster the environment that supports innovation
It’s ok to fail but if you are gonna fail, fail fast! Then Share your failure and see what you can change for better
Failearning = failing + learning
To wrap this up I want to add being a woman in tech is a great opportunity to climb the ladders of success, there’s nothing to hold us back, we’re born to achieve our dreams.
