The Diversity and Creativity gap in the Tech Industry
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This piece is a POV on tech, diversity, and creativity. I’m writing this because I think there’s a huge opportunity that the majority of the “tech” industry is currently missing.
Last weekend we attended the Code2040’s Summit. If you work in leadership and your team or business is within six degrees of technology, you should know about Code2040:
CODE2040 is a nonprofit organization that creates pathways to educational, professional, and entrepreneurial success in technology for underrepresented minorities with a specific focus on Blacks and Latino/as. CODE2040 aims to close the achievement, skills, and wealth gaps in the United States.
Code2040 is trying to solve “the pipeline problem”. If you’re committed to diversifying your engineering staff and you think those candidates don’t exist, you should look at the pipeline Code2040 is serving up.
I’ve never encountered this much talent in the field of Computer Science or Software Engineering at college level.
It’s more than just good grades and good coding chops. It’s also enthusiasm, dedication, and craft.
Seeing it firsthand was moving and inspirational.
SHOWING UP DIFFERENTLY
The Lodge occupied a booth next to recruiters from Google, Twitter, Target, and Yahoo.
Our area didn’t have nice couches or branded pens, which made us the odd one out. Our decision to instead display interactive versions of our work was rooted in knowing these students would want to explore what it’s really like to work in The Lodge.
It was also on that basis that we signed up to run two 75 min workshops on Saturday, which we formatted as an entirely interactive hands on session where students would actually come up with ideas.
The first workshop was pretty lightly attended.
Nonetheless, we were blown away; the ideas were genuinely great. The pitches were entertaining and from the heart. Our simple setup to the workshop was:
Focus on ideas that are interesting or surprising in some way. What will people love? What would you love? What would make someone stop and think? Don’t get caught up in feasibility or product-market fit. For the next 75 minutes, let’s try this the W+K way.
Then an interesting thing happened. The second workshop had close to 40 in attendance, including a curious Google recruiter. I guess good news travels fast!
CREATIVITY MATTERS AND OUR ENVIRONMENTS AREN’T GOOD ENOUGH
I think the way computer science is taught in college is crushing the creativity out of some of the brightest young people you could meet.
To compound that, the most viable professional proving ground for computer science graduates is the Bay Area — where there is only a single formula for success (MVP, growth hack, exit).
I worry about this. It keeps me up at night.
Because what if we’re asking some of these young minds all the wrong questions in the early years of their careers?
What if by asking them to learn and focus on the success metrics as defined by venture capitalists, we lose out on something much more interesting: the ideas they think should exist in the world.
We lose out most when they are young people of color.
I saw an incredibly high level of technical and creative firepower that is currently untapped.
We need to provide more jobs and environments that enable this young talent to be creative.
I’m not campaigning for it to be at agencies, nor am I advocating that it should be in tech companies.
Where doesn’t matter.
The important thing is to put this talent into roles that require and support new ideas, and teach evaluation in ways that aren’t just about “tech product market-fit viability.”
Let’s make those roles for these students.
Let’s ask them to apply thinking in science and art.
Let’s allow them to be inspired by machine learning, web applications, cryptocurrencies, and fashion, music, and architecture.
Let’s allow for ideas that aren’t just tied to a single domain or bound to a market analysis.
Let’s encourage ideas that are interesting, unexpected, and provocative.
WHAT WE’RE DOING NOW AND NEXT AT W+K
This is hard and we don’t have it figured out. But in classic W+K fashion we are experimenting with all of it.
This isn’t us saying we’re better than anybody.
W+K has always been a company that values ideas and creative people of all backgrounds. The culture and environment have allowed people to experiment, fail, and learn. You’re actively supported in doing that, especially when it’s in pursuit of big and provocative ideas. The kinds of ideas that have led some of the world’s most interesting companies to our door.
In The Lodge, we are now affording that environment and culture to creative people with backgrounds in computer science.
Meaning they get to bring their whole selves to work: their passions, their ideas, their craft, and their skin.
The current fellows of Code2040 are amongst the brightest young minds in the country.
Enabling creativity and craft together is, we think, the right thing and the smart thing.
It’ll take effort on multiple fronts and industries.
We would love to collaborate and share ideas with anybody in: Bay Area tech companies, advertising/design/innovation agencies, schools, and colleges.
Reach out at nilesh.ashra@wk.com
The Lodge is the creative technology group of Wieden+Kennedy. We use technology to create experiences that bring brands to life in unexpected ways.
